Brewers reassign offseason trade acquisition to minor leagues in eerily familiar move

With just over one week remaining until Opening Day, it's the time of year when MLB teams are beginning to whittle down their rosters to the 26 men that they will carry to open the 2026 season. The time of year certainly makes for some difficult decisions, as the results of Spring Training roster battles are realized and teams choose which on-the-cusp players will start the year in the big leagues.

Yesterday evening, following the Milwaukee Brewers' lengthy 24-9 Cactus League win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com revealed on the social media platform X that the team had officially made another round of roster cuts, optioning those on the 40-man roster to Triple-A, and reassigning those without 40-man spots to minor league camp.

As McCalvy clearly notes, starting pitcher Carlos Rodriguez was the only 40-man roster member who is now all but certain to miss out on the Opening Day roster, but among the reassignments to minor league camp is one player who some Brewers fans were expecting to factor into the mix early on in the 2026 season: Jett Williams.

Williams joined the team via the Freddy Peralta blockbuster with the New York Mets, and for a brief moment after the Brewers traded Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox a few weeks later, it looked like he might be Milwaukee's Opening Day third baseman. However, the front office signed veteran third baseman Luis Rengifo shortly after the Durbin deal, which made it difficult for Williams to find a path to the Opening Day roster. Even still, Williams was no doubt one of the closest players to the Brewers' Opening Day roster who will ultimately missed out on a roster spot, especially after his strong showing in Spring Training.

It was almost exactly one year ago that the Brewers made an eerily similar roster move. On March 22 of last year, the Brewers optioned Durbin to Triple-A just days before Opening Day, opting for the duo of Vinny Capra and Oliver Dunn at third base to start the year. Much like Williams, Durbin was a notable Brewers offseason trade acquisition who was on the cusp of his MLB debut, but was ultimately not awarded a spot on the Opening Day roster despite many expecting him to be.

In Durbin's case, the talented young infielder spent just three weeks in Triple-A before he was called up to the big leagues, a decision that was made especially easy due to the disappointing performances of Capra and Dunn. However, there's reason to believe that Williams, despite having a nearly identical start to his Brewers' tenure, won't follow the exact same path as Durbin going forward.

Will Jett Williams have the same path to the big leagues as Caleb Durbin did in 2025?

If Williams' path to the big leagues continues to mirror Durbin's as closely as it has to this point, Brewers fans would expect a brief stint in the minor leagues before an MLB debut halfway through the month of April. But the circumstances are unlikely to resemble the conditions that led to Durbin's early promotion.

When Durbin was promoted on April 18 last year, Capra was slashing .097/.125/.194 (.319 OPS) and Dunn was slashing .167/.205/.222 (.427 OPS). In a way, the Brewers had no other choice but to promote Durbin to the big leagues, seeing as it was unlikely he would be worse than their current options.

However, Williams' path to the big leagues is hopefully going to be met with far better competition than what Durbin faced last year. It's unlikely the combination of Rengifo and David Hamilton at third base produces worse results than the Capra-Dunn platoon through the first three weeks of the season.

Williams does have the ability to play both middle infield positions and outfield as well, but it's unlikely a spot opens up at any of those positions as early as April 18, unless of course an injury occurs. The Brewers have a logjam of outfielders as it currently stands with seemingly one roster spot open for Brandon Lockridge, Blake Perkins, Akil Baddoo, and Tyler Black. Up the middle, the Brewers have shown a willingness to stick with Joey Ortiz through struggles at the plate, and Brice Turang has his sights set on his first All-Star appearance.

In theory, Williams could fill a utility role early on in the season, but such a scenario is met with two issues. First, the Brewers projected utility infielder, Hamilton, is already receiving a ton of praise from the coaching staff. Second, the Brewers likely want to give Williams consistent at-bats, meaning they won't hand him a spot on the big-league roster unless there's a clear path to him earning consistent opportunities.

Therefore, while Williams has had an eerily similar path to Durbin up to this point, it appears this is where their two journeys diverge. Expecting Williams to be up in the big leagues on April 18, like Durbin was, is an aggressive prediction, unless of course an injury or two pops up. That said, Williams will almost certain to be an important piece of the Brewers' roster at some point in 2026, and remains a key piece of their young core in the years beyond.