Pirates' deadline deal somehow makes Reds' 2025 trade for Ke'Bryan Hayes even worse

The Cincinnati Reds acquired third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes as part of an intra-division deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates last July. At the time, the deal made sense. The Reds gave up left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers and shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura in exchange for a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman.

Unfortunately, Hayes hasn't panned out in Cincinnati. In fact, he's been so bad that the Reds almost certainly would have cut bait were it not for the three years and $23 million still remaining on his contract.

That is reason enough for the deal to be declared an utter failure, but a trade deadline deal earlier this week between the Pirates and New York Mets may have just sent the Hayes swap hurtling into all-timer territory.

Pirates flip Sammy Stafura for Luke Weaver, closing the books on Reds' laughable trade for Ke'Bryan Hayes

If you weren't paying attention to what Stafura was doing this summer, you weren't alone. The 21-year-old just had an enormous July in High-A, and posted a 1.305 OPS. Between Stafura's 20 home runs and 20 steals in just 60 games this season, he had emerged as a legitimate top prospect for the Pirates.

But the Pirates opted to flip him once again, this time in exchange for Mets reliever Luke Weaver. the former Reds pitcher was arguably the most valuable reliever on the market, with a 1.84 ERA over 44 innings with the Mets. He's also under contract through 2027, meaning he'll be a high-leverage option for the Pirates through next season.

Stafura was so highly-regarded by the Mets that they sent cash along with Weaver to facilitate the deal. It's probably true that Pittsburgh got exceedingly good value from a desperate team, but it's hard not to wonder where Stafura would be right now were he still with the Reds.

Hayes has fallen well short of expectations since landing in Cincinnati last summer. He's hitting an impossibly bad .145/.202/.250 (19 wRC+) this year while posting the worst defensive metrics of his career.

The return of his chronic back issues — something the Reds were well aware of at last year's deadline — have certainly contributed to the downturn. But it's clear by now that, even when healthy, he'll never hit well enough to be a lineup regular ever again.

The damage is all but done now that Weaver will be closing games out in Pittsburgh, leaving fans in Cincinnati with little hope that the Reds will be able to salvage this deal. Instead, all fans can hope is that the Reds' braintrust learned their lesson about investing in players with a track record of being a negative asset at the plate.

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