Ballbug: Baseball looks to protect catchers (Fox Sports)

9:45 PM ET, August 27, 2013

Top News:

Steve Adams / MLB Rumors:

Pirates Acquire Marlon Byrd And John Buck — The Pirates are likely headed for their first playoff berth since 1992, and they made sure to bolster their roster accordingly by acquiring Marlon Byrd and John Buck from the Mets for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and a player to be named later.

Discussion: FanGraphs Baseball, Amazin' Avenue, whygavs.com and Bucs Dugout

Jon Heyman / CBSSports.com:

(USATSI) — The Pirates upgraded their offense with their trade for outfielder Marlon Byrd on Tuesday, and they have their eye on Twins star first baseman Justin Morneau now. — Morneau, the former AL MVP, would appear to be their next target following the trade with the Mets that netted …

Discussion: MLB Rumors, HardballTalk and Bucs Dugout

ESPN:

Source: Pirates acquire Byrd, Buck from Mets — The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck in a trade Tuesday with the New York Mets, a source told ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. — Pittsburgh, which is attempting to reach the postseason for the first time since 1993 …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Faith and Fear in Flushing and Deadspin

Steve Adams / MLB Rumors:

Marlon Byrd Claimed Off Waivers — 9:29am: A National League team was awarded the claim on Byrd, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. — 8:58am: Marlon Byrd has been claimed off revocable trade waivers by an unknown team, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).

Discussion: Sporting News Feed RSS, Amazin' Avenue, Baseball Nation, Bucs Dugout, Beyond the Box Score and whygavs.com

Adam Rubin / ESPN:

Source: Mets shop trade of several — NEW YORK — A day after losing right-hander Matt Harvey to a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the New York Mets are poised to be active on the trade front, a source told ESPNNewYork.com. — At least five Mets players are going through the waiver process …

Discussion: CBSSports.com, CBSSports.com Sports News …, Metsblog, MLB Rumors, Amazin' Avenue, MLB Daily Dish and Beyond the Box Score

Wallace Matthews / ESPN:

Robinson Cano plunked on hand — TORONTO — New York Yankees All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano left Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays after being hit in the left hand with a pitch by J.A. Happ in the first inning. — Cano remained in the game long enough to score …

Discussion: baseballmusings.com

Fox Sports:

Baseball looks to protect catchers — The big news in baseball Monday revolved around the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in Matt Harvey's right arm. — Such elbow injuries remain a source of immense frustration within the sport; one scout texted me on Monday, saying …

Discussion: HardballTalk, Federal Baseball and Lone Star Ball

Steve Adams / MLB Rumors:

Royals, Red Sox Swap Berry For Mortensen — The Royals and Red Sox have swapped outfielder Quintin Berry for right-hander Clayton Mortensen, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). — Berry, 28, was claimed by the Royals from the Tigers on June 4 but quickly outrighted to Triple-A Omaha.

Discussion: Baseball Prospectus and Boston Globe

Brian McTaggart / MLB.com:

Astros shut down Appel, two other prospects — CHICAGO — Right-hander Mark Appel, the No. 1 overall pick in June's First-Year Player Draft, made his final start of the season Sunday for Class A Quad Cities, which clinched a playoff berth in a 5-1 win. Appel allowed one run and four hits …

Discussion: The Crawfish Boxes and HardballTalk

Carroll Rogers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Andrews confirms no structural damage for Beachy - updated — Brandon Beachy got the news he was hoping for during a visit to Dr. James Andrews Monday, that his elbow discomfort was caused by inflammation. The surgeon who performed his Tommy John surgery in June of 2012 confirmed …

Discussion: HardballTalk and CBSSports.com

Ben Lindbergh / Grantland:

In the field, the Captain has not gotten any better with age. What has it cost the Yankees? — For the third time this season, Derek Jeter is back. It's more of a tentative return than a triumphant one, since the 39-year-old's last two attempts to play led to rapid returns to the disabled list.

Discussion: HardballTalk, Tangotiger Blog and Bombers Beat

Gabe Kapler / Baseball Prospectus:

Baseball's Biggest Coaching Bias — Most of our writers didn't enter the world sporting an @baseballprospectus.com address; with a few exceptions, they started out somewhere else. In an effort to up your reading pleasure while tipping our caps to some of the most illuminating work …

Discussion: Halos Heaven

Associated Press:

Cliff Lee outpitches Zack Wheeler to lead Phillies by Mets — NEW YORK — Philadelphia's Cliff Lee outpitched Zack Wheeler after the Mets learned All-Star starter Matt Harvey has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, Cody Asche had a two-run triple, and the Phillies beat New York 2-1 Monday night.

Discussion: ESPN, NY Daily News and Faith and Fear in Flushing