Brian McCann is headed to Houston. Photo Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
New York Yankees traded veteran catcher Brian McCann to the Houston Astros on Thursday for two minor-league pitchers
McCann became expendable after catcher Gary Sanchez reached the majors and bashed 20 homers with 42 RBIs in 53 games.
Houston sent right-handers Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman to the Yankees. Neither pitcher has competed past Class A ball.
McCann, 32, batted .242 with 20 homers and 58 RBIs last season. He smacked 69 homers in three seasons with New York and has 245 in his 12-year career.
McCann and retiring David Ortiz are the only major leaguers to hit 20 or more homers in each of the past nine seasons.
McCann is scheduled to make $17 million in each of the next two seasons and the Yankees have agreed to pick up part of his salaries.
McCann, a seven-time All-Star, played his first nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves before joining the Yankees as a free agent.
Abreu, 21, was recently ranked as Houston’s seventh-best prospect by MLB.com. He went 3-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 24 appearances (16 starts) at two Class-A locations in 2016.
Guzman, 20, went 3-4 with a 4.05 ERA in 13 games (eight starts) while splitting time between the Gulf Coast League and the Rookie level.
