Potential Downside of Brewers-Red Sox Caleb Durbin Trade

There's a little risk involved here.

Oct 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin (21) reacts at second after hitting a double against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh 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 made a big trade with the Boston Red Sox on Monday morning, sending Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler and a competitive balance B round pick to the Boston Red Sox for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton and Shane Drohan. Ken Rosenthal was first on the news.

The deal has a lot of upside, with the Brewers acquiring some much-needed rotation help after trading Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets. However, there are risks involved with this deal.

The Brewers had a to give up a lot just to land a few pitchers. Here is the major risk of the deal.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Trading Caleb Durbin could backfire on Brewers

Oct 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin (21) hits a double against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh 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 major risk here is trading Durbin. The 25-year-old was a National League Rookie of the Year candidate last season, hitting .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs, 53 RBI, 18 stolen bases and a .721 OPS. He also had a 2.8 WAR last year.

He had emerged as their starting third baseman and still has the potential to become a star. While the Red Sox are benefitting from landing in infielder, the Brewers may need to go out and find someone who can be their everyday third baseman in 2026. Losing Durbin's bat hurts the lineup quite a bit, so they'll need to find a replacement quickly.

The Brewers do get the rotation help that they needed, but it might have been better for them to hold onto Durbin and instead sign one of the remaining free agent starters. Arms like Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Chris Bassitt, Griffin Canning and even former Brewer Jose Quintana are still available.

All of these options likely would have only been had on one-year deals which works for the the Brewers. But instead, they chose to give up one of their most promising young players and will ultimately miss having that presence in the lineup.

It will be interesting to see what the Brewers decide to do next, but it certainly is a risk to give Durbin away, especially when the Brewers are trying to stay young and stay competitive. There are options out there, but trading Durbin is a bold move, and it's one that could potentially backfire on Milwaukee as they try to repeat as NL Central champions.

More MLB: Red Sox-Brewers History Bodes Well for Milwaukee in Caleb Durbin Trade