The Washington Nationals acquired catcher Yan Gomes from the Cleveland Indians for right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, minor-league outfielder Daniel Johnson, and a player to be named later, the Nationals announced.
Gomes, who was also reportedly being pursued by the New York Mets, will share catching duties with Kurt Suzuki, who signed a two-year contract with Washington on Nov. 20.
Cleveland will likely turn to Roberto Perez as its starting catcher with Gomes traded.
"We did trade from an area of depth here," Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, according to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. "For a while, you've heard us say we feel we have two regular catchers within the organization at the major league level, and now Roberto will have an opportunity to step in and be that regular guy. He's done that for us over the course of the past few seasons when Yan's been injured. He's demonstrated that ability to lead our pitching staff. He's caught some of the most meaningful games that we've played over the last five-to-six years, including that run in the 2016 postseason."
Four catchers combined to hit .214/.304/.320 for the Nationals in 2018, so it was an area they had to address.
The 31-year-old Gomes hit .266/.313/.449 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs in 112 games last season, appearing in his first All-Star Game.
In seven big-league seasons split between the Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, Gomes owns a .248/.295/.424 slash line with 87 homers and 308 RBIs in 652 games.
The 25-year-old Rodriguez appeared in 14 games - eight of them starts - for the Nationals in 2018, going 3-3 with a 5.71 ERA across 52 innings.
Johnson, 23, appeared in 89 games for Washington's Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg, Pa., hitting .267/.321/.410 with 31 RBIs and 21 steals.
He was selected by the Nationals in the fifth round of the 2016 draft.
