The Cincinnati Reds have traded infielder Brandon Drury to the San Diego Padres, according to multiple reports.
With the Reds near the bottom of the National League standings and Drury an unrestricted free agent after this season, the former Toronto Blue Jay was a strong candidate to be dealt prior to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline.
MLB.com insider Robert Murray reported prospect infielder Victor Acosta is going to the Reds. The 18-year-old Acosta is San Diego’s No. 6-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline.
The move continued a big day for the Padres, who landed Juan Soto and Josh Bell in a blockbuster deal with the Washington Nationals earlier.
Drury already has a career-high 20 home runs this year. He has slashed .274/.335/.520 while also driving in 59 runs.
Selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 13th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Drury was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013.
Drury made his MLB debut late in 2015 with Arizona. Since then, he has also played for the Reds, New York Yankees, New York Mets and Blue Jays, who acquired Drury as part of a deal sending starter J.A. Happ to the Yankees at the 2018 trade deadline.
Drury struggled badly with the Blue Jays and was outrighted in 2020, but re-established himself with the Mets and Reds the past two years.
Drury was placed on the restricted list prior to a series in Toronto in May, meaning he was unvaccinated against COVID-19 at the time.