Just four days after creating a vacuum at third base by trading Caleb Durbin, the Milwaukee Brewers have theoretically plugged that hole via free agency.
Luis Rengifo, a versatile defender who stole 24 bases in a limited 2024 season, has agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Crew, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The deal, which is currently unofficial and pending a physical, includes a $10 million mutual option for 2027.
Rengifo, a top outside candidate to fill the void left by the Durbin deal, immediately vaults to the top of the depth chart at third base, a position he has played 199 times at the MLB level.
A former Los Angeles Angel, Rengifo was having a breakthrough 2024, posting a .300/.347/.417 slash line with those 24 steals to go along with nine homers and 30 RBIs in 78 games. Then, he injured his right wrist in early July. He tried to come back, but lasted just nine games before requiring season-ending surgery.
The versatile infielder, who turns 29 on Feb. 26, came back in 2025 and had a subpar showing for the last-place Angels, putting up a slash line of .238/.287/.335 with nine homers, 43 RBIs and 10 steals in 147 games, below his career marks of .250/..307/.382. He split 2025 between second and third base, playing in 76 games at the hot corner, committing two errors in 146⅓ innings.
The switch-hitting Rengifo does hit left-handed pitchers better than right-handers, registering a .268/.311/.438 slash line with 23 homers in 349 career games vs. southpaws, while owning a .242/.305/.360 mark with 39 homers in 619 games against righties.
David Hamilton, a former Brewers prospect who was part of the Durbin trade, was the leading candidate to start at third, but now is the top choice to fill the role vacated by Andruw Monasterio‘s inclusion in this week’s trade as the main utility man on the roster.