The Brewers are bringing in Luis Rengifo on a one-year major league deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The veteran infielder has spent his entire seven-year MLB career with the Angels. He’s a client of MVP Sports Group. The team has yet to announce the move.
Feinsand adds that Rengifo will earn a $3.5MM base salary in 2026. The agreement includes a $10MM mutual option for 2027. Rengifo can also make an extra $1.5MM in incentives this year.
Milwaukee had a hole to address in the infield after dealing Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox. This might not be the move MLBTR’s Steve Adams had in mind when he wrote about the potential for another notable addition, but Rengifo could provide credible production at multiple spots. The 28-year-old had delivered three seasons of above-league-average offense before struggling mightily last year. He has considerable experience at second base, third base, and shortstop.
Rengifo debuted with the Angels in 2019. He held down the second base job for the majority of the season. The infielder managed an 83 wRC+ across 406 plate appearances. He earned poor marks for his work at the keystone (-4 Defensive Runs Saved, -4 Outs Above Average). Rengifo fell into part-time work over the next two seasons, scuffling at the plate but offering defensive versatility.
The 2022 campaign represented a breakout for Rengifo. He slugged 17 home runs in 127 games. Rengifo came into the year with just 14 career homers. He improved his hard-hit rate while striking out just 15.5% of the time. Rengifo maintained the offensive gains the following year, popping 16 home runs with a 115 wRC+.
Rengifo remained a valuable asset in 2024, though his production took a different shape. He only left the yard six times, but stole 24 bases and hit an even .300. Rengifo had totaled 18 thefts in the previous five MLB seasons. He’d maxed out at a .264 batting average. Biceps and wrist injuries limited Rengifo to 78 games, and could have been to blame for his lack of power.
Last season was a challenge for Rengifo. His OPS tumbled to .622, his worst mark since 2021. He did chip in nine home runs and 10 steals. Rengifo managed to stay healthy for the full year, playing in a career-high 147 games.
The switch-hitting Rengifo has typically been better from the right side. He’s slashed .268/.311/.438 against lefties in his career, compared to .242/.305/.360 when facing righties. Rengifo didn’t show noticeable splits last season, with just two points separating his OPS from each side of the plate.
It’s been more quantity than quality for Rengifo with the glove. He’s logged at least 98 appearances at all three infield positions excluding first base, but doesn’t have a DRS better than -4 at any spot. Rengifo posted a -5 DRS at third base last season, though he was a +5 at second base.
Photos courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez and Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Excellent move. The Brewers continue to brew.
Totally agree
Forgot about him…
But they just sent three infielders to Boston. Maybe they should have kept one of them.
And got two good pitchers back. Now they have an infielder back and the pitchers. See how that works?
And got 2 very intriguing arms for their excellent pitching development to work with, including a former top 20 prospect, who was also the top LHP prospect in all of baseball in 2024.
They also happen to have a massive amount of top IF prospects coming very soon. 1 year deal is perfect. They sold high on Durbin.
Why do both red sox and brewers fans try to act like thier teams swindled the other and won that trade essentially trashing the players involved? Can’t it be good for both teams..
Harrison is a high upside talent with some potential it didnt work well in sf or Boston..both currently good pitching environments..let’s not think Milwaukee is the only place that can develop. Durbin finished 3rd in roy voting..sell high ok fine but you must give to get and he is the best player currently in this deal. Hamilton is fine for defense and speed..drohan was selected in a rule 5 and returned hes 27..Will mil unlock something? Who knows..I think this deal could work out for both teams but it could also just as easily not..also dont sleep on the draft picks headed to boston..maybe they draft a pitcher and trade him to mil for some talent down the line and the deal keeps going
Sneeky good
Bro hit 25% worse than league average last year
Sometimes will look like he’s going to be a quality player. Sometimes looks like a guy who doesn’t belong on an MLB field.
Hope the Brew Crew can unlock something in him. It wasn’t going to happen here.
