Caleb Durbin's Numbers Starting To Make Red Sox Look Good For Letting Alex Bregman Walk

Caleb Durbin's Numbers Starting To Make Red Sox Look Good For Letting Alex Bregman Walk originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

>The Boston Red Sox let Alex Bregman walk in free agency and turned around and acquired Caleb Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers.

>Bregman signed a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. The deal includes a full no-trade clause and $70 million in deferrals. The Red Sox reportedly offered him a five-year, $165 million deal with deferrals, but did not want to include a no-trade clause. Durbin was a National League Rookie of the Year finalist last season and was expected to develop into a great replacement for Bregman.

>Durbin had big shoes to fill and started terribly. He was slashing .163/.241/.238 with just one home run in his first 48 games. However, after two days on the bench, he came back and has been on fire ever since. In his last 28 games, he has a .330/.355/.620 slash line with six home runs, 19 RBIs and five stolen bases.

>His season slash line is now at .231/.286/.393. It's not amazing, but it is being weighed down by a very slow start. Meanwhile, Bregman's numbers with the Cubs are also not great, but come with a heavy price tag.

>Bregman is hitting .242 with a .677 OPS. That is not at all worth the money he got from the Cubs. Both have been great defenders at third base this season, but the offensive metrics from Bregman are a reason to worry.

>Durbin's slow start was scary, but now he is looking like the player the Red Sox expected him to be. If he can continue to hit well, letting Bregman walk will look like a phenomenal move that saved the Red Sox a ton of money and netted them an everyday third baseman.

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