Yankees Trade Stewart to Pirates, other notes

The Yankees have traded catcher Chris Stewart to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. With the Yankees' acquisition of Brian McCann and Francisco Cervelli as the favorite in-house option to be the back-up catcher, their catching situation seems to be set for 2014. Chris Stewart caught 109 games for the Yankees, which was the most he'd ever caught in a season for his career. Before the All-Star break, Stewart played well, hitting in excess of .270 and defending well, which was the prominent reason for the Yankees trading for him prior to the 2012 season.

Stewart will reunite with Russell Martin, with whom he shared the catching duties for the Yankees in 2012, catching the 55 games that Martin did not appear in or appeared in but left in later innings due to injury or defense.

In other notes:

• The Yankees and Robinson Cano are far apart on numbers, and the two sides are not in discussions as of now. Cano's agent is looking for $260 million for 10 years as the Yankees still stand firm in their offer of 7 years/$160 million which is a beyond reasonable number for a player who is entering his age 30 season.
• The Brendan Ryan deal is official, two years/$5 million with a mutual option for a third year.
• Brian McCann will be in New York to take his physical either today or tomorrow, with a press conference not far behind, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
• The Yankees have again signed first baseman/outfielder Russ Canzler to a minor league contract. The Yankees claimed Canzler off waivers early in January of this year but he was taken off the roster when Travis Hafner was added in early February.