Yankees and Reds trade Jose Trevino for Fernando Cruz

9:34 p.m.: The teams announced the trade.

9:20 p.m.: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on this relief effect Fernando Cruz and non-cadre catchers Alex Jackson we go back to New York.

9:19 p.m.: The Reds win Jose Trevino from the Yankees, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

Trevino is on the road for the second time in his career. The Yankees acquired him from the Rangers shortly after Opening Day 2022 in a deal that provided relief Albert Abreu to Arlington. This was a win for the New York front office as Trevino developed into a premier defensive catcher in the Bronx. Abreu, on the other hand, played seven times for the Rangers before they lost him to waivers.

The 2022 season was Trevino’s best. He played a career-high 115 games and hit .248/.283/.388 in 353 plate appearances. Trevino led all catchers with 21 defensive runs saved this season, earning an All-Star selection and a Gold Glove in the process.

Trevino has been New York’s primary catcher each of the last two years. His playing time and offensive production have declined, although his receiving skills continue to perform very well. Trevino has only appeared in 129 games over the last two years. In 2023, this was largely due to a torn ligament in his right wrist, which required season-ending surgery in July.

The 32-year-old remained healthy for most of last season. He missed a month between the All-Star break and mid-August because of a quadriceps strain. Trevino was otherwise on the active roster but quickly fell into a deep role. Rookie of the Year finalist Austin Wells is a superior offensive player who is considered an elite receiver-catcher in his own right.

Trevino was limited to 62 starts behind the plate overall. He was virtually a non-factor by the end of the year, appearing in only 14 games between his return from the injured list on August 15 and the end of the regular season. He made just two starts during the Yankees’ run to the World Series. He made 234 trips to the plate and hit .215/.288/.354 with eight home runs.

Part of the decline in playing time was due to Trevino’s difficulty controlling the running game. Only according to Statcast Yasmani Grandal had a higher average pop time (time to throw to second base on stolen base attempts) than Trevino’s 2.07-second mark. In his 544 1/3 innings behind the plate, opponents stole 57 bases out of 70 attempts. Trevino continues to perform exceptionally well due to his framing and blocking abilities, so he remains a valuable defender overall, but subpar arm strength has become an issue.

The Reds obviously placed great value on the players’ abilities. Trevino should resign Tyler Stephensonwho hit .258/.338/.44 with a career-high 19 home runs last season. Stephenson started 112 games and pitched just over 1,000 innings. He did not play first base in 1924, but has played there sporadically in previous seasons. Cincinnati could give Stephenson a few more modified days of rest at first base or designated hitter if they’re okay with Trevino logging more than 70 starts behind the plate.

Trevino has more than five years of service. MLTBR contributor Matt Swartz expects to make $3.4 million during his first trip through the arbitration process. Taking that into account brings the projected payroll to $104 million (courtesy of RosterResource). The Reds finished the 2023 season with a payroll of around $100 million and have indicated they will easily meet or even exceed that number next season.

Stephenson was the only catcher on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster. Obviously they needed an experienced replacement this winter, but it’s still surprising that the Reds would give up Cruz for a year in Trevino’s service. Cruz has been a fixture in Cincinnati’s bullpen for two years. He has spread shot command but has the ability to miss an elite hitter.

Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico, was drafted in 2007 as an infielder. He failed as a batsman and didn’t have an official ball at all between 2016 and 2021. Cruz switched to pitching in 2012 but remained active, eventually catching the attention of Reds scouts in the independent ranks. He dominated Triple-A opponents in 2022 and earned his first major league title as a 32-year-old in September.

Typically, players who don’t reach the majors until they’re 30 are quickly cut from the roster. However, Cruz performed well in his cameo at the end of the season and the Reds kept him in their 40-man squad. He has eclipsed 65 innings in each of the past two seasons, evolving from center in 2023 to one of David Bell’s more common leverage options ahead of closer Alexis Diaz.

The bottom line is that the results weren’t great. Cruz has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine in both seasons. He owns a 4.52 ERA over 147 1/3 career innings. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA find him far more interesting than actual run prevention suggests – a testament to his eye-popping swing-and-miss numbers.

Cruz has fired over 35% in each of the last two seasons. His overall strikeout rate during this period is 36.5%. Only among pitchers with more than 100 innings Josh Hader And Aroldis Chapman gave a better grade. Spencer Strider, Kirby Yates, Garrett Crochet, Jeff Hoffman, Bryan Abreu, Paul Skenes And Tyler Glasnow round out the top 10. Cruz is similarly dominant on a pitch basis. His swinging strike rate of 16.7% ranks fifth in this group – behind Strider, Hader, Andres Muñoz And Ryan Helsley.

His calling card is the splitter, one of the most effective throws in the sport. Cruz took advantage of the offer just over 40% of the time this year. Opponents only made contact about 40% of the time they struck. Batters hit .116 against it. Cruz used it as a target field for 88 of his 109 strikeouts.

More will follow.