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Jose Trevino

Reds Sign Jose Trevino To Extension

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The Reds and catcher Jose Trevino have agreed to an extension. The Paragon Sports International client was already under contract for $3.425MM for 2025 and set to hit free agency after that. This new deal now runs through 2027 with a club option for 2028. Trevino will reportedly get $5.25MM in each of the two guaranteed years. The option is valued at $6.5MM with a $1MM buyout. That means it’s $11.5MM in new money over two years, though the club option means the Reds extend their potential window of control by three years.

Trevino, 32, still hasn’t played a regular season game for the Reds. He was just acquired from the Yankees in December, with reliever Fernando Cruz  and Alex Jackson going the other way. During his time with the Rangers and Yankees over the previous seven seasons, he was never much of a hitter but has emerged as a strong defender behind the plate.

The Yanks acquired Trevino from the Rangers in April of 2022, sending Albert Abreu and Robby Ahlstrom the other way. Through the end of the 2021 season, Trevino had a batting line of .245/.270/.364. That translated to a wRC+ of 65, indicating he was about 35% below league average at the plate. His defense was graded around par during his first few seasons but he seemed to take a leap forward in his final year with Texas. Publicly available metrics graded him as one of the best pitch framers in the league that year.

His first year in the Bronx went quite well and stands out as his best season yet. He hit 11 home runs, more than doubling his previous career high of five. His .248/.283/.388 batting line was still subpar overall, leading to a wRC+ of 90, but that’s about par for a catcher. When combined with his excellent framing and good work behind the plate overall, he was worth 3.8 wins above replacement, per the calculations of FanGraphs.

Injuries got in the way in the subsequent two seasons. A right wrist tear required surgery in 2023 and then a left quad strain sent him to the injured list last year. Over those two campaigns, he got into just 129 games total. His offense fell to a combined .213/.275/.336, wRC+ of 72, but he still produced 2.4 fWAR on the strength of his defense.

The Reds already had Tyler Stephenson as their primary catcher going into this year but clearly liked the idea of Trevino as a complement. They effectively have opposite profiles, since Stephenson is more of a bat-first guy with lesser work while donning the tools of ignorance. The Reds subtracted a big strikeout pitcher from their bullpen in order to get Trevino, sending Cruz to the Yankees. After a few weeks in camp, they are clearly comfortable enough to keep Trevino around into the future as well.

Trevino’s presence has become more important in the short term, as Stephenson is set to begin the season on the IL due to an oblique strain. Trevino himself got a bit of a scare, as he was recently hit on the hand by a foul tip, but his tests came back clean and he appears to be on track to start the season healthy.

Turning to the long term, the Reds are surely hoping this will solidify their catching corps, which was previously fairly uncertain. As mentioned, Trevino was set to hit free agency after 2025. Stephenson is only under club control through 2026.

The top catching prospect in the system is Alfredo Duno, but he’s not close to the majors. He’s only 19 years old, for one thing. His professional résumé consists of 45 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 and 32 Single-A games last year. All signs point to a bright future but he won’t be in Cincinnati for a while.

With this new deal, it’s possible for the club to roll with the Trevino/Stephenson pairing for the next two years. By then, perhaps Duno will have worked his way to the upper levels of the minors and put himself in position to replace Stephenson. Even if not, the Reds will have Trevino in place for 2027 and will just need to find a complementary player. If all is going well, they can bring Trevino back for 2028 as well.

The $5-8MM range is a fairly standard AAV for a veteran catcher in his mid-30s, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. In recent years, Mitch Garver and Yadier Molina were the only two backstops age-33 or older to surpass that range. Garver was signed to be more of a bat-first catcher/designated hitter while Molina was a legend in St. Louis. Players like Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Higashioka, Yan Gomes, Martín Maldonado and Roberto Pérez have been in that $5-8MM window.

Looking ahead to next winter, this takes one of the more notable catchers off the board. For the 2025-26 offseason, the top free agent catchers are going to be J.T. Realmuto and Danny Jansen. Realmuto will be going into his age-35 season and might sign an extension with the Phillies before then. Jansen has had good numbers at times but has had a hard time staying healthy. Trevino would have been an interesting glove-first option for clubs but that won’t be the case now that he’s sticking in Cincinnati.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that the Reds and Trevino agreed to a deal running through 2027 with the 2028 club option. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reported the full financial details. Photos courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images.

