Brewers acquire catcher Pina to complete K-Rod deal
The Milwaukee Brewers continued a busy Thursday by acquiring catcher Manny Pina as the player to be named later in the Francisco Rodriguez trade. The Brewers had previously received infielder Javier Betancourt in the Nov. 18 deal for the closer.
Pina was not placed on Milwaukee's 40-man roster, but was invited to major-league camp at spring training.
Pina, who turns 29 in June, was acquired from Seattle during the season for player to be named later. He has five games of major-league experience with Kansas City in 2011-12. Pina is a career .256 hitter with a .374 slugging percentage in 730 minor-league games, although he batted .305 with a .461 slugging percentage in 77 games last season for Detroit's Triple-A affiliate in Toledo.
While not known for his bat, Pina has what appears to be a strong arm. He has thrown out 37 percent of would-be basestealers in his minor-league career and had a 46 percent caught stealing rate in 2015.
