The Yankees and Reds finalized a trade on Friday night that sends catcher to Cincinnati for reliever and non-roster catcher . Trevino is on the move for the second time in his career. The Yankees landed him from the Rangers shortly after Opening Day 2022 in a deal that sent reliever to Arlington. That was a win for the New York front office, as Trevino developed into a quality defensive catcher in the Bronx. Abreu, on the other hand, pitched seven times with the Rangers before they lost him on waivers. The 2022 season has been Trevinos best. He appeared in a career-high 115 games, hitting .248/.283/.388 through 353 plate Tyler Bey Jersey appearances. Trevino led all catchers with 21 Defensive Runs Saved that season, earning an All-Star selection and a Gold Glove. Trevino has opened each of the past two years as New Yorks primary catcher. His playing time and offensive production have dropped, though he continues to grade very highly for his receiving skills. Trevino has only appeared in 129 games over the past two years. In 2023, that was largely the result of a ligament tear in his right wrist that nece sitated season-ending surgery in July. The 32-year-old stayed mostly heathy this past season. He mi sed a month between the All-Star Break and the middle of August because of a quad strain. Trevino was otherwise on the active roster but fell into a depth role. Rookie of the Year finalist is a superior offensive player who grades as an elite receiving catcher in his own right. Trevino was limited to 62 starts behind the plate overall. Hed basically become a non-factor by the end of the year, as he appeared in just 14 games between his return from the injured list on August 15 and the end of the regular season. He only got two starts during the Yankees run to the World Series. He took 234 trips to the plate and hit .215/.288/.354 with eight home runs. Part of the dip in playing time has been attributable to Trevinos difficulty controlling the running game. According to Statcast, only had a higher average pop time (throw time to second base on stolen base attempts) than Trevinos 2.07 second mark. Opponents swiped 57 bases out of 70 attempts in his 544 1/3 innings. Trevino continues to grade exceptionally highly for his framing skills and blocking ability, so he remains a valuable defender, but the subpar arm strength has become an i sue. The Reds evidently placed a lot of value on those receiving skills. Trevino should back up , who hit .258/.338/.444 with a career-high 19 homers this past season. Stephenson started 112 games and tallied a little more than 1000 innings. He didnt play any first base in 24 but has played there sporadically in prior seasons. Cincinnati could give Stephenson a few more modified rest days at first base or designated hitter if theyre comfortable with Trevino logging 70+ starts behind the dish. Trevino has over five years of service time. MLTBR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.4MM salary during his last trip through the arbitration proce s. Taking that on pushes the teams projected payroll to $104MM (courtesy of ). The Reds ended the 23 campaign with a payroll around $100MM and have indicated theyre comfortable matching or exceeding that number. Stephenson had been the only catcher on Cincinnatis 40-man roster. They obviously needed to acquire a veteran backup, but its still surprising to see the Reds relinquish Cruz for one year of Trevinos services. Cruz has been a fixture in Cincinnatis bullpen for the last two years. He has scattershot command but elite bat-mi sing ability. Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico, was drafted as an infielder back in 2007. He flamed out as a hitter and was out of affiliated ball entirely between 2016-21. Cruz converted to pitching in 2012 and continued to plug away, however, eventually catching the attention of Reds scouts in the independent ranks. He dominated Triple-A opponents in 2022 and earned his first major league call as a 32-year-old that September. Typically, players who dont reach the majors until theyre in their 30s are quickly dropped from the roster. Cruz pitched well in his late-season cameo, however, and the Reds kept him on their 40-man. He has topped 65 innings in each of the past two seasons, building from middle relief in 2023 to become one of David Bells more frequent leverage options in front of closer . The bottom line results have not been great. Cruz has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine in both seasons. He owns a 4.52 ERA acro s 147 1/3 career innings. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA find him significantly more interesting than the actual run prevention would suggest a testament to his gaudy swing-and-mi s numbers. Cruz has fanned over 35% of opponents in each of the last two seasons. He carries a cumulative 36.5% strikeout rate over that stretch. Among pitchers with 100+ innings, only and have posted a better mark. , , , , , and round out the top 10. Cruz is similarly dominant on a per-pitch basis. His 16.7% swinging strike rate ranks fifth among that group trailing Strider, Hader, and . Pitching isnt solely about strikeouts, of course, but most pitchers who mi s bats at those rates are impact arms. Cruz holds himself back to some extent by i suing too many free pa ses. He walked 12.2% of batters faced this year and has given out free pa ses to 11.4% of opponents in his career. Thats a concern, but its easy to see why the Yankees identified him as an upside play. Cruzs calling card is a low-80s splitter, which is one of the most effective pitches in the sport. Cruz used the offering a little more than 40% of the time this year. Opponents only made contact around 40% of the time they swung at it. Batters hit .116 against it. Cruz used it as the finishing pitch for 88 of his 109 strikeouts. Exceptional as the splitter was, opponents teed off on his other two offerings a 94 MPH four-seam fastball and a cutter that sits in the high 80s. Cruz has preferred to mix all three pitches rather than fully unleashing the splitter. Whether thats because of his own comfort or the preference of Cincinnatis coaching staff isnt clear, though it wouldnt be a surprise if the Yankees pushed him to lean more frequently on that pitch. New York allowed to abandon his fastball and throw e sentially all changeups for his entire playoff run, for instance. Cruz has just over two years of big league service. Hes under club control for four seasons. The extended control window isnt a huge factor for a pitcher wholl turn 35 in March. Its a boost in the short term, though, as the Yankees can plug him into the bullpen for around the league minimum salary in 2025. Jackson, who turns 29 on Christmas, rounds out the return to backfill the catching depth. He signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati last month and will not occupy a 40-man roster spot. Jackson appeared in a career-high 58 games for the Rays last season, hitting .122 over 159 plate appearances. Hes a career .132/.224/.232 hitter over parts of five campaigns. Jackson should get a Spring Training invite, where he can compete with 29-year-old who is on the 40-man roster but hasnt appeared in the majors for the backup job behind Wells. first reported that Trevino was being traded to Cincinnati. was first with the entire trade. Images courtesy of Imagn. Dwight Powell Jersey