TRADE: Brewers Send Caleb Durbin to Red Sox in Multi-Player Deal

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Caleb Durbin had a tremendous rookie season with the Brewers, but it will be his only one. Milwaukee dealt the diminutive infielder to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for three players, a source confirmed to Brewer Fanatic on Monday. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the news.

In fact, the deal is big and involves multiple players on both sides. Milwaukee will also send the Red Sox infielders Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, plus their competitive balance Round B pick in this summer's draft, while getting back left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, infielder David Hamilton, and left-handed pitching prospect Shane Drohan.

The immediate question, here, is what the move means for the Milwaukee infield. Durbin, who will soon turn 26, became the team's everyday third baseman early in 2025 and held the job through the NLCS. He batted .256/.334/.387, with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases, and went from unplayable at third base in spring training to a plus defender there by season's end. His departure leaves a gap at the hot corner for Milwaukee.

Harrison is the biggest name of the three players Milwaukee will acquire. He made multiple appearances on global top-100 lists and was the Giants' best pitching prospect for a couple of seasons, but he has yet to get over the hump and find consistent success in the majors. He was part of the Rafael Devers trade last June.

In swapping out Monasterio and Seigler for Hamilton, the Brewers sacrifice a small amount of versatility and some depth, but add a speedster with 57 stolen bases in 204 career games. A left-handed batter, the 28-year-old Hamilton is almost exclusively a middle infielder, but he's a plus on either side of the keystone. 

Drohan, 27, is the unlikely linchpin of a deal involving at least three more famous names. A fifth-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, he's battled shoulder and forearm issues over the last two seasons, but still merited a spot on the 40-man roster for Boston last year. When he was healthy, he pitched at Triple-A Worcester in 2025, and he posted a 2.27 ERA with huge strikeout numbers there.

Hamilton, Harrison and Drohan can all be optioned to the minors, and that will still be true of Harrison and Drohan in 2027. The deal adds considerable depth and flexibility to Milwaukee's pitching staff, and Hamilton is a fine bench piece—especially if he hits more like he did in 2024 (.248/.303/.395) than like he did in 2025 (.198/.257/.333). Still, no analysis of this deal can be complete until we see what (if anything) the team has planned to add to their infield. If the team intends for Jett Williams to join Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz as full-time players, this is one kind of trade. If they have another move coming, it's another.

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[Norsk4321]

Wow, did not see that coming. Sending Monastario and Siegler along clears bench space. Would think that bodes well for Jett to stick and, maybe, another move brewing to land a bigger bat for 3B? 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Norsk4321 said:

Wow, did not see that coming. Sending Monastario and Siegler along clears bench space. Would think that bodes well for Jett to stick and, maybe, another move brewing to land a bigger bat for 3B? 

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic!

[AJOHNSON104]

More of Sal at 3B? Can't believe that is the preferred version.

Maybe they think Jett is ready to play? 

[Ro Mueller]

I'm sold on the starting pitching: Woodruff, Misiorowski, Priester, Harrison, Gasser, Henderson, Sproat, Drohan, etc.

I'm guessing there's a CF-for-INF trade coming up - i.e. Mitchell or Perkins for I've-no-idea-who.

[Jim French Stepstool]

 

Not that I would advocate for this but I was curious as to whether Hamilton played any 3B---he did, for a total of 1.1 innings. And never in the minors.

I would guess the starting 3B is someone currently not in the organization, and it's someone already being targeted.

[eddiemathews]

9 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

 

Not that I would advocate for this but I was curious as to whether Hamilton played any 3B---he did, for a total of 1.1 innings. And never in the minors.

I would guess the starting 3B is someone currently not in the organization, and it's someone already being targeted.

If they are making a related move, I'd guess it's already agreed to but needs some crossing and dotting of i's and t's.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 minute ago, eddiemathews said:

If they are making a related move, I'd guess it's already agreed to but needs some crossing and dotting of i's and t's.

You would hope so. Or at least different irons in the fire w/the belief one of them is going to come through. Probably involving an arm/arms, maybe even one of the arms they just picked up from Boston.

Fun times😐.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, AJOHNSON104 said:

More of Sal at 3B? Can't believe that is the preferred version.

 

Nor can I. I still have hopes for Mitchell, but with his history they should probably put a ? on the back of his jersey rather than a uniform number. And Yelich in the OF is going to be a very few-and-far-between thing. 

Frelick is a GG caliber RF. No way should he be moved.

[JohnBriggs12]

First reaction is not Durbin. 

[JohnBriggs12]

Cubs have no place for Matt Shaw.  Would the Brewers and Cubs make a deal? 

[eddiemathews]

14 minutes ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

Cubs have no place for Matt Shaw.  Would the Brewers and Cubs make a deal? 

He's their utility infielder.

[Trax]

Shocked. 

[CA John]

3 hours ago, Ro Mueller said:

I'm sold on the starting pitching: Woodruff, Misiorowski, Priester, Harrison, Gasser, Henderson, Sproat, Drohan, etc.

I'm guessing there's a CF-for-INF trade coming up - i.e. Mitchell or Perkins for I've-no-idea-who.

Patrick will crack rotation. Crow at some point too. Harrison and Sproat may start in minors, but they are key to 2027 and beyond.

Still see Brew Crew signing Jordan Montgomery for 2026.

[maxximus]

in 2025, the 3B plan was Dunn/Capra/Durbin. Now it appears to be Jett/Wilken/Fischer if there are no other moves, and i can't say that's a terrible thing. Wonder if the collective floor can get to an wRC+/OPS+ of 100-105, knowing that there is considerably more upside with this group of 3 than last year? At some point they have to give prospects a chance and sink/swim, and they don't have the luxury of paying for starter quality players not be backups in case they all sink. Maybe once they got Jett they decided having a group of 3 to rely on would be more realistic to give it a shot?

[Michael Trzinski]

Move Ortiz back to 3B and put Williams at SS.

[SandyTolan]

17 minutes ago, Michael Trzinski said:

Move Ortiz back to 3B and put Williams at SS.

Ortiz is way better at SS than anyone on the Brewers' roster. Too important a position to bring in Jett. And Matt Arnold says Jett will get some reps at 3B, which would be a much better solution imo. Durbin hadn't played there either, and he did more than fine...

[Brewersfan1]

21 minutes ago, SandyTolan said:

Ortiz is way better at SS than anyone on the Brewers' roster. Too important a position to bring in Jett. And Matt Arnold says Jett will get some reps at 3B, which would be a much better solution imo. Durbin hadn't played there either, and he did more than fine...

Turang was going to be the shortstop over Ortiz until his arm issues came up. Williams could go to 2nd, Ortiz 3rd, Turang short (I don’t think that will happen, but easily as realistic as anything else right now).