Astros acquire catcher Brian McCann for two prospects

Bye, bye, Jason Castro.

the Houston Astros have acquired catcher Brian McCann from the New York Yankees in exchange for minor right-handed pitchers Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman, as announced by Jeff Luhnow on Thursday.

McCann, 32, batted .242 (104x429) with 20 homers, 13 doubles, 58 RBI and 54 walks in 130 games in 2016. He appeared in 92 games behind the plate, and three at first base.

The former Yankees backstop is in improvement in batting average, home runs and RBIs over Jason Castro. Castro had been known more of his defensive since he hadn’t been able to return to his 2013 form when he batted .276 in 120 games.

McCann brings a wealth of experience, he was selected to seven All-Star teams and has won six Silver Slugger Awards. He spent his first nine seasons with the Braves (2005-13), and past three with the Yankees (2014-16).

On top of that, the Astros basically gave up two lottery tickets to help add another solid bat to the lineup.

Abreu, 21, appeared in 24 games (16 starts) between Class A Quad Cities and Class A Advanced Lancaster in 2016. He owned a 3-8 record with a 3.72 ERA (42ER/101.2IP) and 115 strikeouts. In his three year career with the Astros organization, he has gone 8-13 with a 3.74 ERA (76ER/216.1IP). Abreu is currently ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the Astros organization per MLB.com.

Guzman, 20, pitched in 13 games (8 starts) with the Rookie Level GCL Astros and Rookie Level Greeneville this season. He owned a 4.05 ERA (18ER/40IP) with a 12.2 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio, racking up 54 strikeouts in his 40.0 innings of work. Guzman has pitched for the Rookie Level DSL Astros, GCL Astros and Greeneville Astros in his two professional seasons.

The Astros will have McCann under control for three more years, the final years of five-year, $85 million contract he signed in 2014 with New York.