The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck in a trade Tuesday with the New York Met. The Mets received infield prospect Dilson Herrera and a player to be named.
The Pirates are attempting to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1992 were to looking to improve offensively and Byrd is batting .285 with a career-high 21 home runs and 71 RBIs this season. He will replace star left fielder Starling Marte, who is on the disabled list with a hand injury.
Buck, who has 15 homers and 60 RBIs, figures to serve as a backup to Pirates catcher Russell Martin and became expendable when teh Mets promoted Rookie Travis d’Arnaud who is getting the bulk of the playing time at catcher for New York.
Herrera, 19, is batting .265 with 11 homers at Class A West Virginia this season. The second baseman appeared in this year’s All-Star Futures Game at Citi Field.
Pittsburgh (76-54) entered Tuesday one-half game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.
