This veteran’s fall from grace proves Reds were right to trade him

The Cincinnati Reds added Austin Wynns to the Opening Day roster after Tyler Stephenson was sidelined with an oblique injury to start the season. But even after Stephenson was activated from the IL, the Reds clung tightly to Wynns despite the fact he was rarely in the starting lineup.

Reds fans grew tired of seeing three catchers on the roster, and eventually president of baseball operations Nick Krall relented. Wynns was designated for assignment on June 6, and the Athletics jumped at the opportunity to bring the veteran backstop into the fold.

The Reds traded Wynns to the A's for cash considerations, which some fans thought was a low price tag considering the catcher's red-hot start to the 2025 season. At the time of the trade, Wynns was hitting .400/.442/.700 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Cincinnati, however, knew that regression was on the way, and after seeing Wynns' numbers since landing in Sacramento, it's plain to see that the Reds were right to DFA the veteran backstop.

Austin Wynns' fall from grace proves Reds were right to trade him

Wynns has appeared in 12 games for the A's since the trade — almost as many as he played in with the Reds (18). Wynns is 5-for-32 (.156) since the Athletics picked him up. He has two round-trippers with the A's, but that's what you'd expect when your team plays half of their games in a minor-league ballpark.

This downturn in production was easy to see, and it's the biggest reason that most rational Reds fans viewed this as an obvious move. The Reds needed Wynns at the outset of the season with Stephenson on the IL. Even hanging on to Wynns for a week or two after Stephenson returned is understandable. After all, the last thing the Reds wanted to do was jettison Wynns immediately after Stephenson was activated only for him to re-injure himself a couple days later.

But Wynns was on the Reds roster for nearly five weeks after Stephenson returned from injury. That was about three weeks too long, and Cincinnati's lack of catching depth in the minor leagues no doubt played a huge role in Krall's decision to keep Wynns around.

But the world is returning to normalcy. Stephenson and Jose Trevino are splitting duties behind the plate, and Wynns' .588 OPS since leaving Cincinnati is about in line with his career-norms (.639 OPS). But Reds fans will always have that five-game stretch in April (.647/.684/.1.059) when Wynns looked like the second coming of Barry Bonds.

More Cincinnati Reds News and Rumors