This past offseason, the Yankees made a move that barely made a ripple at the time—but might end up being one of Brian Cashman’s sneakier coups. By trading veteran catcher Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds, they weren’t just flipping a Gold Glove defender for a lottery ticket. They were targeting a specific skill set, and it came in the form of 35-year-old right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz.
It wasn’t a trade for flash. It was a trade for filth.
Capitalizing on Trevino’s Defensive Stock
Trevino’s value has always been built around his elite framing and defensive prowess behind the plate. But with Austin Wells taking a leap and J.C. Escarra rising quickly through the system, the Yankees suddenly had flexibility.
Rather than let Trevino’s value diminish on the bench, they sold high and plugged a bullpen need with Cruz, a late bloomer who’s quietly become one of the nastiest arms in baseball.
Cruz isn’t your average reliever. He’s a pitcher with a calling card—a splitter that dances like it’s possessed.
A Wiffle Ball Disguised as a Splitter
Last season, Cruz landed in the 99th percentile in both whiff rate and strikeout rate. That’s not a typo. His splitter, which he threw nearly 48% of the time in 2023, produced a ridiculous .116 batting average and a .149 slugging percentage against. It’s a pitch that lives in nightmares.
In 2024, the Yankees asked Cruz to lean into that weapon even more. Against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night, Cruz threw 22 pitches across two innings—51.4% of them were splitters. The result? Four strikeouts and a Diamondbacks lineup flailing at air like they were swatting mosquitos in a summer storm.
He’s also mixed in a sinker more than usual, and has dropped his slider usage significantly. This evolution has given him a more deceptive mix and added longevity to a pitch profile that’s already tough to square up.
Low Risk, High Upside in the Pen
What makes this deal even better for the Yankees is the long-term control. Cruz is under team control until 2029, giving New York plenty of runway to maximize his value—even if age eventually begins to catch up with him.
At 35, regression is always a possibility. But with Cruz’s late start to his MLB career and a pitch that continues to defy gravity, the Yankees don’t need him to be dominant forever. They just need him to be nasty for a few more years.
And right now, he’s pitching like a steal.