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MILWAUKEE -- You don¡¯t have to be the biggest player on the field for Pat Murphy to love you. Two of his all-time favorites at Arizona State were 5-foot-11 Willie Bloomquist, who went on to play 14 years in the big leagues and now follows in Murphy¡¯s footsteps as ASU¡¯s head baseball coach. Then came 5-foot-9 Dustin Pedroia, who emerged from ASU to become the American League Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2007, and the AL MVP Award winner the year after that. Pedroia remains so close to his old coach that he visited the Brewers to pump them up as recently as September.

Now that he¡¯s managing in Milwaukee, Murphy is eager to get a closer look at Caleb Durbin, the versatile infielder acquired from the Yankees in last week¡¯s Devin Williams trade. The first thing Brewers fans will notice about Durbin when he steps on the field in Spring Training is that he stands 5-foot-6.

¡°I¡¯ve known about this kid,¡± Murphy said. ¡°I saw him play in the Northwoods League as a college player -- he was in Fond du Lac [Wisc.] and my kid [Kai] was playing in the league. Then I saw him parts of two years in the [Arizona] Fall League. ¡­

¡°When we were considering the trade, I know our people understood what kind of guy we got here. He fits a team that plays the way we¡¯ve played recently, and we¡¯re as excited as heck.¡±

Durbin fits because of his recent emphasis on defensive versatility, which means he¡¯ll help to give Murphy and the Brewers an array of options as they decide how to replace free-agent shortstop Willy Adames. If they slide over Platinum Glove Award-winning second baseman Brice Turang, Durbin can play some second base. Or, if they opt to leave Turang put because of his success at second and move third baseman Joey Ortiz instead, Durbin has experience at third. Murphy said he wants to see Durbin play both spots during Spring Training before making any decisions.

There¡¯s also Durbin¡¯s baserunning, which was on display in this year¡¯s AFL as he broke the league record with 29 stolen bases. It¡¯s less about blazing speed and more about being a smart baseball player, Murphy said.

Durbin had changed teams once before -- the Braves shipped him to the Yankees in December 2022 as part of a package for lefty reliever (and onetime Brewers farmhand) Lucas Luetge, so he always knew a trade was a possibility, even after New York added him to the 40-man roster in November. But the Brewers were not on Durbin¡¯s radar, he said, though he ¡°couldn¡¯t be more excited¡± to land in Milwaukee. Durbin grew up in Illinois so close to the Wisconsin border that he could get to then-Miller Park more quickly than Wrigley Field, and his summers in the Northwoods League gave him the chance to explore more of Wisconsin.

From what he knows about the young, athletic Brewers, Durbin thinks he¡¯ll be a fit.

¡°I think it¡¯s perfect,¡± said Durbin, who has a .781 OPS across four Minor League seasons, with growing power after hitting a career-best 10 home runs in 2024. ¡°From my sense of what the team¡¯s identity is, it¡¯s a lot of guys playing with a chip on their shoulder. That¡¯s kind of been something I play with my entire career growing up.¡±

The Brewers¡¯ Sal Frelick, a 5-foot-8 outfielder, plays with the same scrappy mindset. He went undrafted out of high school but was offered baseball and football scholarships at Boston College and eventually proved to be a first-round Draft pick.

Durbin, also undrafted out of Lake Forest (Ill.) High School, played baseball at Washington University in St. Louis before the Braves drafted him in the 14th round in 2021 and signed him for $50,000.

¡°I think other people care about [my height] more than obviously me,¡± Durbin said. ¡°The coaches I¡¯ve worked with, especially once I got to pro ball, it never felt like a hindrance. Maybe people on the outside, it¡¯s something they talk about more than the people I¡¯m around and working with.

¡°No coach has ever said, ¡®I don¡¯t know about doing this because you¡¯re too small, or doing that,¡¯¡± Durbin said. ¡°It¡¯s really been about what my skillset is and what I bring to the table. I understand it, obviously, because we¡¯re talking about professional baseball and the big leagues. I¡¯m more of an outlier as far as the height goes. But at the end of the day, I think I¡¯ve had really good people around me throughout my life who have always believed in me.¡±