As first reported by ESPN's Buster Olney, C Chris Stewart, 31, was acquired by the Bucs from the Yankees today for a PTBNL. Apparently the deal had been on the burner awhile. Yankee beat man Dan Barbarisi tweeted that it had been agreed to Friday, but was held up until Stewart and the Bucs agreed on a contract, details of which haven't been announced.
Stewart is a glove guy behind the dish, and good thing, too, as his slash last season was just .211/.293/.272. Like Russell Martin, he's highly regarded as a pitch framer with a high career toss-out rate (33%), and would serve as his back up. Stewart's bat is what it is; he's a career .214 hitter in parts of seven
seasons.
Stewart, who was expected to earn $1M as a first-year arbitration player, was going to be non-tendered by the Yankees, so the price should end up right. He's out of options though, so he'll have to stick on the roster after camp breaks.
The Bucs' FO was forced to bring Tony Sanchez up earlier than they planned last season when Mike McKenry was hurt, and apparently think that another full-time gig at Indy would help. That's not a great vote of confidence for him, especially if he's the presumed heir behind the dish in 2015.
The Fort was DFA'ed, and we'll see where he ends up; it could be back in Pittsburgh on a minor league deal, especially as his leverage isn't very high with his knee injury.
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