Houston Astros acquire catcher Brian McCann from New York Yankees

After some rumors they had interest, the Houston Astros have acquired catcher Brian McCann from the New York Yankees.

Catcher Brian McCann was the subject of some early trade rumors this offseason, with the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros rumored to have interest. The Astros seemed to move to the front of the line recently, but earlier this week Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported a potential impasse between them and the New York Yankees.

McCann’s remaining salary ($34 million over the next two seasons) and his no-trade clause have been potential roadblocks to a trade. But on Thursday afternoon, a deal got done.

McCann obviously waived his no-trade clause to allow the trade to happen, and the Yankees are covering some of the money left on the veteran catcher’s contract.

The two minor league pitchers Houston will send to the Yankees for McCann are not necessarily high-level prospects right now. Abreu (21 years old) and Guzman (20 years old; 21 on Jan. 28) are comparable age, with a combined five seasons of pro experience and Abreu reaching the highest level of the minors to this point (High-A). They each have time to climb the minor league ladder and be factors in the majors, but it’s way too early to tell if the Astros gave up too much for McCann.

McCann hit .242 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI over 492 plate appearances for the Yankees last season, and he has now hit at least 20 home runs in nine straight seasons. McCann is in line to become the Astros’ primary catcher. He and Evan Gattis (32 home runs and 72 RBI in 2016) will now give the team a virtually unrivaled power-hitting catcher/DH duo.

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The Astros have often been mentioned as a team ready to make a big splash this offseason. The trade for McCann wasn’t even their only move on Thursday, with Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reporting Houston is now in line to sign free agent outfielder Josh Reddick.