Jose Trevino Avoids Fracture On Right Thumb

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4:55pm: Wittenmyer reports that today’s CT scan showed no fracture, and that Trevino will likely avoid the injured list. He’s currently considered day-to-day by the club.

4:23pm: Reds catcher Jose Trevino was pulled from yesterday’s game after being struck on his throwing hand by a foul tip. As noted by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Trevino was sent for “precautionary” x-rays that came back inconclusive yesterday. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon noted today that Trevino was being sent for a CT scan on his thumb, though results of that latest round of testing have not yet been reported.

Losing Trevino would be a devastating blow to Cincinnati, as they’ll already be without primary catcher Tyler Stephenson to start the season due to an oblique strain. That left Trevino as the club’s starting catcher to open the season, with Austin Wynns likely to slot in as the club’s backup. Acquired from the Yankees for veteran reliever Fernando Cruz over the offseason, Trevino hit a lackluster .230/.279/.361 in three seasons with the Yankees but offered a strong glove behind the plate.

If Trevino also misses time, Wynns may need to be supplemented with an external addition given the club’s lack of depth options behind the plate. Will Banfield and Michael Trautwein are both in camp as non-roster invitees, but neither has played in the majors before and each has less than 100 games of experience at even the Triple-A level. Adding a new catcher into the fold isn’t something the Reds seem keen on doing, as Wittenmyer notes that manager Terry Francona expressed a strong preference to keep the catching corps in-house.

“We don’t want to do that. I think we value guys that know our pitchers,” Francona said, as relayed by Wittenmyer. “And again, I don’t think it’s going to be a terribly long time (without Stephenson). But having somebody try to come in right now, hoo-boy, that’s a pretty big ask, trying to put down the right fingers and why you’re doing it.

An injury to Trevino could complicate that desire to avoid an external addition, particularly if Trevino requires a lengthy absence. Fortunately, the early signs seem to be positive about Trevino’s ability to play come Opening Day. Trevino himself seems confident he won’t need a trip to the injured list, as he told reporters (including Wittenmyer) that he “could play today.”

Of course, Trevino’s confidence that he can play doesn’t necessarily guarantee that he’ll avoid an injured list stint. That will surely depend to at least some extent on the results of today’s testing. If the Reds do end up needing to pursue an external option behind the plate, Yasmani Grandal is the best catcher still available in a fairly shallow market for catching talent. It’s also possible some non-roster veterans like Tucker Barnhart and Omar Narvaez could be made available in the coming weeks if they don’t break camp with their current clubs.

Tyler Stephenson To Begin Season On Injured List

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Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson has been diagnosed with a low-grade oblique strain and will open the 2025 season on the injured list, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He underwent an MRI yesterday after experiencing discomfort in his back and side, and the imaging has revealed a strain. The team has not yet provided an expected timetable for Stephenson’s return, though it’s not uncommon for players to require around a month to recover from even Grade 1 oblique strains.

It’s a tough blow for the Reds to start the season. After a down season in 2023, Stephenson delivered a nice rebound effort in 2024, slashing .258/.338/.444 while popping a career-best 19 home runs. That marks four times in parts of five MLB seasons that the now-28-year-old former first-round pick has been comfortably above average at the plate. He’s a career .267/.343/.427 hitter, which is solid production for any position but especially for a catcher, where the majority of his peers are below-average bats with a more defensive-minded approach to the game.

With Stephenson headed to the injured list, the door will open for offseason trade acquisition Jose Trevino to begin the season as Cincinnati’s starting catcher. The Reds picked up Trevino in a trade sending reliever Fernando Cruz to the Yankees.

While the 32-year-old Trevino isn’t much of a threat at the plate — career .236/.275/.362 batting line — he’s a premium defender who won a Platinum Glove as recently as 2022. The veteran’s throwing was uncharacteristically below-average in 2024, as he thwarted just 18.6% of stolen base attempts after sitting at 25.6% and 33.3% in the two prior seasons, respectively. However, Trevino is a plus framer who draws consistently excellent marks for his ability to block pitches in the dirt. He’ll probably hit at the bottom of the Reds’ order while Stephenson is on the mend.

Stephenson and Trevino are currently the only catchers on the Reds’ 40-man roster, so they’ll have to make a move to add a backstop before the season begins. Veteran Austin Wynns, who appeared in seven games for Cincinnati last year, is in camp as a non-roster invitee and stands as the favorite to come up to the roster. Catchers Will Banfield and Michael Trautwein have been in big league camp as well. It’s also possible that the Reds will scoop up a veteran backup option who opts out of a minor league deal elsewhere or grab a catcher off waivers, should anyone hit the wire as teams set their rosters in the latter stages of camp.

