The New York Yankees had a perfectly serviceable backup catcher on their roster -- Francisco Cervelli, who hit a perfectly serviceable .266/.324/.395 in 43 games backing up Russell Martin in 2011.
Not satisfied with this arrangement, the Yankees today acquired another backup. Bryan Hoch:
The Yankees completed a deal on Wednesday to address their organizational catching depth, acquiring veteran Chris Stewart from the Giants in exchange for right-hander George Kontos.
Stewart is four years older than Cervelli and hit just .204/.283/.309 for the Giants in 2011. Of course, hardly anyone on the Giants had any hits at all in 2011, so maybe those numbers aren't a true indication of Stewart's ability. Cervelli, for his part, wasn't happy:
"It's not my decision, and that's it," Cervelli said. "I'm disappointed with this, but that's never going to change anything. All my life, I've had to do things, and I've had to do it double, triple. If they want me to prove that I can catch in the big leagues, I'll go and prove it, that I have to be here."
The Yankees were apparently worried about catching depth with an injury to Triple-A catcher Austin Romine. Yankees fans at our SB Nation site Pinstripe Alley aren't happy with this deal, especially since they consider Kontos to be a decent young pitcher.
Sometimes, teams make deals that aren't explainable even when you try to explain them, so I'll stop here.