The Reds may have struck gold after dealing Brandon Drury at last year's trade deadline

The acquisition of Brandon Drury by the Cincinnati Reds didn't seem like a game-changing move last spring. Cincinnati inked the veteran infielder to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

Drury was coming off a career-year with the New York Mets where he hit .274 but played in only 51 games, but didn't sign until the middle of spring training.

A barrage of injuries to Jose Barrero, Donovan Solano and others forced the Reds to add Drury to the Opening Day roster. Four months later, Drury was leading the team in doubles, home runs, RBIs, and runs scored. He was arguably the Reds best position player heading into last year's trade deadline.

Revisiting the Padres trade with the Reds for Brandon Drury.

The Cincinnati Reds, who had fully committed to a rebuild, showed little interest in extending Brandon Drury beyond the 2022 season, and the 29-year-old was slated to become a free agent during the offseason. This made Drury a prime candidate to traded to team looking for a two-month rental.

The San Diego Padres won the bidding war and landed Drury in exchange for switch-hitting shortstop Victor Acosta.

Acosta, rated as the Reds 16th-best ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is just 18 years old. The young infielder has shown the ability to be an above average runner and has shown patience at the plate with a walk-rate above 10-percent.

Acosta has spent the 2023 season at Cincinnati's Low-A affiliate, the Daytona Tortugas. On the season, Acosta has hit .246/.352/.385, but has caught fire of late. Since mid-May, according to FanGraphs, Acosta is hitting .361/.452/.583 with a wRC+ of 186.

The idea of adding a high-upside, athletic, switch-hitting shortstop prospect should have Reds fans drooling over this trade. Yes, Acosta is another shortstop, but the Reds have shown little regard for the defensive position and have focused on the prospect's athletic ability.

There's still obvious questions remaining with Victor Acosta's long-term future. The infielder doesn't turn 19 years old until later this month. But this could be another gigantic acquisition for the Cincinnati Reds and GM Nick Krall.