The Reds came out of the trade deadline without a clear push in either direction, and that was the story. Cincinnati didn’t make a move that meaningfully changed the big-league club, and it didn’t land the kind of prospect haul that signals a true reset either.
Instead, the headliner was a classic lottery ticket. The Reds sent Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians for pitching prospect Alejandro Rivera, moved Caleb Ferguson in-division to St. Louis for international free agency bonus money, and picked up Juan Britto from Cleveland for cash considerations.
Rivera is the kind of arm teams bet on when they’re looking for upside rather than certainty. He made the Dominican Summer League All-Star team in 2025 and won Arizona Complex League Pitcher of the Month in June.
This year, he went 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 13 games. On July 15, the 19-year-old fired five perfect innings and struck out eight.
His mix includes a low-90s fastball, a low-80s changeup, and a slider. He also posted a 2.44 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in the ACL, both best in the league.
Cincinnati assigned him to Low-A Daytona after the deal.
There is at least a little precedent for this kind of swing paying off for Nick Krall. The Hector Rodriguez and Jose Acuna deal also looked like a lottery ticket when the Reds got both from the Mets for Tyler Naquin in 2022. Rodriguez is now Cincinnati’s third-ranked prospect and made his Major League debut on Tuesday, while Jose Acuna is finding success with Triple-A Louisville.
Brito gives the Reds another rostered piece to work with. Cleveland designated him for assignment on August 3 before Cincinnati acquired him for cash.
This season, he has hit .237/.351/.394 with nine home runs, 19 doubles, two triples and 48 RBI. Across seven minor league seasons, he owns a .267 average with 65 home runs and 65 RBI.
In his brief time in the majors with the Guardians, he hit .176/.250/.255 with four doubles, 17 strikeouts and three RBI in 51 at-bats.
In 2025, Brito was Cleveland’s 10th-ranked prospect. He’s a switch-hitter who was originally signed by the Colorado Rockies in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic and later went to Cleveland in the Nolan Jones trade in 2022.
MLB Pipeline described him this way: "Brito always has made consistent contact and controlled the strike zone from both sides of the plate." The same report added, "He also has displayed the aptitude to launch balls in the air to his pull side, though he produced just 31 homers in his first 296 pro games before bashing a career-best 21 last year.
He did a better job of driving the ball as a righty after struggling to do so in 2023."
The swing decisions still need work. In Triple-A this season, Brito has chased pitches out of the zone at a 27 percent rate.
In his short big-league look, that number climbed past 35 percent. Since he came over in a trade, he is on the Reds’ 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A Louisville.
When the dust settled, the deadline felt directionless. If Cincinnati meant to chase the season or build up the farm, it didn’t fully do either.
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Reds May End Up Regretting One Deadline Gamble With JJ Bleday
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But Bledays recent stretch has made that decision look a lot less secure. After a strong start, he has hit a long skid since June, and the concern for Cincinnati is straightforward: if the slump keeps dragging on, the trade value they hoped to protect could keep slipping with it. The Reds did not have to move him, but standing pat only works if the player in question keeps enough shine for the next decision to matter. [Read more 🡒]