Yankees, Reds Swap Jose Trevino For Fernando Cruz

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The Yankees and Reds finalized a trade on Friday night that sends catcher Jose Trevino to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and non-roster catcher Alex Jackson.

Trevino is on the move for the second time in his career. The Yankees landed him from the Rangers shortly after Opening Day 2022 in a deal that sent reliever Albert Abreu to Arlington. That was a win for the New York front office, as Trevino developed into a quality defensive catcher in the Bronx. Abreu, on the other hand, pitched seven times with the Rangers before they lost him on waivers.

The 2022 season has been Trevino’s best. He appeared in a career-high 115 games, hitting .248/.283/.388 through 353 plate appearances. Trevino led all catchers with 21 Defensive Runs Saved that season, earning an All-Star selection and a Gold Glove.

Trevino has opened each of the past two years as New York’s primary catcher. His playing time and offensive production have dropped, though he continues to grade very highly for his receiving skills. Trevino has only appeared in 129 games over the past two years. In 2023, that was largely the result of a ligament tear in his right wrist that necessitated season-ending surgery in July.

The 32-year-old stayed mostly heathy this past season. He missed a month between the All-Star Break and the middle of August because of a quad strain. Trevino was otherwise on the active roster but fell into a depth role. Rookie of the Year finalist Austin Wells is a superior offensive player who grades as an elite receiving catcher in his own right.

Trevino was limited to 62 starts behind the plate overall. He’d basically become a non-factor by the end of the year, as he appeared in just 14 games between his return from the injured list on August 15 and the end of the regular season. He only got two starts during the Yankees’ run to the World Series. He took 234 trips to the plate and hit .215/.288/.354 with eight home runs.

Part of the dip in playing time has been attributable to Trevino’s difficulty controlling the running game. According to Statcast, only Yasmani Grandal had a higher average pop time (throw time to second base on stolen base attempts) than Trevino’s 2.07 second mark. Opponents swiped 57 bases out of 70 attempts in his 544 1/3 innings. Trevino continues to grade exceptionally highly for his framing skills and blocking ability, so he remains a valuable defender, but the subpar arm strength has become an issue.

The Reds evidently placed a lot of value on those receiving skills. Trevino should back up Tyler Stephenson, who hit .258/.338/.444 with a career-high 19 homers this past season. Stephenson started 112 games and tallied a little more than 1000 innings. He didn’t play any first base in ’24 but has played there sporadically in prior seasons. Cincinnati could give Stephenson a few more modified rest days at first base or designated hitter if they’re comfortable with Trevino logging 70+ starts behind the dish.

Trevino has over five years of service time. MLTBR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $3.4MM salary during his last trip through the arbitration process. Taking that on pushes the team’s projected payroll to $104MM (courtesy of RosterResource). The Reds ended the ’23 campaign with a payroll around $100MM and have indicated they’re comfortable matching or exceeding that number.

Stephenson had been the only catcher on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster. They obviously needed to acquire a veteran backup, but it’s still surprising to see the Reds relinquish Cruz for one year of Trevino’s services. Cruz has been a fixture in Cincinnati’s bullpen for the last two years. He has scattershot command but elite bat-missing ability.

Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico, was drafted as an infielder back in 2007. He flamed out as a hitter and was out of affiliated ball entirely between 2016-21. Cruz converted to pitching in 2012 and continued to plug away, however, eventually catching the attention of Reds’ scouts in the independent ranks. He dominated Triple-A opponents in 2022 and earned his first major league call as a 32-year-old that September.

Typically, players who don’t reach the majors until they’re in their 30s are quickly dropped from the roster. Cruz pitched well in his late-season cameo, however, and the Reds kept him on their 40-man. He has topped 65 innings in each of the past two seasons, building from middle relief in 2023 to become one of David Bell’s more frequent leverage options in front of closer Alexis Díaz.

The bottom line results have not been great. Cruz has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine in both seasons. He owns a 4.52 ERA across 147 1/3 career innings. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA find him significantly more interesting than the actual run prevention would suggest — a testament to his gaudy swing-and-miss numbers.

