CINCINNATI -- The Reds' effort to stockpile even more relievers for bullpen depth continued late Thursday night. The club was part of a three-way trade that sent infielder Gavin Lux to the Rays and brought left-handed reliever Brock Burke from the Angels to Cincinnati.
As part of the deal, Tampa Bay sent right fielder Josh Lowe to the Angels, who sent right-handed pitcher Chris Clark to the Rays. The deal became official on Friday.
"It’s a quality lefty reliever that just adds to the ‘pen. He can get both sides out and he can get some tough lefties out in those middle innings," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said of Burke.
TRADE DETAILS
Reds get: LHP Brock Burke
Rays get: IF Gavin Lux, RHP Chris Clark
Angels get: OF Josh Lowe
Burke, 29, was 7-1 with a 3.36 ERA and 1.232 WHIP in 69 appearances for the Angels in 2025. In five big league seasons with the Rangers and Angels, he has a 3.88 ERA over 214 career games.
To avoid arbitration, Burke signed a one-year, $2.325 million contract with the Angels on Jan. 8. He is eligible for free agency after the season.
"This is someone we felt could pitch toward the back of the bullpen," Krall said.
Lux, 28, also avoided arbitration on Jan. 8 by signing a one-year deal with Cincinnati worth $5.525 million. He spent only a year with the Reds after being acquired in a trade with the Dodgers on Jan. 7, 2025, and batted .269 with a .724 OPS, five homers and 53 RBIs in 140 games.
After adding a pair of outfielders in free agent JJ Bleday and trade acquisition Dane Myers last month, the Reds were no longer planning to use Lux in left field as it did at times last season. The Cincinnati infield was also loaded with Matt McLain at Lux's best position of second base and Gold Glove winner Ke'Bryan Hayes at third base.
“Obviously, we’ve been trying to add position players and make our position-player group better, but we felt this was a way to add a left-handed reliever to continue to solidify our bullpen," Krall said.
"With where Gavin was and adding some of the guys we did and even guys like Sal Stewart that came up at the end of the year, [it's] trying to figure out the best way for everybody to play. We felt it was probably best to see if we can move Gavin for something else that could help our team and that’s what we did.”
While they haven't yet been able to score the impact hitter needed to upgrade their offense, the Reds have been acquiring relievers. That included re-signing free agent Emilio Pagán to a two-year, $20 million contract and landing another lefty reliever in Caleb Ferguson with a one-year, $4.5 million contract last month.
Just on Thursday afternoon, the team finalized a one-year, $6.5 million contract with right-handed reliever Pierce Johnson that came with an $8 million mutual option for 2027.
With the savings from moving Lux's contract, there should be some payroll open to acquire a bat.
“We’re still looking to add to our position-player group," Krall said. "If we can figure out how to use that money and get someone else. But we felt this was a good move for us just adding a left-handed reliever.”