Phillies acquire Mets OF Bautista

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder Jose Bautista from the New York Mets on Tuesday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. for assignment.

The Phillies had claimed Bautista off waivers and were working with the Mets on a deal for the slugger by Tuesday afternoon's deadline. Teams have 48 hours to complete a trade after a claim is made.

Bautista, 37, hit .204 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs in 83 games with the Mets this season. He first signed with the Braves as a minor league free agent in April and hit .143 with two homers and five RBIs in 12 games with Atlanta.

Upon his debut with the Phillies, Bautista will become the third player to appear for three teams in the same division in a single season, joining Kelly Johnson (Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles in 2014) and Bob Reynolds (Tigers, Indians, and Orioles in 1975).

Prior to this season, Bautista spent 10 years with the Toronto Blue Jays, hitting .253 with 288 homers and 766 RBIs in that time. He was a six-time All-Star with the Jays and slugged a career-high 54 homers in 2010.

Bautista, who has played five different positions this season, will serve as veteran depth for the Phillies, who were 2 1/2 games back of the second National League wild card and 3 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East entering Tuesday.

"The leadership that he brings, the quality at-bats, I feel like he plays really solid defense at multiple positions," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said of Bautista. "I can definitely see why somebody would want to snatch him up and give him a chance to be on a contending team."

Earlier this month, Bautista drove in an NL-record seven runs off the bench in a game against the Phillies.

In July, the Phillies acquired infielder Asdrubal Cabrera from the Mets, the first trade between the two teams since 2001.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)