Brewers' Hunter Renfroe trade gains another bizarre chapter after strange Red Sox news

Remember Jackie Bradley Jr.'s tenure with the Milwaukee Brewers? Yeah, me neither. An uncharacteristic, high-profile free agent signing brought Bradley to Milwaukee on a two-year deal in March of 2021. However, the former All-Star and ALCS MVP posted the worst season of his career in his lone season with the Brewers before the team's front office pulled off a bizarre trade that sent Bradley back to the Boston Red Sox alongside several prospects, in exchange for outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

Not only was Bradley coming off a season in which he slashed .163/.236/.261, but he was also owed $9.5 million in 2022 and at least another $8 million by way of a buyout for the 2023 season. Meanwhile, Renfroe, who slugged 31 home runs and posted a slugging percentage of .501 in 2021, earned just $7.65 million in 2022. Not only was Renfroe clearly the better player, but acquiring him also saved the Brewers millions of dollars. Which begs the question: who were the prospects?

Boston didn't just hand over Renfroe to the Brewers. Not quite. Included in the deal were the Brewers' No. 16 and No. 17 prospects at the time, David Hamilton and Alex Binelas, respectively. Hamilton is currently serving in an infield utility role for the Red Sox, making starts at both shortstop and second base this season. However, despite being in his third season in the big leagues, Hamilton has yet to find his footing at the plate. He holds a career slash line of .233/.291/.368, though he did swipe 33 bases in 2024. Meanwhile, Binelas looked like he was on the cusp of his MLB debut, before some surprising news surfaced on Friday afternoon.

Red Sox release Alex Binelas from Triple-A roster in shocking move

The Red Sox are desperate need of a first baseman after losing Triston Casas to a season-ending knee injury. Yesterday afternoon, Boston somewhat addressed that need by trading for first baseman Ryan Noda from the Los Angeles Angels. Noda had an excellent rookie season back in 2023, but his 2024 season was so poor that the Oakland Athletics, with whom he had been playing, released him this offseason, and he was subsequently picked up by the Angels.

After acquiring Noda, the Red Sox assigned him to their Triple-A squad, the Worcester Red Sox, and released fellow left-handed first baseman Binelas to make room on the roster. Binelas, an alum of Oak Creek HS, has been a more than solid minor leaguer for the last five seasons and was off to another strong start in 2025. Through 13 games with the WooSox this year, Binelas had posted a .823 OPS.

Taken all together, it makes for a strange roster move by the Red Sox. Sure, Noda has the advantage of already playing in the big leagues, but Binelas could easily have debuted before the end of the 2025 season and is five years younger than Noda. Perhaps there is something going on behind the scenes that we are unaware of, but on paper this move looks just as head-scratching as the trade that sent Binelas to Boston in the first place.

Ironically, Renfroe was DFA'd by the Kansas City Royals this morning.