The other AL West third baseman Brewers should be targeting after Caleb Durbin trade

The Milwaukee Brewers shocked the baseball world on Monday morning. With the Super Bowl now in the rearview mirror, and the start of Spring Training just around the corner, Matt Arnold and the Brewers’ front office swung a surprising late-offseason deal with the Boston Red Sox that left their short-term infield depth in question.

The Brewers sent three infielders — Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler — to Boston in exchange for two left-handed starters — Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan — and former Brewers draft pick David Hamilton, who has spent most of his professional career in the middle infield. The trade, which has been met with mixed reactions from Brewers fans, undeniably left Milwaukee’s infield picture in question heading into the 2026 season. Durbin was the clear option to man the hot corner on Opening Day, and both Monasterio and Seigler were expected to compete for the utility infielder role on the big-league roster.

Now, that infield situation has been turned on its head one week before the Brewers’ position players will have their first official Spring Training workout down in Arizona. Hamilton could certainly fill the void left by Monasterio and Seigler’s departures, but the Brewers are still in need of a true starting third baseman.

Several options exist on that front. First, the Brewers could shuffle things around and have Joey Ortiz slide back to third base while electing to have Brice Turang and newcomer Jett Williams cover the middle infield positions. However, in such a scenario, it would behoove the Brewers to play Turang at short and Williams at second, seeing as questions remain about the latter’s ability to cover shortstop at the big-league level and the former is a Platinum Glove winner. That means all three of Ortiz, Williams, and Turang would be playing a new position on Opening Day or the Brewers would be starting a rookie in Williams at either shortstop, where his glove could be a concern, or third base, a position he has yet to play in his professional career.

Another option is an aggressive promotion of one of the Brewers’ top prospects. Brock Wilken got off to a strong start in Double-A last year before sustaining a knee injury that complicated his second half. The Brewers’ 2023 first-round pick has yet to log an inning at the Triple-A level. 2025 first-round pick Andrew Fischer has received plenty of buzz this offseason, and will compete for Team Italy in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but it would be incredibly shocking to see him as the Brewers’ third baseman when the 2026 season commences.

Meanwhile, the free agent market looks bleak, where players like José Iglesias and Ramón Urías are some of the best options and would certainly be downgrades from Durbin. Therefore, given the nature of the Durbin trade, the vacancy it left at third base, and the Brewers’ need to add more power to their lineup, it feels like a trade for a third baseman in the coming weeks is inevitable.

The name Isaac Paredes, who is currently a redundant piece of the Houston Astros’ roster, has been thrown around a lot since the Durbin trade went down yesterday morning. Paredes is definitely a name to watch and would certainly represent a power upgrade over Durbin, but there’s another third baseman in the AL West that might be a better fit for the Brewers’ style of play.

Brewers should target Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers to replace Caleb Durbin at third base

The Texas Rangers selected third baseman Josh Jung with the 8th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. A Texas native, Jung attended Texas Tech University, where he posted a combined 1.032 OPS in his three seasons with the Red Raiders and was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Year in 2019.

Jung slugged his way through the minor leagues, and debuted with the Rangers in 2022, but appeared in just 26 games. As a result, Jung’s true rookie campaign was Texas’ 2023 World Series Championship season. It was a dream season for the Texan; Jung was named an All-Star, posted an .867 OPS in the postseason, won the World Series, and finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Unfortunately, Jung’s follow-up to his impressive inaugural season didn’t go according to plan. Just days after Opening Day 2024, Jung fractured his right wrist and didn’t return to the field until late July. When he did return, Jung was still an impact player at the plate, posting a 108 OPS+ in 46 games, but he was back on the IL with wrist tendinitis before the season ended.

A lackluster 2025 season followed for Jung. He struggled to consistently get on base, and the power that he displayed in his rookie season wasn’t quite the same. Even still, the 27-year-old posted a league-average 100 OPS+ and a consistently strong glove at third base gave him 1.7 fWAR at the end of the season. Even still, it’s fair to assume Jung’s best season might still be ahead of him.

Therefore, the Brewers would be “buying low” on a third baseman who has the potential to once again return to his All-Star form now another year removed from his wrist injury. He holds the draft pedigree to suggest that his 2023 breakout season was no fluke, and his strong defensive skills give him a high floor. With a few improvements to his swing decisions, something the Brewers were able to change in another former first-round pick, Andrew Vaughn, Jung could easily be the impact bat that Milwaukee has been searching for all offseason.

Jung is set to make just $2.9 million this year in his first year of arbitration eligibility. He’s under team control through the 2028 season, meaning he doesn’t overlap too severely with the Brewers’ batch of talented infield prospects. The Rangers are at something of a crossroads right now and have had a perplexing offseason. They supposedly wanted to cut down their payroll and get younger, but then they decimated their farm system for MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals. That said, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand cited Jung as a potential trade candidate way back in December, and Texas moving him would open up a spot for top prospect Sebastian Walcott in the infield. Perhaps the Brewers could entice the Rangers with a package of prospects from their deep farm system or a controllable pitcher of which they have many.

Maybe the Brewers will roll into the season with a combination of Jett Williams and David Hamilton as their fourth infielder, or maybe Arnold and his team have another surprise up their sleeves to fill the position. If the latter is true, while Isaac Paredes is certainly an enticing choice, don’t overlook his division rival Josh Jung as a potential target for Milwaukee’s front office.