The Milwaukee Brewers made a huge trade on Friday, sending two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams to the New York Yankees. While many have speculated that Williams would be traded this offseason due to his upcoming 2025 free agency, it is interesting that the main player they received in return, left-handed starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, is also going to be a free agent in 2025.
Additionally, both players will make roughly the same amount of money pending arbitration.
What this tells fans is that Milwaukee is certainly looking to win now and was not simply dumping Williams’ 2025 salary. Instead, they showed faith in their deep bullpen, led by Trevor Megill who had 21 saves and a 2.72 ERA in 2024. By moving Williams, they received starting rotation depth in Cortes, who made 30 starts last year.
Only Freddy Peralta made 30+ for Milwaukee last season.
The Milwaukee Brewers Also Received Infielder Caleb Durbin
In addition to Cortes (and $4.5 million in cash), Milwaukee also received an intriguing minor league prospect, Caleb Durbin. Very recently, Durbin set the Arizona Fall League single season stolen base record, swiping 29 bags in just 24 games while hitting .312/427/.548 with five home runs and 21 RBI. He also walked 17 times compared to just six strikeouts.
In fact, walking more than he strikes out has kind of been a thing for Durbin down in the minors. The infielder, who plays second base and third base, has never had more strikeouts than walks in any season of his professional career. The closest he came was having 50 of each in 2022, his first season with the New York Yankees organization.
In 2023, he played 69 games and walked 26 times compared to 18 strikeouts. Last season, he played in 90 games across three levels of the minors leagues, but with the vast majority of them coming in Triple-A (82 games). He drew 53 walks and struck out 40 times while hitting .275/.388/.451 with 10 home runs, 60 RBI, and 31 stolen bases.
New Milwaukee Brewers Infielder Caleb Durbin Is No Stranger to Wisconsin
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As many fans are aware, several Wisconsin cities have baseball teams that are part of the Northwoods League, an independent baseball league where college and semi-professional players can spend the summer competing in a professional atmosphere.
There are several Northwoods League teams in the state, including the Lakeshore Chinooks, Madison Mallards (a team New York Mets star Pete Alonso used to play for), and Fon du Lac Dock Spiders.
Back in the summers of 2020 and 2021, Durbin was a member of the Doc Spiders. The league does not play many games, but in 14 games played in 2020, he hit .316/.391/.368 with a home run and 12 RBI (and eight walks compared to four strikeouts).
In 2021, playing in 20 games, Durbin hit .302/.361/.359 with 10 RBI and seven stolen bases (four walks compared to three strikeouts).
Prior to his summers in Wisconsin, he played for the Rockford (Illinois) Rivets of the Northwoods League in 2019.
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1 Comment
It’s the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders not Fon du Lac