Brewers Landed Caleb Durbin's Successor in Freddy Peralta Trade

The Brewers have made a slew of big moves to push their franchise toward a brighter future.

Oct 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin (21) celebrates in the dugout after scoring against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning during game three of the NLCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers swung a pair of interesting trades this offseason.

First, they traded Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets in exchange for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. With Peralta's contract expiring at the end of the season, this deal made perfect sense.

But the Brewers also traded Caleb Durbin and a few other infielders to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for David Hamilton, Kyle Harrison, and Shane Drohan. This deal has boosted their pitching staff with Harrison, but it's created a massive hole at the hot corner.

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CBS Sports' RJ Anderson recently ranked Williams, who was acquired in the Peralta deal, one of the best prospects in the game. He could be the long-term successor to Durbin at the hot corner in Milwaukee.

Jett Williams could be the perfect replacement for Caleb Durbin

Feb 23, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; New York Mets second baseman Jett Williams (90) catches a ground ball and retires Washington Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. (not pictured) during the third inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

"Williams will test your preconceived notions. He's a 5-foot-7 speedster who has experience at all three up-the-middle positions," Anderson wrote. "Yet his offensive game isn't built on a strong foundation of bat-to-ball skills. Rather, he's all about the slug. Williams lifts and pulls the ball at high frequencies, allowing him to get the most from pedestrian strength markers.

"The downside here is that Williams swings and misses a lot (he had a 73.5% contact rate in Triple-A), meaning he's likely to strike out around a quarter of the time in the majors. He should provide enough of everything else -- power, walks, defense, and baserunning -- to enjoy a big-league career. It just won't be the one you'd expect at first blush."

Williams is the clear replacement for Durbin if he's ready for the big leagues. The Brewers will likely be able to tell whether he's ready based on how he plays in spring training.

The Brewers could use Williams at third base. They could also use Williams at second base while sliding Joey Ortiz to third base and Brice Turang to shortstop. The final solution would be putting Williams at shortstop and Ortiz at third base.

Either way, Williams should have a long term and short-term future in Milwaukee. It would be shocking if he wasn't starting every day in Milwaukee by May.

More MLB: Brewers 27-Year-Old Infielder Getting Buzz as Caleb Durbin's Successor