Rockies Acquire Drew Butera From Royals For Prospect

The Rockies made a move to shore up their catching depth at the waiver trade deadline, acquiring Drew Butera from the Royals in exchange for lefthanded pitching prospect Jerry Vasto.

Butera joins Tony Wolters, Chris Iannetta and Tom Murphy on the Rockies’ catcher depth chart. Colorado entered Friday two games back of the second National League wild card spot.

 

ROYALS ACQUIRE:

Jerry Vasto, LHP
Age: 26

Vasto beat the odds as a 24th-round pick from Division II Felician (N.J.) University who reached the majors. He made his big league debut on June 10 of this year, when he gave up three hits and three runs in two-thirds of an inning and was sent back down to Triple-A. Vasto is a reliever who comes at hitters with a 92-94 mph fastball and hard, 84-87 mph slider. He’s a reverse-splits pitcher who has been better against righties (.233, .661 OPS) than lefties (.264, .731 OPS) this year and performed in unfavorable conditions at Triple-A Albuquerque, although his control wavers. Vasto is in position to join the Royals’ bullpen soon and get the opportunity to show he deserves to stay.

ROCKIES ACQUIRE:

Drew Butera, C
Age: 35

The nine-year veteran hit .188 with two home runs as the Royals’ backup catcher this season and, more memorably, made the fourth pitching appearance of his career. Butera threw out just 13 percent of baseunners this year, compared to the league average of 29 percent, and grades as a below-average catcher by every defensive metric. He will be a free agent after the season.