The 2025 Brewers ended the season with the majority of their roster locked down for 2026, and coming off a season with the most wins in baseball, that is a good thing. However, it does make it harder to identify obvious positions to upgrade. With William Contreras locked in at catcher; the Andrew Vaughn/Jake Bauers combo at first base; Brice Turang ascending to new heights at second base; Caleb Durbin finishing third in the NL Rookie of the Year race at third base; and Joey Ortiz running hot and cold at the plate while providing premier defense at shortstop, the infield looks locked and loaded for 2026. While Alex Bregman would look great playing third for the Brewers in 2026, that’s the type of upgrade that rarely comes via free agency in Milwaukee.

Is there room then in the outfield to add value? The 2025 Brewers outfield was very good; the Crew were joined by the Yankees, Cubs, Padres, and Red Sox as the only teams having all three primary outfielders rank in the top 35 in outfielder fWAR for the season (Sal Frelick 3.6, Jackson Chourio 2.9, Isaac Collins 2.6). All three are good baseball players, and there is reason to believe all three can continue to improve as Chourio grows into his tools, Frelick nears his prime age, and Collins continues to gain experience in the outfield as part of his late breakout.

Collectively, this trio hit 42 home runs, with Chourio accounting for exactly half of those. Because they’re both small by big-league standards, it’s fair to wonder how much more power Collins and Frelick have. Much like Bregman at third, Kyle Tucker would fit just fine in Milwaukee’s outfield, but Brewers fans won’t find the former Cub under their Christmas tree. Given the Brewers’ payroll expectations and their recent history of not sacrificing defense for offense, there are very few players who would qualify as a potentially obtainable upgrade in Milwaukee’s outfield.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have arguably the best defensive player in baseball (Ceddanne Rafaela) patrolling center field. On either side, they have Gold Glove right fielder Wilyer Abreu and last year’s consensus top prospect and budding superstar, Roman Anthony, in left. They also have Jarren Duran, who produced the 7th-highest fWAR among all position players in 2024 with 6.8 and another 3.9 fWAR this season. The Red Sox have been rumored to be shopping Duran since last winter, and are doing so again right now. Would Duran be an upgrade for the Brewers, and how would he fit in?

Duran clearly has more power than either Collins or Frelick. He hit 16 home runs as part of 70 extra-base hits in 2025 and had 21 and 83 of those, respectively, in 2024. Those surface-level stats dwarf the Brewers’ trio. Duran is an exceptional baserunner, finishing in the top 10 in FanGraphs BsR value three seasons in a row. He took a step back at the plate this season, but any regression back toward his 2024 level would be an upgrade for the Brewers.

 

HR

Total xBH

SLG

wRC+

Duran 2024

21

83

.492

131

Duran 2025

16

70

.442

111

Chourio

21

55

.463

111

Frelick

12

35

.405

114

Collins

9

34

.411

122

On defense, Duran profiles best as a center fielder. Statcast rated him highly in center for 2024, with a strong throwing arm, before the Sox moved him to left this season so Rafaela could take over. Interestingly, Statcast also rates Chourio as a better center fielder than corner outfielder, and even Frelick did not rate positively in left. Only Collins receives positive defensive ratings in left field. Either of these outfield alignments could work:

Chourio RF, Duran CF, Collins LF

Frelick RF, Duran CF, Chourio LF

The team could, therefore, effectively platoon Frelick (who batted .301 but only had six extra-base hits (all doubles) against left-handed pitchers in 174 plate appearances in 2025) with Collins (who had 13 extra-base hits in 143 plate appearances against southpaws) around Duran and Chourio, with Blake Perkins or Garrett Mitchell slotting in as a fifth outfielder instead of a fourth.

The Red Sox, like most teams, would like to add pitching. Their bullpen, in particular, needs help. Aaron Ashby was excellent down the stretch for the Brewers, until they wore him out in the playoffs, and he looks like a potential late-inning reliever whom a manager could count on to lock down an opposing lineup across multiple innings. Ashby’s contract for 2026 matches almost exactly with what Duran is expected to earn in arbitration this winter, which should work well for both teams, as the Red Sox are reportedly looking to save a large portion of their budget for a corner infielder like Bregman or Pete Alonso. Trading Ashby would sting, but his contract is a little elevated for a non-closer Brewers reliever. FanGraphs recently rated Robert Gasser as the 10th-best prospect in the Brewers system, and he’s already demonstrated success at the MLB level. He could be a solid back-end rotation option or swingman for Boston. With Boston looking to compete in 2026, maybe a package of Gasser, Ashby, and Nick Mears—three arms that would all immediately join the Red Sox pitching staff—would entice Boston to send Duran to Milwaukee.

The Brewers have the depth to replace Ashby and Mears in their bullpen, and Gasser is one of a handful of starters who currently don’t have a rotation spot. Acquiring Duran should open up plenty of options for the Brewers to deal from their outfield depth, and they could eventually explore trading two of Frelick, Collins, and Mitchell. Duran, with three years of team control remaining, would be a good candidate to be traded again by the Brewers during either of the next two offseasons.

Matt Arnold and company have stocked their roster and minor-league system with many good players. Still, they may need to find a way to make marginal upgrades at positions already considered strengths to reach that next level of success and win their first pennant since 1982, or their first World Series ever. Duran is one of a limited set of realistic ways they could do so.