The Reds are staring at a tricky offseason decision behind the plate, and the Cleveland Guardians may wind up sitting on the cleanest answers if Cincinnati decides Tyler Stephenson is too expensive to keep.
Stephenson could be out of the Reds’ price range this winter, and that creates a problem that’s hard to solve. Finding another catcher who can offer his bat and still hold up defensively is no small task. If Cincinnati really is preparing to move on, though, there’s a neighboring club that could provide a pair of options.
One name is Austin Hedges. The veteran has become an important presence for Cleveland and has also worked as the personal catcher for AL Rookie of the Year candidate Parker Messick.
Known for his glove for years, Hedges also turned in an even 100 wRC+ this season. He’s heading to free agency, and with Patrick Bailey locked in as the Guardians’ starter, Cleveland may not be able to keep him while handling other priorities.
If Hedges doesn’t become an option for Cincinnati, another Guardians catcher could be on the Reds’ radar: Kody Huff. The 25-year-old is currently Cleveland’s No. 27 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s rankings and might have pushed himself into the conversation with a strong 2026 at Triple-A Columbus.
Huff’s numbers took a big step forward. He hit .222/.301/.330 over 101 games in 2025, then climbed to .264/.375/.513 this season while launching a career-high 23 home runs across 120 games at Columbus.
He’s Rule 5 eligible this offseason, is not on the Guardians’ 40-man roster, and sits behind Cooper Ingle, Cleveland’s No. 4 prospect, on the organizational catching depth chart. That combination makes him a realistic trade target if the Reds want to take a swing.
The appeal is obvious, but both catchers come with real risk.
Hedges’ 2026 season was strong enough to make you look twice, because the defense-and-average-bat combo is exactly what Cincinnati would need. But the rest of his career is a much shakier guide.
The 34-year-old has spent 12 seasons in the majors, and before 2026 he owned a career slash line of .185/.244/.313, which worked out to a wRC+ of 50. For most of his career, he has been much closer to glove-first than anything else, so betting on a late offensive breakout is a leap.
Huff brings a different kind of uncertainty. There’s more reason to believe his bat might stick because of the changes he made at the plate.
His walk rate jumped from 9.1% in 2025 to 13.9% this season, and his strikeout rate fell from 25.6% to 19.5% in 2026. That’s real progress.
But Triple-A success still has to survive the jump to the majors, and the source material makes clear that path is far from guaranteed.
That’s what makes this such a delicate call for Cincinnati. Huff would probably be the cheaper upside play in a trade, but with only Jose Trevino around to absorb any miss, the margin for error would be thin.
If the Reds choose Hedges or Huff and it works, they could come out ahead. If it doesn’t, the hole behind the plate gets huge in a hurry.
At some point, the simplest solution may be the best one: keeping Stephenson and paying the roughly two years and $20-ish million it likely takes to do it. That’s the safest path on the board, and the Reds may be better off taking it.
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