As per MLB.com, the Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired 32-year-old outfielder Jason Michaels from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later.  The Indians will also pay the majority of Michaels $2.15 million salary, essentially admitting they were fleeced when they signed him to that deal a few years ago.  (Michaels was recently DFA’d by the Tribe.)

On Michaels, who will assume a bench role in Pittsburgh, Pirates GM Neal Huntington says, “Jason is another tremendous presence in the clubhouse.  He has been around a winning environment. And he brings another Major League player to our bench that can give [manager] John [Russell] the ability to rest [the other outfielders]. Similar to the [Tyler] Yates situation, we had a player who was squeezed out on a team that had a lot of depth in that area and we were able to acquire him for a very, very reasonable fee.”

In a corresponding move, the Bucs optioned Nyjer Morgan to Triple-A.

Filed under: Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates