Red Sox To Acquire Caleb Durbin

The Red Sox are acquiring infielder Caleb Durbin from the Brewers, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Milwaukee receives a three-player package including lefties Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan as well as infielder David Hamilton, Passan adds. Boston is also picking up infielder Andruw Monasterio, catcher/infielder Anthony Seigler and a Competitive Balance Round B pick, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

Durbin is a notable pickup for the Boston infield and should be penciled in for everyday at-bats — presumably at third base, though he can also handle second base if the Red Sox prefer Marcelo Mayer at the hot corner from a defensive standpoint. The 25-year-old Durbin (26 in a couple weeks) finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2025 after he batted .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs, 25 doubles, 18 steals (24 attempts), a 5.9% walk rate and a tiny 9.9% strikeout rate. He turned in above-average marks for his glovework at third in the estimation of both Defensive Runs Saved (5) and Outs Above Average (2).

He’s not the big middle-of-the-order presence many Sox fans have coveted, but Durbin is an affordable, controllable and versatile defender who’ll further the Red Sox’ pivot toward run prevention and help to lower a team strikeout rate that was 10th-highest in the sport last year at 22.9%. He’s a right-handed hitter whose pull percentage (43.3%) is a bit higher than league average (40.6%), which should play well with the Green Monster at Fenway Park. Durbin comes to the Red Sox with five full seasons of club control and two minor league option years remaining (not that there’ll be any thought of optioning him to the minors anytime soon after last year’s strong performance).

If Durbin is ticketed for the hot corner, that’ll leave second base to a combination of the left-handed-hitting Mayer and righty-swinging Romy Gonzalez. Recently signed utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa can back up both those positions as well as shortstop.

More to come.