San Diego Padres acquire Brandon Drury from Cincinnati Reds

As the injuries mounted in Cincinnati Reds camp earlier this spring, the club reached out to free agent Brandon Drury to bolster their infield depth and versatility. Gone was Eugenio Suarez via trade already, but as strains and sprains and busted wrists sidelined the likes of Jose Barrero, Max Schrock, Jonathan India, and Donovan Solano at the outset of the season, Drury’s path to playing time all over became readily available.

He capitalized on that opportunity in a big, big way. To date, he’s socked a career-best 20 homers so far in 2022 as part of his overall 128 OPS+ production, but as a pending free agent on a losing Cincinnati club, that put him firmly on the trade block as today’s deadline neared. As it turns out, the active San Diego Padres had been watching, and snapped him up on Tuesday afternoon. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal relayed the news.

In return, the Reds have landed who was the #6 prospect in their system as of today’s update (after they, y’know, unloaded almost their entire farm to land Washington Nationals star Juan Soto). That’s Victor Acosta, as MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand relayed, an 18 year old who has shown both pop and patience in the Dominican Summer League and in Arizona Complex League play.

Not a bad haul for a minor league signing, Reds.