Cruz has fanned over 35% of opponents in each of the last two seasons. He carries a cumulative 36.5% strikeout rate over that stretch. Among pitchers with 100+ innings, only Josh Hader and Aroldis Chapman have posted a better mark. Spencer Strider, Kirby Yates, Garrett Crochet, Jeff Hoffman, Bryan Abreu, Paul Skenes and Tyler Glasnow round out the top 10. Cruz is similarly dominant on a per-pitch basis. His 16.7% swinging strike rate ranks fifth among that group — trailing Strider, Hader, Andrés Muñoz and Ryan Helsley.

Pitching isn’t solely about strikeouts, of course, but most pitchers who miss bats at those rates are impact arms. Cruz holds himself back to some extent by issuing too many free passes. He walked 12.2% of batters faced this year and has given out free passes to 11.4% of opponents in his career. That’s a concern, but it’s easy to see why the Yankees identified him as an upside play.

Cruz’s calling card is a low-80s splitter, which is one of the most effective pitches in the sport. Cruz used the offering a little more than 40% of the time this year. Opponents only made contact around 40% of the time they swung at it. Batters hit .116 against it. Cruz used it as the finishing pitch for 88 of his 109 strikeouts.

Exceptional as the splitter was, opponents teed off on his other two offerings — a 94 MPH four-seam fastball and a cutter that sits in the high 80s. Cruz has preferred to mix all three pitches rather than fully unleashing the splitter. Whether that’s because of his own comfort or the preference of Cincinnati’s coaching staff isn’t clear, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Yankees pushed him to lean more frequently on that pitch. New York allowed Tommy Kahnle to abandon his fastball and throw essentially all changeups for his entire playoff run, for instance.

Cruz has just over two years of big league service. He’s under club control for four seasons. The extended control window isn’t a huge factor for a pitcher who’ll turn 35 in March. It’s a boost in the short term, though, as the Yankees can plug him into the bullpen for around the league minimum salary in 2025.

Jackson, who turns 29 on Christmas, rounds out the return to backfill the catching depth. He signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati last month and will not occupy a 40-man roster spot. Jackson appeared in a career-high 58 games for the Rays last season, hitting .122 over 159 plate appearances. He’s a career .132/.224/.232 hitter over parts of five campaigns. Jackson should get a Spring Training invite, where he can compete with 29-year-old J.C. Escarra — who is on the 40-man roster but hasn’t appeared in the majors — for the backup job behind Wells.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported that Trevino was being traded to Cincinnati. The Post’s Joel Sherman was first with the entire trade. Images courtesy of Imagn.

Yankees Notes: Williams, Loaisiga, Bellinger, Trevino

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It’s been a frenetic week-plus for the Yankees, who over the past ten days have watched Juan Soto sign with the Mets and quickly pivoted to bring lefty Max Fried, closer Devin Williams and first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger into the fold. There’s still more on the Yankees’ short-term to-do list, but Williams also offered a glimpse at a potential conversation that could be had in the coming months. Asked by the YES Network’s Jack Curry about the possibility of signing a long-term contract in the Bronx, Williams replied that it’s “definitely an option.” As it stands, he’s heading into his final season of club control before free agency.

Williams has been one of the game’s most dominant relievers since making his debut. The 2020 National League Rookie of the Year ranks in the top-three of all big league pitchers (min. 200 innings) in both ERA (1.83, second) and strikeout rate (39.4%, third) since coming into the league.

Detractors might point to Williams surrendering what was effectively a season-ending home run to Pete Alonso against the Mets in the NLDS, but it’s rare for the righty to falter in that manner. Since 2020, his first full big league season, no pitcher in baseball has a higher win probability added than Williams. He’s been placed into 138 save/hold situations in his career and only blown the opportunity 10 times. Broadly speaking, Williams has done his best work in high-leverage spots, that lasting memory from the ’24 postseason notwithstanding.

A pitcher with Williams’ stuff and track record should have the opportunity to command one of the largest deals ever for a reliever next winter — provided he maintains that standard in his first season with the Yankees. Williams will pitch nearly all of this season at 30 years of age, turning 31 in September. Age and perhaps some health questions — he missed three months in 2024 with multiple stress fractures in his back — might keep him from quite reaching the same heights that Edwin Diaz (five years, $102MM) and his former teammate Hader (five years, $95MM) reached in free agency. Diaz was 29 in the first year of his contract. Hader was 30.

Still, Williams could reasonably expect to command at least four years, if not five, and he’d be able to push into the rarefied air of $16-20MM average annual values for relievers that have only been attainable for the game’s truly elite stoppers over the past few years. Diaz, Hader, Wade Davis, Liam Hendriks, Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman are the only relievers to command multi-year deals with AAVs of $16MM or more.

