Royals acquire catcher Drew Butera

With Jarrod Saltalamacchia signing with Arizona, the Kansas City Royals, who were interested in the free agent catcher, have acquired catcher Drew Butera from the Angels, the team announced today:

#Royals have acquired C Drew Butera from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for minor league INF Ryan Jackson.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 7, 2015

Jackson, who was hitting .305/.379/.407 while playing three infield positions for Triple-A Omaha goes to Los Angeles in the deal.

To make room for Butera on their 40-man roster, the Royals have transferred left-handed pitcher Tim Collins to the 60-day disabled list.

Butera goes to Kansas City as the backup for starting catcher Salvador Perez. The two-time All-Star has started 26 of 27 games behind the plate for the Royals this season, hitting .304/.314/.441 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in. Erik Kratz started the only other game at catcher for the Royals.

Perez started 143 games at catcher for the Royals last year, not including postseason action, so he could certainly use a breather from someone like Butera.

Butera has played 10 games for the Royals this season, starting seven at catcher. He has four singles in 21 at bats, a .190 average. He hit .188/.267/.288 with three home runs in 61 games with the Dodgers last year.

The Angels, meanwhile, acquire infield depth in Jackson. Currently the only backup infielder on their roster is Rule 5 pick Taylor Featherston, who is 1-for-9 this season with a pair of walks.

Jackson joins a middle infield group at Triple-A Salt Lake that includes Grant Green, Josh Rutledge and Kyle Kubitza among those on the Angels' 40-man roster. He does have 20 major league games under his belt in 2012 and 2013 with St. Louis, with a pair of hits and a walk in 25 plate appearances.