When the Milwaukee Brewers made the decision to trade closer Devin Williams over the offseason, it was hard not to feel shades of 2022, when the team unloaded All-Star door-slammer Josh Hader onto the San Diego Padres.
That latter trade didn't really work out for Milwaukee—currently-injured pitcher Robert Gasser is the only player on the team still remaining from that deal—though there was hope that the Williams one would age better.
And, in some sense, it has, thanks to the emergence of Caleb Durbin (.710 OPS, 105 wRC+) as the team's starting third baseman.