Duke Welker traded to Pirates

Duke Welker was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 19, 2013. He had been traded to the Twins in October as the player to be named later in the Justin Moreau trade. In exchange the Twins received Kris Johnson.

RHP Welker split 2013 between Triple A Indianapolis and the Pirates. He was 3-4, 3.57 ERA, 65 K, 1.33 WHIP, 9 SV in 63.0 IP over 48 games at Indianapolis and was 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 K, 0.00 WHIP in 1.1 IP over 2 games with the Pirates. He was originally drafted by the Pirates in the second round in 2007. Welker will be 28 on February 10.

LHP Johnson split 2013 between Triple A Indianapolis and the Pirates. He was 10-4, 2.39 ERA, 94 K, 1.17 WHIP, 2 SV in 135.2 IP over 26 games at Indianapolis and was 0-2, 6.10 ERA, 9 K, 1.55 WHIP in 10.1 IP over 4 games with the Pirates. He was originally drafted by the Red Sox with the 40th pick of the first round in 2006. Johnson turned 29 on October 14.