Detroit Tigers: Grading the trade with the Reds for Tucker Barnhart

With the 2022 MLB season being roughly one month old, let’s take a look back at an interesting offseason trade between the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds that involved catcher Tucker Barnhart.

How would we grade the trade between the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds that had catcher Tucker Barnhart as the centerpiece?

On November 3, 2021, the Detroit Tigers acquired catcher Tucker Barnhart from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for third-base prospect Nick Quintana. The trade was widely viewed as a way for the Tigers to solidify their backstop while the Reds were looking to slash payroll.

So how did it work for both teams? Let’s take a look.

Since coming to Detroit, Barnhart has given the Tigers exactly what was expected at the plate, slashing .298/.365/.340 in 17 games (47 at-bats) heading into Friday’s series opener in Houston. Those numbers are slightly above Barnhart’s nine-year career slash numbers of .249/.325/.371 and Barnhart has never hit above .270 in a season, so Tigers fans should likely expect some cooling off.

Defensively, Barnhart brought along a pair of Gold Gloves with him to Detroit. However, according to Baseball Savant, the 31-year-old catcher has gotten off to a slow start behind the plate. Following three consecutive seasons in the positive on Catcher Framing Runs, he currently has minus-1 this season. He’s also thrown out three of 14 would-be base stealers (21 percent, slightly below the league average of 28).

Of course, it’s early in the season and all metrics are likely to change as the weather begins to heat up. However, as of now, it’s safe to say that Barnhart has been a very positive addition in Detroit, especially considering the Tigers only had to give up Quintana, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft.

So far this season, playing at High-A Dayton, Quintana is just 12-for-57 at the plate (.211 batting average) and has struck out 18 times while drawing 11 walks (helping boost his on-base percentage to .338). The 24-year-old infielder is not among Cincinnati’s top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com.

For the small price that Detroit had to give up in order to secure Barnhart, as well as the early offensive numbers he has posted, we give the Tigers a B+ for the trade. Cincinnati, like most other things that have happened with the Reds this season, gets an F.

How would you grade the trade for both teams? Let us know in the comments section below.