The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired outfielder Alexander Canario from the New York Mets on Monday for cash considerations, the club announced.
In a corresponding move, the Pirates transferred injured righty Jared Jones from the 15-day to 60-day injured list, making room for Canario on the 40-man roster.
Jones has a UCL sprain in his throwing arm, and Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Jones will be shut down from throwing for six weeks.
Canario, 24, was designated for assignment by the Mets on March 27, just over a month after he was traded to New York from the Chicago Cubs for cash.
Days before his trade to New York, Canario had been designated for assignment by Chicago.
Now, Canario will begin a new chapter in the Pirates organization.
The Montecristi, Dominican Republic, native has appeared in 21 career MLB contests, all with the Cubs, split between 2023 and 2024.
In those appearances, 18 of which came in the outfield (11 in left, six in right, one in center), Canario batted .286 with two homers, two doubles and eight RBIs.
However, 19 of Canario’s 42 career MLB at-bats (45%) have been strikeouts, a problem also evident in the minor leagues, where his considerable power was hampered by frequent swings and misses.
Through 1,971 minor-league at-bats, Canario has struck out 30% of the time (593), compared to a 12% walk rate.
Originally an international free-agent signing by the San Francisco Giants in 2016, Canario has appeared in 519 career minor-league games.
He owns a career .261/.346/.501 minor-league slash line, clubbing 109 home runs with 116 doubles and 366 RBIs.
Last year, playing with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Canario batted .243 with 18 home runs and 47 RBIs over 64 games.
In 2022, Canario split time at High-A, Double-A and Triple A, hitting a combined 37 home runs with 97 RBIs in 125 games and batting .252.
Most of his damage (24 homers, 61 RBIs) was at Double-A South Bend.