The Cincinnati Reds were looking to lower their payroll for the 2022 season. The Detroit Tigers were looking to upgrade at catcher and they pounced on Cincinnati’s money-conscious mindset to open the offseason and acquire two-time Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart.
Barnhart was sent from Cincinnati, the team that drafted him in the 10th round of the 2009 MLB draft and watched him progress into an award-winning catcher, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for minor league infielder Nick Quintana. The Tigers will pick up Barnhart’s $7.5 million option for the 2022 campaign.
Here’s where the Detroit Tigers took advantage of the Cincinnati Reds in the Tucker Barnhart trade
The irony of trading a catcher who was drafted and developed by the Cincinnati Reds is that it was done in the name of sticking to a draft-and-develop mindset in 2022. That’s part of the official statement from Reds vice president/general manager Nick Krall.
“But going into 2022, we must align our payroll to our resources and continue focusing on scouting and developing young talent from within our system,” Krall said in a statement.
It was clear that the Reds were entering the offseason looking to shed payroll from a 2021 Opening Day lineup making just over $122 million (18th in MLB), especially with five players slated to make more than $10 million next season per Cot’s Contracts. One of those, however, is outfielder Nick Castellanos, who is expected to opt out of his contract (Cincinnati is scheduled to pay him $16 million this upcoming season) and look for more money after a stellar season.
Barnhart wasn’t on that $10 million-plus list, but was moving toward it. Detroit was more than willing to boost its catching position and take Barnhart and his growing salary off Cincinnati’s hands … and do it with a collective smile on their faces.
“After feeling interest from the Reds to make a deal, we moved quickly to make it happen and kick off our offseason transactions,” was part of the statement released about the deal from Detroit general manager Al Avila.
Translation? Cincinnati was looking to purge Barnhart’s contract ahead of any uncertainty with the Collective Bargaining Agreement deadline and the Tigers were happy to oblige. They were also happy to do it for a minor league infielder who hasn’t advanced past Class A since being drafted in the second round of the 2019 MLB draft.
Detroit was already considered a team on the rise heading into next season, and the acquisition of Barnhart in exchange for a low-level minor leaguer is, just one day after the completion of the World Series, one of the leaders for what will be the best deals of the offseason.