How the Jose Trevino trade to the Reds positively affects the Pirates

Over the last few days, a National League Central rival has made a few moves to get into the MLB offseason action. The Reds first claimed former Pirates prospect Roansy Contreras, and then made a questionable trade to acquire a catcher from the Yankees for a solid reliever in their bullpen, along with another player.

The trade came as a surprise when it happened, but now that it has settled in, it looks like a positive for the Pirates. First of all, the Reds' bullpen got weaker with the subtraction of Fernando Cruz, which is a significant loss to their average bullpen. He was a solid arm in 2024, and left in exchange for Jose Trevino, a below-average hitter that will serve as their backup catcher.

Reds recent trade for Jose Trevino with the Yankees will help the Pirates in 2025.

Adding Trevino is a decent pickup for the Reds on defense, but he has been below average at the plate during his entire career. In fact, his ability behind the plate has led him to a career fWAR of 7.3, which is nothing spectacular, but with how lousy his bat has been, that is impressive.

Last season at the plate, Trevino put up an OPS of .642, belted eight home runs, and produced a wRC+ of 83. He has a very low strikeout rate of 17.5%, but that still couldn't counteract a -8 batting run value. Defensively, his fielding run value was rated a +9, from his excellent blocks above average of +7 and framing of +10. His arm? Well, that wasn't quite so top-notch; you may remember the Red Sox setting a franchise record with nine stolen bases against Trevino on Sunday Night Baseball. His season-ending wrist surgery in 2023 seems to have sapped a good deal of that strength.

His value behind the plate will pair well with a solid hitter in Tyler Stephenson, but where the Pirates are positively impacted is through what the Reds had to give up.

Losing Cruz in the Cincinnati bullpen is a big loss, as he had one of the best strikeout rates in baseball last year at 37.8%. With that strikeout stuff came walks at a high rate of 12.2%. He also added an earned run average (ERA) of 4.86, but his xERA was only 3.97. Additionally, his FIP was great at 3.27, but his xFIP of 2.67 was even better.

That hurts them and will weaken their pitching depth. Not facing Cruz as much will help the Pirates, as they have tended to struggle against him. Oneil Cruz and Nick Yorke hit home runs off him in 2024, but everyone else scuffled when confronted with his splitter. The Pirates, as a team, were 4-for-21 against Cruz with eight strikeouts.

Getting him out of the division was very helpful to the Pirates, who look to contend in 2025. The Reds may sign another high leverage arm to replace him, but for now, this makes things look a little better for Pittsburgh next season.