Pirates acquire Justin Morneau

Ken Rosenthal was the first to announce the deal on Twitter:

Source: #Pirates acquire Morneau from #Twins for OF Alex Presley.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 31, 2013

The Pirates' pursuit of Morneau was no secret, and as recently as yesterday it was reported the team was still trying to swing a deal. The timing is important, because August 31 is the cutoff date for a player to be in the organization and thus potentially included on the playoff roster.

The 32-year old left-handed hitting first baseman gives Clint Hurdle plenty of options. He could be the everyday first baseman or used in a platoon with Gaby Sanchez. On the season Morneau is hitting .259/.315/.426, .721 OPS. He has 17 HRs and 74 RBIs in 543 plate appearances. Against RHPs Morneau is hitting .281/.343/.488 for a OPS of .831 with 15 of his homers, but he's only put up an OPS of .536 in 161 at bats vs. LHPs.

The move would allow the Pirates to either use Garrett Jones as a left-handed bat off the bench or as a platoon partner with Jose Tabata until Starling Marte comes back.

It's being reported the Twins were looking for pitcher Nick Kingham in return, but the Pirates held out and really are losing little in giving up the 28-year old Presley, who reportedly wasn't happy with his most recent demotion and was not likely to stay in the organization in the offseason. Morneau, a free agent at the end of the year, is due $14 million this season and it is expected the Pirates will pick up the remainder of his salary which should amount to about $2.3 million.

UPDATE 2:58 pm: The Pirates have officially announced the deal. Along with Presley, they will also send a player to be named or cash to the Twins.