The Twins have acquired right-hander Duke Welker from the Pirates as the player to be named later in the Justin Morneau deal, the teams announced. Morneau was traded to Pittsburgh on August 31st for outfielder Alex Presley and a PTBNL or cash.
Welker, 27, made two major league appearances in 2013 but spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A Indianapolis, posting a 3.57 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. The 27-year-old was rated as the No. 26 prospect in the PIrates' system by Baseball America at the start of the year after a five-year absence from the list. The 6'7" hurler had a lot of hype after being taken in the second round of the 2007 draft but injuries held him back in subsequent years.
