Detroit — The Tigers didn’t waste any time getting their catcher.
On Wednesday, they worked a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for two-time Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart. The Tigers will send third-base prospect Nick Quintana, the club’s second-round pick in 2019, to the Reds.
“Coming into this offseason, we knew that catcher was a priority position for us,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said upon announcing the trade. “During our strategy meetings over the last couple of weeks in Lakeland with my front office staff, Tucker’s name came up many times as an attractive option for our ballclub as someone who is a real plus defender, knows how to lead a pitching staff and is a solid contributor from the batter’s box.
“After feeling interest from the Reds to make a deal, we moved quickly to make it happen and kick off our offseason transactions.”
Barnhart, 31, played eight seasons for the Reds and won Gold Gloves in 2017 and 2020. He has a club option for $7.75 million, which the Tigers could try to parlay into a multi-year extension.
He played in 116 games last season but lost his starting role to Tyler Stephenson. He knew his time in Cincinnati was short by the end of the season.
“While it’s bittersweet to be leaving the organization that drafted me, I couldn’t be happier to join the Tigers,” Barnhart said. “This is an exciting time for a team that’s undergone such a big transformation over the last few years. AJ (Hinch, manager) is one of the best managers in all of baseball, and I’m looking forward to working with him, the coaching staff and other teammates to bring the playoffs and a World Series Championship back to the Motor City.”
In his eight seasons with the Reds, the left-handed hitting Barnhart slashed .248/.324/.371 with a .696 OPS. He threw out 32% of would-be base stealers, a league-best 44% in 2017.
Avila made it known at his season-ending press conference last month that acquiring a catcher was near the top of the team’s offseason to-do list, especially with Jake Rogers expected to miss most, if not all, of next season after Tommy John surgery.
Barnhart and Eric Haase will come to spring training as the Tigers’ top two catchers.
Quintana, 24, hit 35 home runs at University of Arizona, but never quite showed the same pop in his two minor-league seasons. He hit 11 homers and never got above low-A.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky