Brewers Acquire Left-handed Pitcher Nestor Cortes and Infielder Caleb Durbin from Yankees

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes, infielder Caleb Durbin and cash from the New York Yankees in exchange for right-handed pitcher Devin Williams. The announcement was made by Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold.

An updated 40-man roster (40) can be found here.

“We are excited to add Nestor to the organization,” said Arnold. “Nestor brings an accomplished veteran left-handed presence to the starting rotation and we look forward to him playing a key role in our success in 2025.”

Cortes, 30, owns a career record of 33-21 with a 3.80 ERA in 135 games (86 starts) over seven Major League seasons with Baltimore (2018), Seattle (2020) and New York (2019, 2021-24). Opponents have hit just .234 and he has produced 575 strikeouts in 568.0 innings pitched. He appeared in 31 games with the Yankees last season, including a career-high 30 starts, and went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA. He was the team’s 2024 Opening Day starter.

Cortes was an All-Star in 2022 as he finished eighth in American League Cy Young Award voting after going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts. He held opponents to a .189 batting average that season while posting a 0.92 WHIP with 163 strikeouts in 158.1 innings pitched.

“We are pleased to bring Caleb Durbin into the infield mix,” said Arnold. “He is an exciting and aggressive young athlete who possesses the qualities we look for in a big-league player. Caleb has outstanding speed, makes contact, and has the ability to play all over the infield.”

Durbin, 24, was recently named 2024 Arizona Fall League Breakout Prospect of the Year after batting .312 (29-for-93) with 5 HR, 21 RBI and 29 SB (an AFL record) in 24 games with the Salt River Rafters. This followed a regular season in which he batted .287 with 10 HR, 60 RBI and 29 SB in 82 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Primarily an infielder throughout his Minor League career, Durbin has made starts at second base (148g), third base (65g) and shortstop (41g). He has struck out only 111 times (134 walks) over 1,216 career plate appearances.

Durbin was originally selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 14th round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Washington University in St. Louis. He was traded to the Yankees in December 2022 as part of the deal for left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge.

Arnold added, “Devin Williams played a major role in the team’s success over recent seasons and we are grateful to have had him perform for us at such a high level. We wish Devin all the best in his career going forward.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.