Reds Acquire Juan Brito From Guardians

The Guardians announced they traded rookie second baseman Juan Brito to the Reds for cash considerations just before the deadline. Cleveland designated him for assignment this afternoon when they traded for Jo Adell.

That left the Guards with a few hours to trade Brito before they would’ve needed to expose him to waivers. Cincinnati sent some money to jump the waiver order. The Reds otherwise did very little on deadline day (though they made one other trade with Cleveland) and seem likely to option Brito to Triple-A Louisville.

The 24-year-old Brito is in his final minor league option year. He got a brief run as Cleveland’s second baseman before they called up Travis Bazzana. It didn’t go well, as Brito hit .176 and committed four errors in 15 games. He’s hitting at a league average level in Triple-A, batting .237/.351/.394 with seven home runs. Brito is drawing walks at a near-15% rate against a 17% strikeout rate but has bottom of the scale exit velocities.

Cincinnati hasn’t gotten much from Matt McLain this year. Brito could get a late-season look at the keystone but seems likelier to finish the season in the minors. He’d be a non-tender candidate whom the Reds could look to re-sign on a minor league contract at that point. For now, there’s little harm in using an open roster spot on a player who has a strong .267/.377/.441 batting line over seven minor league seasons.

Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer first reported the Reds were acquiring Brito.