With a surprise late-Friday trade, the Yankees added a high-octane bullpen arm, trimmed a bit of payroll and lost an elite pitch-framer.
Jose Trevino, an All-Star in 2022 and among the game’s best at making balls look like strikes, has been shipped to the Reds for righty Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.
After his breakout first season with the Yankees upon arriving from the Rangers at the tail end of spring training, Trevino was mostly hurt in 2023 and lost his starting job in 2024, when Austin Wells emerged as what looks to be the future of the Yankees’ catching position.
Trevino was owed around $3.5 million in arbitration for 2025, which will be his walk year, and the Yankees can go cheaper on a backup and redirect that money elsewhere.
Jackson, a 28-year-old journeyman whom the Reds signed to a minor league deal, is well regarded defensively but has never hit in five major league seasons.
Cruz is the more significant piece of the trade.
The Yankees’ bullpen often struggled to pile up strikeouts last season, and Cruz does not struggle to miss bats.
Relying heavily on his splitter, Cruz struck out 109 in 66 ²/₃ innings last season (14.72 per nine innings).
He also walked 35 and pitched to a 4.86 ERA, making him another project for pitching coach Matt Blake.
A three-year major leaguer, Cruz is 34 but has not even reached arbitration yet.
For several years, he can be optioned to the minor leagues, and the Yankees have four years of contractual control.
In this swap, the Yankees have probably traded for a higher ceiling but gave away a high-floor player in Trevino.
Pitchers love throwing to Trevino, who is excellent at framing and blocking potential wild pitches but has a throwing arm that often was exposed last season.
At the plate, Trevino had not yet approached the heights of his first half of ’22 and owned a .611 OPS in ’23 and ’24.