Pirates acquire Aramis Ramirez from Brewers

The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially announced the acquisition of third baseman Aramis Ramirez from the Milwaukee Brewers. In return, the Brewers received right-handed pitching prospect Yhonathan Barrios. 

Ramirez, coincidentally, was traded from the Pirates to the Cubs 12 years ago to this day, when Pittsburgh was out of contention. His career has come full circle since that time, spending 8 1/2 years in Chicago following the deal, and playing with Milwaukee the past four.

The 2015 Pirates have been plagued by injuries to their infield, where Ramirez will surely provide depth. Third baseman Josh Harrison and utility infielder Jordy Mercer both will miss over a month with a thumb injury and a knee injury, respectively. 

Even when those guys come back, Ramirez will provide depth at third base, where he has spent his entire career defensively. Some have speculated that the Pirates may try to move Ramirez to first base and trade Pedro Alvarez, whose name has reportedly come up in trade talks quite a bit. 

With just one year left on his current deal, Ramirez is expected to retire following the 2015 season. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Pirates will take on $3 million of the remaining salary on Ramirez's deal (which is a little less than $6 million). 

On the season, the 37-year-old Ramirez is hitting .247/.295/.430 with 11 homers and 42 runs batted in over 302 plate appearances. He has been pretty hot as of late, hitting for a .922 OPS in July. 

--Devan Fink

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