Blue Jays acquire OF Patrick Kivlehan from Pittsburgh

The Blue Jays swung a minor trade Friday, acquiring outfielder Patrick Kivlehan from the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations.

According to a team announcement, the Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Patrick Kivlehan from the Pittsburgh Pirates. As Andersen Pickard of MLB Daily Dish notes, the Blue Jays are sending cash considerations to the Pirates to complete the deal.

Kivlehan has been assigned to Double-A New Hampshire, according to the official transactions page of MiLB’s Eastern League.

Kivlehan, 29, was drafted by the Mariners in the 4th round of the 2012 MLB Draft and spent three seasons in their system before being dealt to the Texas Rangers in December 2015.

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After bouncing back to Seattle and then to San Diego, Kivlehan, a native of Nyack, New York, logged time in the Reds, Mets, and Diamondbacks organizations before signing on with the Pirates on a minor-league deal in October 2018.

In 212 major-league at-bats (9 with ARI in 2018, 178 with CIN in 2017, 8 with SDP/CIN in 2016), the Rutgers product has slashed .208/.302/.401 with 10 home runs and 28 RBI to go along with five doubles and three triples.

For his minor-league career, he has appeared in almost 700 games, posting an OPS of .823 and racking up 447 RBI at various levels of competition.

His most recent elongated stint in the upper minors came with the Las Vegas 51s (NYM) in 2018, where he slashed .314/.372/.588 in 390 plate appearances and smashed 20 home runs and drove in 67 in 98 games.

Prior to the trade, Kivlehan was playing for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, where he was hitting just .212 in 24 games, scoring 11 runs in 85 at-bats.

While likely a simple depth acquisition, Kivlehan could potentially see some time with the major-league team later this year, given the relatively low expectations surrounding the team and their reported desire to test out some assets before ramping up their competitive efforts.