After losing Juan Soto to the New York Mets, the New York Yankees have been among MLB’s busiest teams in the offseason. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that they’ve sent Jose Trevino the Cincinnati Reds.
In return, righty reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson are on their way to the Bronx.
Sherman went on to add that the move reinforces Austin Wells place as the Yankees’ starting pitcher next season.
“In Trevino, NYY lose pitch whisperer/big into prep work, but due to be FA after ’25 and Wells now clearly No. 1 catcher,” Sherman continued in a separate tweet. “Cruz not yet arb (arbitration) eligible though 35 in March. Had 4.86 ERA in ’24, but 36.1 K pct was 6th-among RP with 50IP. NYY saves few million to perhaps redirect.”
Cruz seems like the apple of New York’s eye in this deal. The three-year veteran threw 109 strikeouts last season, the most of any reliver in 2024.
Trevino’s time with the Yankees comes to an end after three seasons, including All-Star honors in 2022. He batted .215/.288/.354 in 73 appearances last year.
Reds GM on Jose Trevino: ‘Something We Felt We Had to Do’
In the hours after the trade was made official, Nick Krall, President of Baseball Operations for the Reds, spoke with the media on a Zoom call, according to MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf.
He told reporters that Cincinnati felt they had to do the deal in an effort to upgrade their defense.
“We looked at it as a guy that can really upgrade our defense at catching and work really well with the pitching staff,” Krall said, according to Stumpf. “This is something we felt we had to do. Getting a plus-plus defensive catcher to go with Tyler [Stephenson], we really felt it has a chance to be a good combination.”
Trevino is just the latest of New York veterans to be dealt this offseason. After losing out on Soto, the Yankees have taken an aggressive approach to retooling the roster ahead of 2025.
Yankees Deal for Closer Devin Williams
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first with reports that Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams is now a Yankee. New York sent lefty starter Nestor Cortes and second base prospect Caleb Durbin to Milwaukee.
Williams is a sixth-year reliever and was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023. He made 22 appearances with the Brewers last season, giving up only one home run and recording a 1.25 ERA.
For the Yankees, 2024 was a down year for Cortes, who started 31 games, finishing with a 9-10 record and 3.77 ERA. He’ll get an opportunity to bounce back next season with Milwaukee.
New York’s acquisition of Williams is a big win on consensus. MLB Network’s Jim Duquette, in an appearance on SNY, called the 30-year-old one of the best closers in baseball.
“The Yankees pick up one of the top closers in the game in Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers,” Duquette said on December 13. “Williams has had an excellent career. Last year was a little short, because of the fact that he had an injury leading into the season, but when he came back he was as dominant as you can have as a backend reliever.”
Generating runs isn’t the focus right now for the Yankees. But they’ve taken a number of steps towards preventing them.
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Yankees Trade Former All-Star in 2-for-1 Deal with Reds