The Cincinnati Reds satisfied several personnel issues in one, three-team trade.
The Reds on Jan. 15 acquired left-handed relief pitcher Brock Burke from the Los Angeles Angels as part of the three-team trade that also involved the Tampa Bay Rays. Gavin Lux, a Reds utility player of one season, was traded to the Rays while Tampa outfielder Josh Lowe landed with Los Angeles.
The teams confirmed the deal was finalized on Jan. 16. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report on the deal.
Burke, 29, was 7-1 with a 3.36 ERA over 69 games in 2025. Just as important was that Lux, who served as a veteran leader on last season’s Reds playoff team, was moved on, which freed up playing time and at-bats within the Cincinnati infield players.
Lux, who this offseason signed a one-year, $5,525,000 contact for 2026, also stands to benefit from moving on from the log-jammed Reds’ infield position group.
“After the last few weeks we signed J.J. Belday. We were looking at the roster and, you know, we just looked at, ‘OK, obviously we’ve been trying to add some position players and get our position-player group better,'” said Reds President of Baseball Operations, Nick Krall. “But we felt this was a way to add a left-handed reliever to continue to solidify our bullpen.
“And with where Gavin was and adding some of the guys we did, and even guys like Sal Stewart that came up at the end of (2025), trying to figure out the best place for everybody to play, we felt it was probably best to see if we could move Gavin for something else that could help our team. That’s what we did.”
Burke is in his final year of arbitration and can be a free agent after the 2026 season. He signed a one-year deal for $2,325,000with the Angels to avoid arbitration.
Krall said the Reds’ roster-budget windfall from the trade would potentially still be used toward acquired toward adding another player as adding to the position player group is still a pursuit for the club. Krall confirmed the club has maintained contact with Austin Hays, now a free agent, after his role as a playoff-tested veteran in the Cincinnati clubhouse last season.
The trade capped a busy day of Reds personnel transactions and news.
Earlier Jan. 15, Cincinnati traded away reliever Yosver Zulueta, 27, to the Seattle Mariners. Zulueta (6.14 ERA in seven games in 2025) was traded after he was designated for assignment following the Reds signing 34-year-old righty reliever Pierce Johnson (3-3, 3.05 ERA, 65 appearances in 2025 for Atlanta), which was also announced by the club Jan. 15.
In exchange for Zulueta, Cincinnati acquired minor league reliever, Dusty Revis.
Revis was drafted by Seattle in the 11th round of the 2025 MLB June Amateur Draft from Western Carolina University and has yet to make his professional debut.
The Reds also announced a 16-player signing group of international players.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds deal Gavin Lux for bullpen help in three-team trade. Here’s why
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
