Pirates select contract of C/1B Rafael Flores, acquired from Yankees in David Bednar trade
Rafael Flores, the player acquired in the David Bednar trade, has joined the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates selected the contract of the 24-year-old catcher/first baseman from Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, putting Flores in position to make his major-league debut.
Ranked the Pirates’ No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 9 by Baseball America, Flores batted .280 with 27 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs and 88 RBIs in 133 games between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Indianapolis this season. He was part of the return package from the New York Yankees in exchange for Bednar, a two-time All-Star closer who was dealt at the trade deadline in late July.
Flores batted .281 with four doubles, a triple, six homers and 28 RBIs in 36 games at Indianapolis.
To make room on the active roster, the Pirates optioned infielder Liover Peguero to Indianapolis.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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