The New York Yankees made an unexpected trade on Friday night to add a true strikeout artist to bolster their bullpen, although in return they lost a “deception artist” and in the process cut their hefty payroll.

All-Star catcher Jose Trevino, one of the best receivers to disguise balls and turn them into strikes, was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson, The Post reported

Treviño arrived from the Texas Rangers at the end of spring training in 2022, but was injured for much of 2023 and lost his starting job in 2024 when Austin Wells emerged as what appears to be the future of the Yankees’ catching position.

Treviño was owed around $3.5 million in arbitration for 2025, when he would become a free agent, and the Yankees can buy a cheaper backup and redirect that money elsewhere.

The new members of the Bronx Bombers

Jackson, a 28-year-old who the Reds had signed to a minor league contract, has a good defensive reputation, but has never hit in five seasons in the major leagues.

While Cruz is the most important piece of business to bolster a bullpen that had few strikeouts last season, that is the specialty of the new Bronx Bombers reliever.

Relying heavily on his splitter, Cruz struck out 109 in 66 2/3 innings last season: 14.72 strikeouts per nine innings, the highest rate in the majors among pitchers who threw 50 or more innings.

He also gave up 35 walks and pitched to an ERA of 4.86, which made him another project for pitching coach Matt Blake

Cruz, a three-year major league player, is 34 years old but has not even reached arbitration yet.

What the Yankees are missing

With this move, the Yankees are aiming higher, but they gave up a very classy player in Trevino.

Pitchers love throwing to Trevino, who is excellent at framing and blocking potential wild pitches, but he has an arm that was often exposed last season.

In the batter’s box, Trevino had yet to come close to the heights of his first half of 2022 and posted a combined .611 OPS in 2023 and 2024.

Jackson becomes the most likely backup to Wells, but the Yankees have a couple of prospects on the 40-man roster (J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez) who could become options

The Yankees’ bullpen finally solidified last season, but it took several months of work to find a combination that worked, and the lack of strikeouts was often highlighted.

This offseason, the Yankees added closer Devin Williams, re-signed Jonathan Loaisiga, who is very effective when healthy, and have now imported arguably the best relief arm in baseball to strike out opponents.

Considering that the Yankees’ relievers include Luke Weaver, Ian Hamilton, Mark Leiter Jr. and Jake Cousins, the bullpen looks potentially dominant.