Rangers deal Trevino to Yankees

MLB Trade Rumors: The Texas Rangers have traded catcher Jose Trevino to the New York Yankees for pitchers Albert Abreu and Robby Ahlstrom, it was announced today.

So this is kind of interesting. The Yankees had been rumored to have been interested in Trevino for a while, and with the acquisition of Mitch Garver from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who, ironically, then was traded to the Yankees himself), there had been speculation that either Trevino or Jonah Heim would be dealt. Heim now, presumably, will be the Rangers’ backup catcher.

If you like the idea of grabbing a former top prospect when his value is low, you’re going to love this deal. Abreu, 26. is a righthanded pitcher who was a consensus top 100 guy heading into the 2018 season. He has struggled significantly with his command, however, and split the 2021 season between AAA and the majors, putting up a 5.15 ERA in 36.2 innings of relief work while in the big leagues. He is out of options, and with a 28 man roster for the first month, the Rangers will the ability to carry him in the bullpen for a little while and see what they can do with him.

Ahlstrom, meanwhile, is a 22 year old lefthander who was the Yankees’ 7th round pick out of the University of Oregon in 2021. He was ranked in the high 200s on BA’s draft board last year, and has a high-80s fastball, a curve and a changeup, all of which he can throw for strikes.

The only other player in the B-R player database named Ahlstrom is also named Robert Ahlstrom. He appeared in two games as a catcher for Duluth in 1949. I have no other information on him. Maybe they are related. I’m not going to try to figure that out right now, though.

As for Trevino, he now heads to the Bronx, where he joins Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a Yankees team that is in win-now mode. Best of luck to him.