The Dodgers made a minor trade today that involved a back-up catcher for cash (or a player to be named later). They picked up Drew Butera, who is the son of former Major League catcher Sal Butera, from the Twins. He will be sent to AAA- Albuquerque.
This is just a depth move by the Dodgers. He is essentially the back-up to the back-up. So, if Tim Federowicz were to go down (or AJ Ellis) then Butera may find himself on the roster. Also, he is on twitter. You can follow him here:
@drewbutera.
Frankly, there really is nothing to see here. This is a "just in case" move for a guy who hasn't shown much of a "bat" in the majors.
BTW, I made the above fantasy card of Drew using the 1987 Topps card design and a photo grabbed from Zimbio from press photo day (
Elsa/Getty Images North America).
From a
Dodgers press release:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired catcher Drew Butera from the
Minnesota Twins in exchange for a player to be named later or cash
considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque.
Butera, who turns 30 on Aug. 9, has a .182 career batting average with
five home runs and 41 RBI in 186 career big league games with the Twins
from 2010-13 and has hit .217 with 24 home runs and 169 RBI in 485 games
during seven minor league seasons.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder appeared in two games with the Twins during a
brief call-up from July 24-28, but has spent the majority of the 2013
campaign with Triple-A Rochester, batting .229 with two homers and 10
RBI in 26 games with the Red Wings.
Butera, who was originally selected by the Mets in the fifth round of
the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Central
Florida, is the son of former Major League catcher Sal Butera, who
played in nine seasons with the Twins (1980-82, 1987), Tigers (1983),
Expos (1984-85), Reds (1986-87) and Blue Jays (1988).
The Dodgers now have 40 players on their 40-man roster.
Below are his stats, via
Baseball Reference:
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In other Dodger news. The Dodgers send down Elian Herrera and bring back up Scott Van Slyke in an ever evolving game of musical chairs. Per a Dodgers press release:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today recalled outfielder/first baseman Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned infielder/outfielder Elian Herrera to Triple-A.
Van Slyke, 27, will be making his third stint with the big league club and has a .241 batting average with six doubles, six homers and 14 RBI in 33 games with the Dodgers this year. Van Slyke appeared in eight games with the Isotopes since he was optioned on July 21, batting .250 (6-for-24) with two doubles, a homer and five RBI, and is batting .355 with 10 homers and 35 RBI in 45 games with Albuquerque this season.
Herrera appeared in just one game during his recall, striking out as a pinch-hitter on Sunday, and has gone 2-for-8 (.250) in four games with the Dodgers this season.
