Dejan Kovacevic is reporting tonight on his new Trib blog that the Pirates have acquired catcher Mike McKenry from the Red Sox, though he mentions that he hasn’t been able to fully confirm the trade yet. McKenry’s currently with Triple-A Pawtuckett, hitting .280/.370/.430. He came up through the Rockies’ system (presumably Clint Hurdle knows a bit about him from his time there) and made a cameo with them last year, even though he struggled in Triple-A at Colorado Springs, which is a known hitter’s environment (.265/.328/.424 isn’t exactly struggling, I guess, but it’s below his career numbers and again, Colorado Springs is a great hitter’s park).
He does seem to throw an awful lot of base stealers out (career 36% in the minors) and he’s hit decently at every level in the minors since his first year after being drafted, so he’s got to be a bit of an upgrade on Dusty and Wyatt. He’s also a solid OBP guy (242 walks in 2156 plate appearances), so maybe he won’t be a complete vacuum at the plate. This is the sort of guy I figured the Pirates would acquire if they did get a catcher; he’s someone else’s Triple-A insurance that we’ll probably have to give up very little to get. The Red Sox got him this spring for Daniel Turpen, who’s a middling minor league reliever. I’d assume that that’s about what the Bucs are giving up here; maybe cash or a PTBNL, but no one on the Major League or 40-man roster and probably (hopefully) not anyone on the prospect radar.
UPDATE: Deal is official, McKenry is a Pirate for a player to be named or cash, Wyatt Toregas’ brief Pirate career is over as he’s DFA to make room for McKenry.