Good for him. Goes from perpetual Siberia to a playoff contender.
*perpetual siberia to perpetual 1st round out.
I thought he’d be an interesting trade target last year but he seemed to butcher everything that came towards him defensively during a series against Toronto. Is that normal for him?
Normally he’s OK defensively. Not the greatest range at second but he makes the routine plays. Not a starting caliber shortstop but OK for a game here and there.
He seemed to really struggle at third base. I don’t think he has the arm for the position so he tries to hurry everything and ends up butchering plays.
honestly his batted ball data has not changed THAT much over the years. he’s always been a guy that does a relatively good job limiting K’s but just doesn’t impact the ball with much authority. combine that with average speed and you tend to get streaky performers.
I know he had some good slash lines for a few years but the underlying data suggests he’s probably more of like a .700-.725 OPS guy at best. if the Brewers can unlock more while shuffling him around the field though, that’s a pretty solid low cost investment
Perfect analysis. He’s always been streaky but I never looked under the hood. When you put lots of balls in play but not over the wall, BABIP will determine your success and BABIP is notoriously unstable in small sample sizes.
but over the course of a year, it tends to average out.
So it looks like no Paredes anymore?
This shouldn’t necessarily impact that. I doubt he’s getting very much.
Think the Padres already have infield
Have to ask Gwnnying about it
It appears the Crew chose speed over power.
as is typical. He has the versatility and speed they always demand out of any infielder.
Pirates next stop I hope. They need to work out a deal centered around him and Bart
I would think it doesn’t make sense for them to get him. And I keep hearing Paredes not fitting the Brewers model, whatever that means. Maybe he costs too much for being a pretty one-dimensional player.
As a Cardinals fan I don’t like this.
It doesn’t matter too much if you like it or not, the Cardinals are in rebuild mode.
Suck it cellar dweller. /s
Good for him. If he can stay healthier and get back to 2023 (and earlier) form, a really solid piece who can move around. Wish it had worked out better the last few years in Anaheim.
MLB free agency is getting stale. Only a week until games start. Cubs/Sox on the 20th. As a Sox fan, you want to win that game. I’d throw Smith six innings to beat the Cubs in the spring.
College games on today, never followed NCAA baseball much. I cant stand the sound of the metal bats.
I wish there were more MLB vs. NCAA games — looking forward to the Gophers vs Twins. I imagine it is wood bats.
I’ll be rooting for the Gophers!
College baseball has gotten really good the last few years. SEC baseball has huge crowds and a great atmosphere.
cutting the draft to 20 rounds has pushed a lot of talent to the college ranks and the power conferences have invested in the sport.
don’t love the ping, either, but the college game is a ton of fun to watch; especially if your MLB team is losing.
Something’s brewing in Milwaukee!
Dude drove me nuts. He seems more concerned about the size of bubble he is blowing than fielding a routine ground ball.
Another PITA hitter to annoy anyone that has to face him.
What does PITA stand for?
Pain in the a**…
Rengifo is a game changer. I think he was hurt last year. Brewers know best.
I think he was getting bad coaching advice.
So on brand
Could be a sneaky good add.
Good move for Milwaukee, I thought they would get Paredes but Rengifo is a good fit. Now he goes to 3rd with possibly Ortiz and Hamilton splitting time at short or Hamilton as just backup infielder against tough righties as both Ortiz and Rengifo have better splits vs lefties
Hits lefties much better than righties, and has for a while. Maybe he should give up switch hitting and just focus on hitting from the right side. But in any case, if nothing else and no other prospects are called up to start the season, he and David Hamilton should form an early season 3B platoon that puts last year’s early season Dunn/Capra 3B platoon to shame. Until Durbin came up and put them both out of business.
Hey brew fans
Halos fan here. Is a solid player but super streaky at the plate. Can carry you for three or four games then go 2 for 31 the next five games
In Matt We Trust