The Trade the Brewers Should Be Quietly Celebrating

This trade is working out quite well for the Brewers.

Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold speaks during an an end of season press conference at American Family Field in Milwaukee, October 10, 2023. | Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers have won the National League Central in each of the past three seasons. They even reached the NLCS last October.

However, the NL Central is tough this season. Like every other team in the division, the Brewers are over the .500 mark, but only by two games as they sit in fourth place in the division, five games back of the first-place Chicago Cubs and one back of the final NL wild card spot.

Milwaukee had a relatively quiet offseason, but made a few key trades. The Freddy Peralta trade grabbed the headlines, but the trade to send Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox for David Hamilton, Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison may be the most impactful one thus far.

The trade the Brewers are benefitting the most from

May 2, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throw to the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

With the Red Sox, Durbin has not performed up to par. He is hitting just .175 with one home run, 12 RBI and a .514 OPS. Meanwhile, Harrison has been a godsend for the Brewers, having started six games for Milwaukee and gone 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 35 strikeouts.

The Brewers' pitching staff has dealt with a lot of injuries lately. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff is out with an arm injury after experiencing a massive drop in his pitch velocity, so they need arms like Jacob Misiorowksi to step up.

However, Harrison has been that guy for the Brewers thus far this season. The Red Sox got him in the Rafael Devers trade last summer, but obviously shipped him to Milwaukee in the Durbin deal.

Because of Harrison's hot start on the mound and Durbin's struggles at the plate, the Brewers appear to be the ones winning this deal. As long as he can stay healthy, the Brewers should be just fine this year and have little to no trouble getting back to the top of the NL Central.

Milwaukee loaded up on pitching depth after the Peralta trade, so this deal is working out pretty well for them, especially now that Woodruff is out.

But it will be interesting to see how things play out in the long run. General manager Matt Arnold has made a lot of very good moves for the Brewers that have helped them stay competitive despite losing a few big pieces. They haven't taken many hits so far, but this is certainly a good sign for Milwaukee as they keep one eye on the present and one eye on the future.