It turns out that the Cincinnati Reds made two trades in the final minutes of the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline. After moving Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians for a low-level pitching prospect they also traded reliever Caleb Ferguson to divisional rival St. Louis, with the Cardinals sending back international bonus pool money.
Let’s start with what the Reds got in return: They acquired $250,000 in international bonus pool money in the deal. What that means is that they can now spend $250,000 more than they were allowed to before the deal. No actual money is coming to Cincinnati from St. Louis in the deal – just the ability to spend that much more to sign players on the international free agent market.
Caleb Ferguson is making $4,500,000 this year. It’s his final year before free agency, so he’s only around for the next two months (plus playoffs if the Cardinals get there). The Reds, assuming St. Louis is taking on the full contract, save nearly $1.5M in salary with the deal. Along with the money saved in the Nathaniel Lowe trade, that’s around $2,000,000 that the team now doesn’t have to pay towards those two contracts.
Ferguson missed the first two months of the season. When he returned on May 27th he was lights out for the first six weeks, posting a 2.00 ERA in his first 18 games. In the last eight games, though, he’s given up seven runs in 6.2 innings while walking nearly as many batters as he’s struck out. That stretch doubled his ERA on the year as it’s now sitting at 4.01 in his 24.2 innings pitched.
Reds also add Juan Brito
In news that was also just announced, the club has acquired Juan Brito from Cleveland in a deal that was separate from the trade involving Nathaniel Lowe and a prospect. Brito was designated for assignment earlier today. The Reds gave up cash considerations to acquire him.
The 24-year-old played in 15 games with the Guardians this year and hit .176/.250/.255 with four walks and 17 strikeouts. He spent most of his 2026 season in Triple-A with Columbus. In 83 games there he did hit better, but still not much. Splitting much of his time between second base and third base, Brito hit .237/.351/.394 in Triple-A with 19 doubles, two triples, and nine home runs in 380 plate appearances. He did walk nearly as often as he struck out, with 56 free passes and 62 strikeouts in the minor leagues this year. You can see his career stats here.
