Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 4:12pm

BUCS ADD VETERAN IF McDONALD

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired infielder John McDonald from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

What does it give the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates have one of the worst shortstop situations, short and long term, in all of baseball. Therefore, adding McDonald for depth can't be a bad thing. Incumbent starter {P Clint Barmes} isn't very good, so McDonald may cut into his playing time in 2013. McDonald's glove is well ahead of his bat, but he can get hot with the stick from time to time.

What does it give the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks went shopping for shortstops in the off-season, landing both {P Cliff Pennington} from Oakland and projected starter (though currently injured) {P Didi Gregorius} from Cincinnati. Therefore, McDonald became expendable. They'll take the future asset or put some more cash in their coffers here and move on.

Fantasy impact
McDonald is slick afield but doesn't have nearly enough of a bat to be a fantasy factor.

Player focus

Arizona Diamondbacks

a player to be named later

Pittsburgh Pirates

John McDonald IF