Whether the two sides will actually get into serious negotiations is an open question, but Williams’ ostensible openness is of some note. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $7.7MM in his final arbitration this coming season, and one would presume he and his reps at Klutch Sports are eyeing an annual salary of $18MM or more for his free agent seasons. It’d be a costly endeavor, but the Yankees have been willing to make huge commitments to the bullpen in the past (e.g. Chapman, Zack Britton).

Elsewhere in the Yankee bullpen is another potentially dominant arm: righty Jonathan Loaisiga. The Yanks more quietly re-signed the Nicaraguan-born righty this month. He’s currently eight months removed from an internal brace procedure to repair a UCL tear in his right elbow. Pitching coach Matt Blake told reporters today, including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, that the aim is for Loaisiga to be back in the Yankees’ big league bullpen by late April or early May.

The 30-year-old Loaisiga has only reached 50 innings in one big league season but has been excellent when healthy enough to take the ball. Dating back to 2020, the oft-injured righty sports a 2.98 ERA with a below-average 20.3% strikeout rate but a strong 6.5% walk rate and an elite 58% ground-ball rate. Since largely shelving his four-seamer in favor of a sinker, Loaisiga has averaged a blazing 98.1 mph on that sinker, also employing a changeup to help keep lefties off balance. It seems the current expectation is for Loaisiga to open the season on the injured list, but it may not be a particularly lengthy stay, based on the current trajectory of his rehab.

Of course, the headline-grabbing news of the week in the Bronx — beyond finalizing their eight-year deal with Fried and introducing him at a press conference today — was the Yankees’ completion of a trade to bring Bellinger to the Bronx. Rumors of talks between the Yankees and Cubs were plentiful, particularly once Soto signed with the Mets. The two teams finally lined up on a deal yesterday afternoon.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted not long after the trade that the Yankees had informed Bellinger he’ll be utilized in center field. General manager Brian Cashman pushed back on that today following the Fried presser (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), stating that there’s no firm decision on Bellinger’s defensive home. He could play any of center field, left field or first base for the Yankees next season, and that decision will be contingent on what the Yankees are able to accomplish throughout the remainder of the offseason. FOX Sports’ Deesha Thosar adds that manager Aaron Boone spoke to Bellinger last night, and Bellinger informed his new skipper he’s open to playing wherever needed.

That flexibility, plus the flexibility provided by Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s ability to play multiple spots, leaves Cashman a vast array of possibilities for the remainder of the offseason. The Yankees are reportedly intrigued by several free agent first basemen but could look to the outfield market and also have other areas of depth from which they could trade. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com suggests that catcher Jose Trevino, for instance, could find himself on the trade block in the weeks ahead.

There’s been some speculation that the Yankees could deal from their catching depth this winter, and they’ve already moved one of the five catchers they had on their 40-man roster, sending Carlos Narvaez to the Red Sox for a minor league pitcher and some international bonus pool space. With Austin Wells emerging as the starter behind the plate and backstops J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez joining Trevino on the 40-man roster, there’s still a good bit of depth. (That doesn’t even include catcher/first baseman Ben Rice, or catching prospect Rafael Flores, who’s not on the 40-man but just had a big season in Double-A.)

To be clear, there’s no indication that Trevino is expressly being shopped. But catching depth is always at a premium around the league, and this offseason’s market is particularly thin. The Yankees are a surefire luxury payor, and while Trevino’s projected $3.4MM salary (again, via Swartz) isn’t excessive, moving him could cut the Yankees’ spending by around $7MM after accounting for the CBT.

The 32-year-old Trevino hit just .215/.288/.354 in 234 plate appearances last year but graded out as a plus-plus defender. The 2022 Platinum Glove winner is a free agent after the season, and with a wealth of young catching options in Wells, Escarra, Rodriguez and Flores, it’d be understandable if the Yanks leveraged that depth by moving Trevino for some bullpen help or depth in another area of need.

AL East Notes: Refsnyder, Bichette, Lowe, Coulombe, Trevino

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Rob Refsnyder turns 34 next March, and the utilityman is considering calling it a career after the 2024 season comes to an end.  Speaking with Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, Refsnyder said he is “undecided” about returning for what would be his tenth MLB season, and was even thinking about retirement even before he joined the Red Sox during the 2021-22 offseason.  Once this year is over, Refsnyder said he’ll “take it step by step from there and decide what I do….You can still make a big impact not being in a uniform and it’s a lot easier for your family and their schedule.”

