The Kansas City T-Bones announced they have acquired infielder Ryan Cavan from Wichita in exchange for utility player T.J. Mittelstaedt.
Cavan, 27, is a 5-foot-11 and 180-pound switch-hitting infielder from Belmont, Calif. He played in 92 games last season for Southern Illinois of the Frontier League, and batted .309 with 103 hits, 16 doubles, 44 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. The San Francisco Giants selected Cavan in the 16th round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft out of UC-Santa Barbara. He played five seasons in the Giants system, reaching double-A in 2012.
That season, while at double-A Richmond, Cavan was the 2012 Minor League Baseball Gold Glove Award recipient at second base. Cavan was selected as the best defensive second baseman among all affiliated minor-league teams that year after posting a .994 fielding percentage with only four errors in 684 chances. Although most of his time defensively has been at second, Cavan has played shortstop and third base during his career.
Wichita acquired Cavan, who is a career .277 hitter with 648 hits, 335 RBIs and 373 runs in six professional seasons, in a trade earlier this offseason.
“Ryan Cavan has an impressive resume, and all of my reports on him say that he plays the game hard and he plays the game right,” said T-Bones manager John Massarelli. “As far as T.J., he wanted to be closer to his family in Wichita, and we wish him the best.”
Mittelstaedt reached base in all 51 home games for Kansas City last season, and finished the season with a .268 batting average, 16 home runs and 52 RBIs.
The T-Bones open the 2015 regular season at home on May 22 against Lincoln.
– Story from T-Bones