{"id":35382,"date":"2025-07-30T22:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T22:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35382\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T22:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T22:19:08","slug":"reds-to-acquire-kebryan-hayes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/35382\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds To Acquire Ke’Bryan Hayes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Reds and Pirates have come together on an intra-division swap that will send third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes<\/a> from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, per announcements from both clubs. The Pirates are receiving veteran reliever Taylor Rogers<\/a> and minor league shortstop Sammy Stafura<\/a>. The Reds will reportedly take on the entirety of Hayes\u2019 contract, which runs through the 2029 season.<\/p>\n

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Hayes, 28, is a former first-round pick and top prospect who looked to be on the cusp of stardom early in his career. He graded as an elite defensive third baseman throughout his time in the minors and hit well as he climbed the minor league ladder. Hayes made an electric debut in the shortened 2020 season, showing off that plus-plus glove while hitting .376\/.442\/682 in his first 95 big league plate appearances.<\/p>\n

Hayes didn\u2019t replicate that output in his first full big league season in 2021, but he held his own with a .257\/.316\/.373 batting line in 396 plate appearances despite missing significant time due to a wrist injury. He hit just six homers but played outstanding defense and swiped nine bags. The following April, Pittsburgh signed him to an eight-year, $70MM deal which, at the time, was the largest in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Hayes and the Pirates, back injuries have become a recurring problem in Hayes\u2019 still-young career. He\u2019s spent significant time on the injured list due to back troubles in 2022, 2023 and 2024 \u2014 totaling five IL stints due to his back in that period of three years. Hayes still managed a league-average season at the plate in 2023 (.271\/.309\/.453, 100 wRC+, 15 homers, 10 steals) but he\u2019s been a well below-average hitter since. In 788 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2024, he\u2019s mustered only a .234\/.281\/.290 batting line (58 wRC+).<\/p>\n

The Pirates frontloaded Hayes\u2019 extension, paying him $10MM in each of the contract\u2019s first two seasons and then cutting the salary back to $7-8MM per year thereafter. He\u2019s making $7MM in 2025, with about $2.26MM of that sum yet to be paid out. He\u2019ll then be owed $36MM from 2026-29 ($30MM in salary plus at least a $6MM buyout on a $12MM club option for the 2030 season).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a relatively hefty sum to take on, though Hayes remains such a premium defender that his glove alone is arguably worth the remaining $9MM annual value on the contract (including the 2026 buyout). Hayes has been credited with an astonishing 91 Defensive Runs Saved and 73 Outs Above Average in 4796 career innings at third base, including 16 DRS and 15 OAA in 861 innings this year already. Since Hayes debuted in 2020, he leads all of Major League Baseball (at all positions) in both DRS and OAA. Andres Gimenez<\/a>\u2019s 63 DRS and Francisco Lindor<\/a>\u2019s 68 OAA are the second-highest marks in each category.<\/p>\n

On top of a legitimate claim to being the game\u2019s top defensive player, Hayes does have some encouraging offensive trends. His 20.7% strikeout rate in 2025 matches his career mark and checks in lower than the league average. He also regularly posts strong batted-ball metrics. Hayes has averaged 90.7 mph off the bat in his career, and 46.3% of his batted balls have traveled 95 mph or faster. The downside, however, is that far too much of that hard contact comes in the form of ground-balls. A hefty 49.5% of Hayes\u2019 career batted balls have been hit into the ground, and his lack of consistent elevation offsets his average power.<\/p>\n

A move to Cincinnati\u2019s Great American Ball Park could prove beneficial. Pittsburgh\u2019s PNC Park is the toughest park in MLB on right-handed power over the past three years, per Statcast\u2019s Park Factors. Great American, meanwhile, has been the second most conducive park to right-handed home runs in that time. It\u2019s feasible that Hayes might at least eke out a few extra home runs just from the more favorable dimensions in his new home park.<\/p>\n

The acquisition of Hayes could push infielder Noelvi Marte<\/a> into the outfield on a more permanent basis. Marte is enjoying a nice rebound year at the plate, batting .276\/.329\/.500 with seven home runs and six steals in 146 plate appearances. Cincinnati has been having Marte go through outfield drills and has given him eight innings of actual right field (three games) over the past couple weeks.<\/p>\n

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Rogers\u2019 inclusion in the Hayes return is solely for financial purposes. The 34-year-old is an impending free agent earning $12MM in the final season of a three-year $33MM contract, though the Giants are paying half that salary under the terms of the offseason trade that shipped him to Cincinnati. The Pirates, in all likelihood, will turn around and try to trade Rogers before tomorrow afternoon\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n

So far in 2025, Rogers has pitched to a 2.45 ERA with a 23.3% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate in 33 innings. Rogers has a track record as a closer and setup man but hasn\u2019t been used frequently in high-leverage spots by the Reds this year. He should draw some interest, especially if Pittsburgh is willing to pay down some of the $1.94MM he\u2019s still owed through season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Beyond shedding the entirety of an unwanted contract, the Pirates\u2019 return in the trade is the 20-year-old Stafura. He\u2019s just two years removed from being the No. 43 overall pick in the draft and receiving an over-slot bonus of nearly $2.5MM. Stafura was regarded as a potential first-round pick in 2023. He\u2019s spent the 2025 season in Class-A, hitting .262\/.393\/.411 (131 wRC+) with four home runs, 18 doubles, nine triples and 28 stolen bases (in 33 attempts).<\/p>\n

Stafura possesses well above-average speed and has walked in more than 15% of his plate appearances in his professional career. His 23.9% strikeout rate is a bit high and there have been some concerns about Stafura\u2019s hit tool. He\u2019s played 170 of his 172 games in the field at shortstop (plus two at second base). Baseball America, in ranking Stafura ninth among Reds farmhands, noted that while Stafura has a roughly average arm, it\u2019s quite accurate and he has the other defensive skills needed to stick at shortstop. It\u2019s always possible Stafura will eventually slide to second or move into a utility role, but for now, the Pirates figure to keep him at shortstop.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati has spent much of the past few weeks looking for offensive upgrades. Hayes is quite possibly an offensive\u00a0downgrade, but he\u2019ll be a massive boost to the team\u2019s defense. The Reds, presumably, will remain in the market for a hitter who can more meaningfully upgrade their lineup.<\/p>\n

Mark Feinsand, Mark Sheldon and Alex Stumpf of MLB.com first reported<\/a> that Hayes had been traded to the Reds. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported<\/a> the return. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported<\/a> that the Reds were taking on Hayes\u2019 entire contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Reds and Pirates have come together on an intra-division swap that will send third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,26500,462,26501,82,18374],"class_list":{"0":"post-35382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-kebryan-hayes","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sammy-stafura","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-taylor-rogers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}