Houston Astros Acquire Brian McCann, Sign Josh Reddick
The Houston Astros and New York Yankees have reached an agreement on a trade that will send veteran catcher Brian McCann from New York to Houston on Thursday afternoon. The Astros also reached a deal with free agent right fielder Josh Reddick.
On Thursday afternoon the Houston Astros and New York Yankees reached a deal to send veteran backstop Brian McCann and cash considerations to the Astros in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman. Shortly after news of the trade with the Yankees, the Astros agreed to sign free agent right fielder Josh Reddick as well.
McCann, 32, hit .242 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI in 130 games for the Yankees in 2016. McCann is a career .266 hitter with 245 home runs and 888 RBI over the course of 12 seasons with the Atlanta Braves and Yankees.
McCann is expected to join current Astros catcher Evan Gattis to create a platoon behind the plate in Houston in 2017, although the left-handed hitting McCann will likely see the majority of the starts with right-handed pitchers being his strong suit. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Gattis can expect to see about 60 games behind the plate in 2017, with the remaining games going to McCann.
The left-handed hitting catcher saw significantly better results against right-handed pitching in 2016, posting a .249 batting average with 17 home runs and 39 RBI while hitting just .218 with three home runs and nine RBI versus left-handed pitching.
The acquisition of McCann ultimately signals the end of the Astros’ efforts to re-sign catcher Jason Castro, who is currently a free agent. He reportedly has offers from multiple teams including the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves as of Wednesday evening.
The Yankees have also agreed to pay $5.5 million of McCann’s $17 million salary in each of the next two seasons, leaving the Astros on the hook for only $11.5 million in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
The Yankees get back a pair of right-handed pitchers in the deal including 20-year-old Dominican native Albert Abreu. Abreu signed with the Astros in 2014 as an 18-year-old, and has reached High-A ball to date in his minor league career. Abreu has an 8-13 record with a 3.16 ERA, 220 strikeouts, and 108 walks over the course of 216.1 innings of work during his three seasons in the Astros minor league system.
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The Yankees receive minor league arm Jorge Guzman in return for McCann as well. Guzman is also an international signing of the Astros, and has spend the last two seasons between the Dominican Summer League and Class A ball. Guzman has pitched to a 6-8 record with a 4.63 ERA in 95.1 innings over the last two seasons in the Astros system.
The real seller for the Yankees in this deal was moving $23 million of salary over to the Astros over the next two years, while opening the everyday catcher role for Gary Sanchez, who dazzled in his short time with the Yankees down the stretch in 2016.
In a separate move, the Houston Astros reached a deal with free agent right fielder Josh Reddick. According to Jeff Passan the deal between Reddick and the Astros is a four-year contract worth $52 million, and is pending a physical by Reddick before it becomes official.
Reddick, 29, hit .281 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI in 115 games in 2016, splitting time between the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. Reddick is a career .255 hitter with 96 home runs over the course of eight seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers.
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The pair of moves by the Astros to acquire McCann and Reddick this afternoon satisfies the Astros’ need for left-handed hitting in their lineup that they looked to address heading into the offseason.