As per the terms of the contract extension Refsnyder signed in June 2023, the Sox hold a $2MM club option ($150K) on his services for 2025.  This option looks like a lock to be exercised if Refsnyder wishes to keep playing, as he has an excellent .298/.384/.472 slash line over 251 plate appearances in part-time duty for the Red Sox this season.  Still, Refsnyder is eager to spend more time with his family, and is perhaps keen to start working towards his longer-term goal of working in a front office.

Other items from around the AL East…

  • Bue Jays manager John Schneider gave MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other reporters an update on Bo Bichette, noting that the shortstop has started to increase baseball activities while working out at the Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin.  A timeline isn’t yet in place this early in Bichette’s recovery from a right calf strain, as the club will monitor his progress in the coming days or weeks before deciding on a possible rehab assignment.   Bichette suffered the calf strain on July 19 in Toronto’s 5-4 loss to the Tigers, continuing an all-around disastrous season that has seen Bichette bat only .223/.276/.321 over 330 plate appearances.  The former All-Star’s struggles are one of several reasons why the Blue Jays are out of the playoff race, and if Bichette isn’t showing progress in relatively short order, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jays just shut him down for the remainder of the season.
  • 2024 is the last guaranteed season of the six-year, $24MM extension Brandon Lowe signed with the Rays prior to Opening Day 2019, but Tampa still has a pair of club options ($10.5MM with a $1MM buyout for 2025, $11.5MM for 2026 with a $500K buyout) covering Lowe’s immediate future.  “Whether they pick up the option or they don’t, I feel like I’m putting myself in a good position to still be on a team next year,” Lowe told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, but Lowe noted that playing with the Rays “is all I know.  I like it here.  My friends are here.  We have a house here.  It’s comfortable.  I don’t know anything else.  I know this.”  Given how the Rays dealt a number of higher-priced veterans at the deadline, Topkin figures that Lowe’s continued presence on the roster means that the team will exercise the 2025 option and keep Lowe in Tampa Bay for an eighth season.  Lowe is more than doing his part at the plate to sway the Rays’ mind, as he is hitting .248/.330/.488 with 14 homers over 282 PA.
  • Danny Coulombe is “on track” in his rehab process and is aiming to return in late September, the Orioles left-hander told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko.  Coulombe is on the 60-day IL after undergoing surgery in June to remove bone spurs from his left elbow.  While he is still a few weeks away from getting onto a mound, Coulombe is up to throwing from 90 feet in games of catch.  The Orioles’ bullpen has struggled badly in August, leaving Baltimore in even greater need for whatever the ace setup man can provide whenever he is able to return to action.
  • The Yankees activated catcher Jose Trevino from the 10-day injured list on Friday, and Carlos Narvaez was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Yesterday’s game marked Trevino’s first action since a left quad strain forced him out of the Yankees’ 4-1 win over the Orioles on July 12.  Trevino figures to resume his catching platoon with Austin Wells, though Wells’ hot bat over the last month might have earned him a larger share of the playing time.

Yankees Place Jose Trevino On 10-Day IL With Grade 2 Quad Strain

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TODAY: Trevino has been diagnosed with a grade 2 quad strain and will be out for “some time,” Aaron Boone told reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic) this afternoon.

July 13: Catcher Jose Trevino has been placed on the Yankees’ 10-day injured list due to a left quad strain, the team announced prior to today’s game.  Carlos Narvaez was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and will now share catching duties with Austin Wells until Trevino recovers.

The injury occurred late in Friday’s 4-1 Yankees win over the Orioles, when Trevino slid home while scoring a run in the ninth inning.  Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post) today that a timeline isn’t yet known for Trevino’s return, as the catcher has returned to New York to undergo testing.

The lefty-righty platoon of Trevino and Wells have split the playing time almost as evenly as possible this season, as both players entered Saturday with exactly 59 games and 186 plate appearances apiece.  Trevino has been the slightly more productive of the two at the plate, with eight homers and a .244/.303/.411 slash line to Wells’ five home runs and .219/.312/.369 slash.

This translates to a 103 wRC+ for Trevino and a 97 wRC+ for Wells, and while Wells has been a strong defender in his own right, Trevino has continued to post his typical elite framing and blocking numbers.  While the Yankees might’ve preferred to see a former top-100 prospect like Wells have a bigger breakout in his first full Major League season, Trevino’s steady veteran presence and glovework has been a big boost to the team.

