Opinion: Brewers to have a down grade at third base in 2026

Luis Rengifo (YouTube)

The Milwaukee Brewers’s situation at the hot corner position continues to get puzzling. The Brewers’s decision to sign third baseman Luis Rengifo of Naguanagua, Venezuela to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million comes after the franchise shockingly traded third baseman Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox earlier this month.

Anyway you look at it, Durbin is one of baseball’s rising stars, as he was in the National League Rookie of the Year conversation in 2025. The Brewers let Durbin go way too early.

By trading Durbin, the Brewers tried to see who was one of the better third basemen on the free agent market and settled on Rengifo. The Angels third baseman has been in the Major Leagues for seven seasons, and only batted .238 in 2025.

Rengifo had two horrendous seasons earlier in his career, where he batted .156 in 2020 and .201 in 2021. Durbin’s batting average in 2025 was .258. That is very respectable for a rookie. It should be noted that Rengifo has not reached a .258 batting average in four of his seven Major League seasons.

In 2025, Rengifo had 119 hits in 501 at bats. During 541 plate appearances, he scored 55 runs, and had 16 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 43 runs batted in, 10 stolen bases, 33 walks, 168 total bases, one sacrifice bunt, three sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .287, and a slugging percentage of .335. Durbin had the edge when it came to all statistical categories over Rengifo except for hits, triples, and walks.

The Brewers are coming off a fantastic regular season in 2025. The team seems to need to make smarter choices if they are going to match the same success in 2026.