Yankees Trade Jose Trevino to Reds For Fernando Cruz, Alex Jackson

The New York Yankees have traded veteran catcher Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds for righty reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.

Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino (39) walks to the bull pin to warm up before playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees have made another trade.

On Friday night, the Yankees sent backup catcher Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.

The New York Post was the first to report this deal before the Yankees officially announced it shortly thereafter.

There had been recent rumors that the Yankees could deal Trevino, who lost his starting job to 25-year-old Austin Wells during the 2024 season. Trevino was also entering the final year of his deal with New York.

With Wells emerging as the Yankees' No. 1 catcher, the organization felt Trevino was expendable and made a move to bring in another veteran reliever as well as a potential backup catcher.

As Yankees On SI reported ahead of the trade deadline in July, the Yankees were persistently pursuing multiple Reds' relievers. Although a deal between the two sides didn't happen in season, a trade has now ultimately come to fruition in the offseason with the Yankees getting Cruz.

Cruz, 34, doesn't reach arbitration until the 2026 season given he did not make his MLB debut until 2022, so he has several years of team control attached to him.

Cruz, whose most used pitch is a splitter, brings swing-and-miss stuff to the Yankees' bullpen, notching 109 strikeouts in 66.2 innings (69 appearances) and an MLB-leading 14.7 K/9 in 2024. The righty was in the 99th percentile in both strikeout percentage and whiff percentage last season, per Baseball Savant.

However, he had an ERA of 4.86 and his 12.2% walk percentage ranked in the bottom 7% of the league. Cruz's ground ball percentage, barrel percentage and hard hit rate also were also among the worst in baseball.

Cruz holds a career 4.52 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 141 appearances. Right-handed batters have hit just .187 off of him overall and .181 in 2024. Lefty swingers have produced a .238 average against him, but hit .264 versus Cruz last year.

The Yankees lost Clay Holmes to the Mets, but replaced him with All-Star closer and two-time Reliever of the Year winner Devin Williams. They re-signed Jonathan Loaisiga (expected back in April after 2024 Tommy John surgery) and have now brought in Cruz.

The Yankees could still re-sign key high-leverage relievers in lefty Tim Hill and righty Tommy Kahnle as well.

As for Jackson, he has a chance to win the backup catcher spot behind Wells on the Yankees' Opening Day roster. Jackson, 28, hit .122 with a .438 OPS, three home runs and 12 RBI in 58 games for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. He also had two defensive runs saved behind the plate with the Rays.

Jackson has 124 games of big-league experience and signed a minor league deal with the Reds earlier in the offseason.

The Yankees will miss Trevino's defensive skills as a backstop. The 32-year-old ranked fifth in baseball with 10 catcher framing runs and a 50.7% strike rate. In 2022, Trevino was an AL All-Star and won a Gold Glove Award, a Fielding Bible Award and the Platinum Glove Award as the best defensive player in his league.