Mets acquire catcher Michael Perez from Pirates for cash

The Mets are acquiring catcher Michael Perez from the Pirates in exchange for cash considerations, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. This is the second deal consummated between these two sides in the past two days. (On Friday, the Pirates sent designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach to New York for Colin Holderman.) In this case, Perez was designated for assignment on Friday, so the acquisition cost for the Mets was negligible.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets have designated Travis Blankenhorn for assignment, per Tim Healey of Newsday Sports. Blankenhorn was called up to the active roster on Friday, so his designation clears an active roster spot for either Perez or Vogelbach.

In the short run, Perez serves as catching depth, should Tomas Nido require a stint on the injured list for his bruised hand. In that case, Perez would join with Patrick Mazeika to form the Mets’ catching tandem. In the long run, Perez can be optioned to Triple-A, so he can remain in the Mets organization to serve as depth once Nido and/or James McCann return.

For the Pirates, this is simply a way to pick up some extra cash for a player they might have lost anyway. They have Jason Delay and Tyler Heineman handling catching duties with Perez now out of the organization. Veteran Roberto Perez remains sidelined after hamstring surgery back in May.