How Brewers Can Turn Luis Rengifo Into Free Agency Steal

Luis Rengifo has not been anything close to a perfect player during his major league career, but that could be all the more reason he's perfect for the Milwaukee Brewers.

One of the Brewers' greatest strengths is improving their players' weaknesses that other organizations haven't been able to coach out of them. And Rengifo comes with a perfect example.

Rengifo is a switch-hitter who has had strong offensive numbers, and he can play all over the diamond. A player like that should be exceptionally valuable to a roster, but what's kept Rengifo's value metrics down throughout his career, in part, has been lackluster defense.

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How Rengifo can improve value, and who can help

Milwaukee Brewers infielder Luis Rengifo (13) fields a ground ball during spring training workouts Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. | Dave Kallmann / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Brewers have an argument for the best defensive team in baseball most seasons, and it's not just because of their players' natural gifts. If any team can turn Rengifo into at least an average defender at third base, it's the Milwaukee brain trust.

On Tuesday, which was Rengifo's first day in uniform with the Brewers, president of baseball operations Matt Arnold singled out third base coach Matt Erickson, who is one of the most highly regarded infield instructors in the sport, as someone who could support Rengifo's development.

"The first thing he did when he came in to work out yesterday at 2 o'clock was take ground balls from Matt Erickson," Arnold said, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Just knowing that Matt Erickson's here and what he's been able to do with a lot of our infielders – he's somebody we talked a lot about before we acquired him, having those tools and ingredients.

"We believe in Matt Erickson making these guys better."

Rengifo posted negative-7 outs above average at third base last season, and he's totaled negative-43 of them in his seven-year career. Some of that may be range, but it's almost a guarantee that some is footwork as well, and the Brewers could very well be able to clean that up quickly.

Year in and year out, the Brewers win because even at the game's highest level, they're able to outcoach and outdevelop other teams. Rengifo is just the latest test case, and we wouldn't bet against him being a good one.

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