The Yankees trade Jose Trevino to the Reds for reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson

On By Littum

The Cincinnati Reds have found their backup for catcher Tyler Stephenson, trading for former Platinum Glove winner Jose Trevino from the New York Yankees, sending reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.

The Yankees sent Trevino, who is a free agent after the 2025 season, to save money. Trevino is expected to earn $3.6 million in arbitration, while both Cruz and Jackson earn less than $1 million each.

The Reds needed a backup catcher after declining their option on Luke Maile, the team’s backup the past two seasons. Moving Trevino to Cincinnati transfers this problem from the Reds to the Yankees. Trevino was supposed to be the backup for Austin Wells. Trevino was a personal favorite of Gerrit Cole and the primary catcher for his Cy Young Award season in 2023. He is also one of the best defenders in the sport, especially when it comes to pitch framing. Wells credited Trevino for his mentorship in helping him become a finalist for the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year award.

The 2022 Platinum Glove winner will not only back up Stephenson, but could also free up Stephenson to DH more and maybe even play first base. Stephenson caught a career-best 1,001 innings last season and had the best defensive season of his career. However, Trevino is one of the game’s best defenders, giving the Reds a solid duo.

“We all know how much catchers get hurt, so you want to have somebody that if something happened to one of those guys, the other guy could take the brunt of the starts,” Krall said. “We have not had that in the past; we’ve had guys who are more traditional backups.”

What the Yankees have now is Cruz’s split-finger fastball, one of the game’s most devastating pitches. Cruz returns to the spot where he made perhaps the biggest pitch of his young career, inducing an inning-ending double play from Aaron Judge to preserve the Reds’ one-run lead in an eventual 3-2 victory.

Cruz, 34, was drafted by the Royals in the sixth round of the 2007 draft as a shortstop out of Puerto Rico. His route had two position changes, two organizations and 14 different leagues, including three different leagues in Mexico and in five different countries.

In 2022, Cruz turned down offers in Mexico to make one last run in the big leagues and finally signed a minor league deal with the Reds. Cruz earned a job at Triple A and then a call to the big leagues that September.

Over three seasons, Cruz is 4-11 with a 4.52 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 147 1/3 innings. Last season, his 37.8 percent strikeout rate was in the top 1 percentile of all of baseball, but his 12.2 percent walk rate was in the bottom 7 percentile.

Cruz is a beloved figure in the Reds clubhouse, not only by his teammates, but by pretty much everyone who meets him and his ever-present smile. Cruz has the unbridled optimism of someone who waited 5,567 days from the day he was drafted to his debut.

“One of the best people I’ve ever been around in a clubhouse,” Krall said

His split-finger fastball is one of the best pitches in the game, described by his catchers as resembling a knuckleball. Cruz simply calls it his “gift from God.”

Cruz threw it 41.9 percent of the time, so hitters knew it was coming, but still whiffed on 59.3 percent of those pitches.

Just as Trevino’s trade created a void at backup catcher for the Yankees, the Reds will have to replace a workhorse pitcher who appeared in 69 games, including three starts as an opener.

“You don’t want to take Fernando out of your bullpen, but we felt there was some scarcity in the catching market and the relief market, there are more people available to bolster your bullpen,” Krall said.

The Reds signed Jackson to a minor league deal in November. Jackson, who turns 29 this Christmas, isn’t much of a hitter, but he’s a well-above-average one. Internally, JC Escarra is on the 40-man roster and the Yankees are high on his potential.

(Photo by Jose Trevino: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)