New York sent three minor league prospects to the last-place Pirates in exchange for Bednar, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.

Pittsburgh receives catcher and first baseman Rafael Flores, catcher Edgleen Perez and outfielder Brian Sanchez.

In a separate trade, Pittsburgh sent left-handed starting pitcher Bailey Falter to the Kansas City Royals for left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk and first baseman Callan Moss.

Not done, the Yankees also finalized a trade to obtain right-handed reliever Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies for two minor leaguers: infielder Roc Riggio and left-hander Ben Shields.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter throws to a San Francisco Giants batter during a baseball game Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Bird is 4-1 with a 4.73 ERA in 45 appearances this season.

The Yankees had been seeking late-inning options for their bullpen, which entered Thursday with a 4.24 ERA — including a 6.27 mark in July.

Devin Williams began the season as the closer but struggled in the first month and temporarily lost the job to Luke Weaver. Williams started pitching better and regained the ninth-inning role — but Weaver has struggled since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three weeks.

Working mostly in a setup role, the right-hander has a 6.60 ERA since coming off the injured list and has allowed five homers in 15 appearances. He is 2-3 with a 3.10 ERA and eight saves in 39 games overall.

The burly Bednar had problems of his own earlier this season. He spent three weeks at Triple-A Indianapolis in April following a rocky start.

The time in the minors worked wonders. The 30-year-old Bednar has been dominant since his return and had a streak of 23 straight appearances without allowing an earned run end in San Francisco on Monday, though he held on to pick up his 17th save.

The Pittsburgh-area native — who came to his hometown club as part of the massive three-team deal that sent pitcher Joe Musgrove to San Diego — has evolved from a 35th-round draft pick by the Padres in 2016 into a two-time All-Star thanks in part to a fastball that can touch the upper-90s mph and a fiery competitiveness that helped him thrive at the back end of the bullpen for a team in need of stars.

The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Bednar, who takes the mound to the Styx classic “Renegade” — a nod to the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, who have long played the song during pivotal late-game defensive possessions — led the National League with 39 saves in 2023, locking down more than half of Pittsburgh’s 76 victories that season.

He took a significant step back in 2024, when he posted a career-high 5.77 ERA and lost his job to veteran flamethrower Aroldis Chapman.

The problems carried over into this spring, though that now looks like a blip. Bednar’s hard work — and Pittsburgh’s spot at the bottom of the NL Central — made him a valuable commodity at the deadline and now he will find himself in the middle of a playoff race for the first time in his seven-year career.

New York began the day four games behind first-place Toronto in the AL East.

It was the fourth trade made by the Yankees since last Friday. They obtained third baseman Ryan McMahon from Colorado on Friday, reserve infielder Amed Rosario from Washington on Saturday and reserve outfielder Austin Slater from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh sent third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes to Cincinnati on Wednesday for two players, including left-handed relief pitcher Taylor Rogers. A day later, the club sent one of its most popular players to New York in hopes that Flores can evolve into the kind of impactful bat the worst offense in the majors desperately needs.

The 24-year-old Flores was hitting .279 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs in 97 games combined at Double-A and Triple-A.

The Pirates flipped Rogers on Thursday to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Ivan Brethowr.

The 22-year-old Brethowr hit .221 with 10 doubles, a triple, four home runs, 26 RBI, 25 stolen bases and 48 runs scored in 83 games this season with High-A South Bend of the Midwest League.

In the Falter trade, Pittsburgh picked up a pair of prospects.

The 28-year-old Sisk made five relief appearances for Kansas City this season, posting a 1.69

ERA and 11 strikeouts. He also had four saves, a 3.77 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 31 relief appearances at Triple-A Omaha this season.

Sisk was a 2024 International League post-season All-Star after going 6-2 with 15 saves, a 1.57

ERA, 81 strikeouts and a .166 batting average against (33-for-199) in 58 relief outings with Omaha. His 58 appearances were the most in the International League and the most among all

Royals farmhands, while his 15 saves were tied for the most among all Kansas City minor leaguers.

The 21-year-old Moss hit .270 (89-for-330) in 92 games with High-A Quad Cities this season.

He was leading the Midwest League and all Royals farmhands with 70 RBIs at the time of the trade, while also pacing all Kansas City minor leaguers with 22 doubles and ranking third in both hits and walks (53).

Moss, who was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent on August 6, 2024, out of Saint Leo (FL) University, made his professional debut with Low-A Columbia last season, batting .339 (21-for-62) with a double, two home runs, seven RBI, 18 walks and nine runs scored in 22 games.