Regrading the Padres trade with the Reds for Brandon Drury

Last summer, the Cincinnati Reds parted ways with several of their top stars. Tyler Mahle was shipped to the Minnesota Twins, Luis Castillo was traded to the Seattle Mariners, and Tommy Pham landed with the Boston Red Sox.

But one trade that went a bit unnoticed was the deal that sent Brandon Drury to the San Diego Padres. The Friars had already traded for superstar outfielder Juan Soto and acquired All-Star closer Josh Hader.

But Drury, after slugging 20 home runs for the Reds, brought his bat to the 619 for the second-half of the 2022 season and helped San Diego make a deep run in the postseason. Let's revisit the trade that saw Cincinnati land another talented infielder.

Regrading the Padres trade with the Reds for Brandon Drury.

Brandon Drury didn't have near the impact with the San Diego Padres as he did with the Cincinnati Reds. Such is usually the case when players leave the hitter-friendly confines of Great American Ball Park. But when one winds up in the pitcher's paradise that is Petco Park, things are obviously going to look much different.

Drury posted an OPS of .855 with the Reds and saw that number shrink to .724 with the Padres. It didn't deter the Los Angeles Angels from sinking $17-million into a player with a career-bWAR of 2.0. Right now, the Halos are paying for it as Drury is slashing just .211/.247/.380 during his first month in LA.

In return, the Redlegs were able to secure a very young and talented shortstop prospect by the name of Victor Acosta. Although it would seem as though the Reds had more than enough middle infield prospects in their pipeline, it appeared as though GM Nick Krall thought another couldn't hurt.

Acosta is switch-hitting shortstop prospect with very differnt swings depending on which side of the plate he's on. But he's only 18 years old, so there's plenty of upside that comes with such a player. Acosta was an international signee back in 2021.

The Cincinnati Reds deployed Acosta at Low-A Daytona to begin the season and the infielder has proven to be very patient at the plate. Acosta currently has a walk-rate over 12-percent while striking out less than 20-percent of the time according to FanGraphs.

Victor Acosta is currently ranked among the Top 20 prospects in the Reds farm system according to MLB Pipeline, but he's every bit of three-plus years away from making it to the big leagues. Acosta is very much an unknown at this stage of his career, but could become a solid utility player if he continues to develop.

Seeing as how the Reds had no intention of re-signing Brandon Drury, anything they were able to acquire at the trade deadline was going to be a bonus. Landing a young prospect with upside probably nets Krall a grade of at least a B-, though there's a chance the grade could increase if Acosta turns into an everyday player.