The Pittsburgh Pirates officially announced on Wednesday that they have acquired catcher Francisco Cervelli from the New York Yankees in exchange for left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson. Cervelli, who hit .301 this past season for the Yankees while backing up Brian McCann, provides the Pirates with another option behind the dish if they are unable to resign top free agent catcher Russell Martin, who is reportedly looking for a 5-year deal worth up to $80M, a price the low budget Pirates would unlikely be able to meet. Pirates GM Neal Huntington told the Pittsburgh Tribune that the trade, “doesn’t change our approach to aggressively pursue Martin. But if we don’t resign (Russell), we feel this gives us a quality alternative.”

As for the other part of the deal, left-handed reliever Justin Wilson, the Yankees gained a solid reliever who posted a 4.20 ERA in 2014 but struck out 61 batters in 60 innings and held left-handed batters to a 2.08 ERA.

Read more about the trade and what it could mean for the Pirates and Russell Martin from Yahoo Sports and the Pittsburgh Tribune.

Chris Brown, St. Louis Baseball Today