More will be known about Trevino’s recovery timeline once tests are complete, but if he is going to miss an extended period of time, it’ll put more pressure on Wells and rookie Narvaez to keep things steady at the catching position.  (Narvaez was briefly called up to the 26-man roster earlier this season but didn’t receive any in-game action, so he has yet to make his MLB debut.)  Ben Rice could be an option for some catching duty, though Rice has only caught one inning in his own rookie season, and New York will need him more pressingly at first base while Anthony Rizzo is out.  Depending on how long Trevino is out, the Yankees might now consider adding some veteran catching depth at the trade deadline, or perhaps sign an experienced backup to play ahead of Narvaez.

Scott Effross Out Several Months Due To Back Surgery

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates to the media today on several players on the roster. Notably, right-hander Scott Effross had back surgery in December and likely won’t be ready until the summer, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. In a more benign update, catcher Jose Trevino had a calf strain a few weeks ago and is a bit behind but is still expected to be ready by Opening Day, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.

Effross, 30, once looked like a nice pickup for the Yankees. The sidearmer made his debut in the majors with the Cubs in 2021 and was flipped to the Yankees at the 2022 deadline, with Hayden Wesneski going the other way. Between the two clubs, Effross made 74 appearances over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, allowing just 2.78 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 27.9% of batters faced, walked just 5.6% of them and got grounders on 45.1% of balls in play. He even looked to be moving towards a closer’s role, earning four saves and 19 holds in that time.

But he’s been on the shelf since late 2022 and now seems to be staying there. He landed on the injured list in August of 2022 due to a shoulder strain. In October of that year, it was announced that he would require Tommy John surgery, wiping out his entire 2023 season. Now this back surgery is going to prevent him from pitching in the first half of the 2024 campaign.

It’s an unfortunate series of events for a pitcher who was on such a positive trajectory. Assuming he is able to return at some point this summer, he’ll be looking to get back on track after a layoff of almost two full years. The Yanks will likely place him on the 60-day injured list once they need a roster spot. He’s slated to qualify for arbitration for the first time after this year and is on pace for free agency after 2027.

Without Effross, the high-leverage roles in the Yankee bullpen will go to Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga, Tommy Kahnle and Caleb Ferguson. Since the surgery happened months ago, the club has surely been aware of it and it shouldn’t suddenly lead to a change in their roster-building plans. But if they do decide to add to the relief mix, guys like Ryne Stanek, Brad Boxberger, Brad Hand and Aaron Loup are still available in free agency.

Trevino, 31, is projected to form part of the club’s catching duo alongside Austin Wells. He only played 55 games in 2023 due to wrist surgery but will be looking to get back on track to the form he showed in 2022. He played 115 games that year with roughly average offense for a catcher but his superlative defense led to him being valued as worth 3.8 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs,.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Holliday, Yankees

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The Red Sox have been focused on pitching help first and foremost this offseason, yet that isn’t the team’s only target area.  Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) that the Sox are looking at second basemen on both the trade and free agent markets, though a new infielder is likeliest to come via trade.  Breslow implied that the Red Sox would first like to address their pitching needs, so it may be some time yet before a second-base answer comes into focus.

A whopping 11 players saw at least a little time at second base for the 2023 Red Sox, but this revolving door combined for 0.0 bWAR, as only three teams got less production from their second basemen.  Enmanuel Valdez, Pablo Reyes, Bobby Dalbec, or (when he isn’t in center field) Ceddanne Rafaela all look like the top internal candidates for the keystone heading into the offseason, but Boston would clearly like to better solidify the position.  With a somewhat thin free agent class of midfielders available, it isn’t surprising that Breslow would prefer to bring in a higher-caliber upgrade in trade talks.

