Did Anyone Win The Caleb Durbin Trade?

The deal that sent infielder Caleb Durbin from the Brewers to the Red Sox seemed like a disaster for two months. By the end of the year, it looked like a season-saving maneuver. Boston and Milwaukee executed the six-player swap in early February. Durbin joined the Red Sox after the club came up short in an attempt to replace third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency. Fellow infielders Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, plus a draft pick, also came over in the deal. The Brewers received infielder David Hamilton and lefties Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan. Bregman’s departure in free agency left a big hole at third base. Durbin did not fill it, at least initially. He finished May with a .530 OPS. He had the second-lowest wRC+ among qualified hitters at that point in the season. Durbin was one of the key figures in Boston’s tumultuous first half. The club fired manager Alex Cora near the end of April after a 10-17 start. Interim manager Chad Tracy didn’t immediately right the ship. While Durbin and the Red Sox scuffled, Harrison was thriving in Milwaukee. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in the early going, carrying a 1.57 ERA into June. Harrison raised his arm angle with the Brewers. He added induced vertical break to his four-seamer and got more drop on his slurve. The adjustments with his new team helped Harrison form an imposing one-two punch at the top of the rotation with ace Jacob Misiorowski. And then, things flipped. Durbin slashed .326/.359/.605 in June. He emerged as an important cog for a Red Sox lineup that reignited the team’s postseason hopes. During Boston’s 15-game win streak in July, Durbin hit .291 with three homers and 13 runs scored. He never really slowed down as the Red Sox cruised to a Wild Card berth. Durbin’s final line looks basically like his rookie year with the Brewers. He hit 13 homers and stole 20 bases while posting a 100 wRC+. After a solid season between second and third base with Milwaukee, Durbin was once again a plus defender. He recorded 13 Defensive Runs Saved at the hot corner in Boston. “It is funny how the [offensive] numbers ended up being very similar,” Durbin told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe last week. “I’d like to think the stretch I had in the beginning of the year is kind of an anomaly. … If you take that out, I do feel like I had a better season [than 2025].” Harrison went the other direction. His ERA nearly doubled in seven starts from June into early July. He went on the injured list shortly before the All-Star Break with forearm tightness. Harrison’s velocity was down when he returned. He came back in August and posted a 5.67 ERA over six starts. Milwaukee decided to move him to the bullpen. His first relief outing was a debacle against the Reds that saw him allow four earned runs without recording an out. Harrison has been on the Brewers’ roster throughout the playoffs, but has yet to appear in a game. The rest of the players in the trade had modest, but not insignificant, impacts. Seigler and Monastrerio provided important depth in an infield that missed Trevor Story, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Romy Gonzalez for long stretches and got zero at-bats from Triston Casas. Drohan had a nice run as a long reliever and then starter, but faded down the stretch. He’s been with the club in the playoffs but has only thrown an inning. Surprisingly, Hamilton has been the biggest postseason contributor. He’s 6-for-17 with a homer and three stolen bases in the playoffs. Durbin’s second-half resurgence and defensive contributions give Boston an edge using Baseball Reference’s WAR calculations. Durbin (4.4), Seigler (0.5), and Monasterio (0.6) combined for 5.5 WAR this year. Hamilton (1.8), Harrison (0.5), and Drohan (0.5) compiled about half that number. It’s tough to evaluate the impact of hitters versus pitchers, and the accounting is far from over. None of these players have reached arbitration yet. There’s plenty of time for each player in the group to make a difference for their respective teams. Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron and Aaron Doster, Imagn Images