The 2022 trade deadline was the kind of summer the Reds had already committed to before August 2 even arrived. Cincinnati had spent the months leading up to it unloading Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Sonny Gray, and Amir Garrett, then kept the sell-off rolling once the deadline hit.
Luis Castillo was one of the biggest names to go, with the Reds sending their ace to the Seattle Mariners in a package that brought back Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo. Tyler Mahle followed soon after, landing with the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Steve Hajjar. Tommy Pham also found a new home.
Buried beneath those louder moves were two quieter ones that have aged very differently. One sent Tyler Naquin to the New York Mets for two lower-level prospects. The other moved Brandon Drury to the San Diego Padres for shortstop prospect Victor Acosta.
At the time, Acosta looked like the kind of upside swing teams love to make. He was a top-10 organizational prospect for San Diego, a highly regarded international signee, and had played in just 32 professional games stateside before the trade. The selling points were clear: contact ability and athleticism.
Four years later, the results have been far less exciting. Acosta, now 22, still hasn’t gotten past High-A, and he’s hitting .230/.324/.385 with an 82 wRC+ in 41 games this season.
Still, Thursday night gave him a rare flash of what the Reds were hoping for. Acosta went 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run in Dayton’s 5-3 win over Cedar Rapids, and it was the first time all season he put together multiple hits in back-to-back games.
That doesn’t erase the bigger picture. Acosta has not hit for much power, and his best stretch came in 2023 with Daytona, when he posted a .251/.364/.354 line over 100 games.
The Reds’ other under-the-radar deadline move has worked out much better. Their deal with the Mets brought back outfield prospect Héctor Rodríguez and pitcher José Acuña, and both are now knocking on the big-league door.
Rodríguez is already a familiar name around the organization. Sal Stewart praised him at All-Star Media Day earlier this month, and Rodríguez is now close to making his Major League debut. The Reds’ plans at the upcoming deadline could affect when that happens, but there’s a chance he’s on the active roster by August.
Acuña has moved quickly too. He was promoted to Triple-A Louisville in early July and has put up a 3.87 ERA with 102 punch outs over 100 innings pitched this season. If the calendar keeps moving the way it has, he could be in line to help cover innings in September.
That’s the reality of deadline dealing. Even the moves that look like clean wins in the moment can age badly, and the ones that barely register can end up paying off.
The Castillo trade once looked like a massive haul. It may still be, or it may not.
Reds fans will get another look at that question when the 2026 trade deadline comes and goes, though the full answer might take years.
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Joey Votto Just Changed His Tune On Elly De La Cruz
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What stands out now, from Vottos perspective, is not just the tools but the steadiness behind them. He praised De La Cruzs humility and drive, and noted that the Reds have watched him turn raw ability into something more dependable through consistent performance and durability. Votto even placed him in rare company when talking about the shortstop standard in Cincinnati, which says plenty about how far De La Cruz has come in the eyes of one of the franchises most respected voices. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Risk Making Their Ke'Bryan Hayes Mistake Even More Costly
When the Reds brought in KeBryan Hayes from Pittsburgh last July, it looked like a chance to buy low on a slick-fielding third baseman and reshape the roster with Taylor Rogers and Sammy Stafura going the other way. Instead, Hayes has struggled to provide much at the plate since arriving in Cincinnati, and the deal has quickly become one of those moves that looks different in hindsight than it did on paper.
That is what makes the next step so tricky for the front office. Hayes still carries a contract that runs through 2029, and if the Reds decide to move him again, they have to be careful not to turn a disappointing acquisition into a bigger problem by attaching him to other valuable pieces just to clear the books. [Read more 🡒]