More from around the AL East…

  • Former first overall pick Jackson Holliday has been nothing but impressive over his two pro seasons, to the point that Orioles GM Mike Elias said it is “a very strong possibility” that Holliday could be on Baltimore’s Opening Day roster.  “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but he had an historic first full season in the minors….He’s going to be treated in this major league camp not like a prospect where we’re kind of having fun and having him in camp for the experience of it, but like a guy trying to make the team,” Elias told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com and other reporters.  Holliday has played mostly shortstop with some second-base time in the minors, and Elias said the 20-year-old will continue at those two positions in Spring Training.  Often seen as the Orioles’ shortstop of the future, Holliday’s exact position isn’t yet known due to the sheer glut of talent Baltimore has in the pipeline and on the MLB roster, particularly in the infield.  To this end, Elias isn’t concerned about finding playing time for everyone or keeping Holliday at a set position, since defensive versatility is “part of baseball now and it provides a lot of value.  There’s very, very, very, few players that just stand in the same spot and nowhere else.”
  • Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty) updates on the offseason progress of some players plagued by injuries in 2023.  Nestor Cortes was limited to 63 1/3 innings due to two rotator cuff strains, but Boone said the southpaw has now started a throwing program.  Anthony Rizzo is expected to have a normal offseason program after being cleared of post-concussion syndrome, hopefully concluding a bizarre sequence of events that saw Rizzo keep playing for more than two months after suffering an apparent concussion in late May.  Rizzo was placed on the IL in early August and then shut down for the season at the start of September, though Boone said that the first baseman was “probably game-ready and ready to go” by the end of the season.  Jose Trevino’s season was ended by wrist surgery in July but the catcher is expected to be set for the start of Spring Training.

Yankees Could Look To Trade Kyle Higashioka, Ben Rortvedt

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The Yankees were surely glad to have some catching depth when Jose Trevino needed season-ending wrist surgery just after the All-Star break. Kyle Higashioka took over the starting role, while Ben Rortvedt earned a call back to the majors to serve as the backup. When Rortvedt struggled to hit big league pitching, the team had more depth at Triple-A in the name of Austin Wells, who ended up earning the bulk of the starts behind the plate over the final month of the season.

With Trevino progressing well in his rehab, the Yankees are set to have four catchers competing for playing time next season. Trevino will likely return to his regular role, and Wells played ably enough to merit a spot on the Opening Day roster. That leaves Higashioka and Rortvedt on the outside looking in. Higashioka has been a capable backup in New York for several years, but he is a finished product and a known quantity. Rortvedt, meanwhile, will be 26 next season, and he hasn’t shown an ability to hit at the MLB level.

Therefore, it comes as little surprise that the Yankees could look to deal either or both of Higashioka and Rortvedt this offseason. According to Andy Martino of SNY, the team is “signaling” to other clubs that both catchers are available in a trade.

Higashioka is the longest-tenured player on the Yankees, having joined the organization in 2008 and played for the club in every MLB season since 2017. The 33-year-old has earned more regular playing time over the past two years, appearing in 175 games and starting 143 behind the dish. While his bat is below average, even for a catcher, his terrific defense makes up for his offensive shortcomings. The metrics from Baseball Savant, FanGraphs, and Baseball Prospectus all agree that he is an excellent pitch framer, saving several runs with his glove in each of the past three seasons.

The veteran is eligible for his final year of arbitration this winter and is projected to earn $2.3MM. That’s hardly more than a drop in the bucket for the Yankees, but still, they might try to trade him before the non-tender deadline, to avoid making a decision about tendering him a contract for next season. He would be a good fit for a team in search of a veteran stopgap to fill in behind the plate until a top prospect is ready to take his place. The White Sox, who have already expressed interest in trading for a veteran catcher (namely Salvador Perez), could be a match.

Rortvedt made his debut for the Yankees this past May, after coming over from the Twins last March as part of the deal that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to New York in exchange for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. While the Yankees intended for him to compete for playing time with Higashioka and Trevino, he spent the first four months of the 2022 season on the injured list before he was optioned to Triple-A without having played a game. The 2023 campaign marked his third and final option year, and thus, he cannot be sent to the minors next season without being designated for assignment and placed on outright waivers.

Like Higashioka, Rortvedt has demonstrated an aptitude for pitch framing, but unfortunately, his bat has been nonexistent at the big league level. In 171 plate appearances across 2021 and ’23, he has hit just .146 with seven extra-base knocks, good for a career 38 wRC+. The offensive bar is low for backup catchers, but he’ll need to hit more if he wants to stick around in the majors. He would fit in best as a backup on a rebuilding club that can afford to give him a chance to prove himself, despite his substandard offensive production so far. The Mets will need a backup catcher if they choose to move on from Omar Narváez, as will the Tigers if they don’t exercise their option on Carson Kelly.

Martino also mentions that trading Trevino or Wells isn’t off the table for the Yankees, although it’s much more likely they deal Higashioka or Rortvedt instead. Wells would net the most valuable return, while the team could move on from Trevino if they think Wells is ready for a full-time role.

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