The Yankees added to their bullpen on Friday night, dealing catcher Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.
Cruz, now 34, was initially drafted by the Royals as an infielder in 2007 but converted to pitching, and he spent time in the independent leagues and Mexico before making it to the Majors in 2022. The righty had a 4.86 ERA with a 3.27 FIP and 109 K last season in 66 2/3 innings with the Reds, posting the third-highest strikeout rate (37.8%) and highest K/9 (14.72) among all hurlers with at least 50 innings pitched.
He has a 4.52 ERA and 228 K in 147 1/3 innings over 141 games in parts of three seasons with the Reds, and is in his final pre-arbitration season, so the Yankees have four years of team control and he has all three of his minor-league options remaining.
Jackson, 28, hit .122 with three homers and 12 RBI in 58 games for the Rays last season, throwing out 11 of 39 potential base stealers (28.2 percent). The former No. 6 overall pick is a .132 career hitter in 124 games with four teams, but he is potentially the top candidate to be the Yankees’ backup catcher right now, as C/1B Ben Rice, utility man J.C. Escarra, and Jesus Rodriguez, who finished last year at Double-A, are the other catchers on the 40-man roster behind Austin Wells.
Trevino, 32, hit .215 with eight homers and 28 RBI in 74 games last season with the Yankees, his third since being acquired from Texas at the end of spring training in 2022. He is in his final arbitration season and was projected to make $3.4 million, so his departure nets the Yankees roughly $2 million in payroll flexibility even if both Jackson and Cruz are on the MLB roster this season.