Brewers acquire infielder Betancourt and a PTBNL to be named from Detroit

The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired infielder Javier Betancourt and a player to be named from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Francisco Rodriguez. The announcement was made by General Manager David Stearns.

Betancourt, 20, signed with Detroit as a non-drafted free agent on August 18, 2011. In four minor-league seasons (2012-15), he owns a career batting average of .281 with 14 HR and 139 RBI in 338 games. He has played with the Rookie Venezuelan Summer League Tigers (2012), Rookie Gulf Coast League Tigers (2013 GCL All-Star), Class-A West Michigan (2014 Midwest League All-Star) and Class-A Lakeland (2015). He has appeared in games at second base, shortstop and third base.

Betancourt, who played exclusively at second base in 2015, batted .263 with 3 HR and 48 RBI in 122 games at Lakeland this season. He is currently playing for Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he is batting .300 (6-for-20) with 1 HR and 5 RBI in 8 games.

Rodriguez, who turns 34 in January, pitched for Milwaukee from 2011-15 (was traded to Baltimore during the 2013 season). He went 13-16 with a 2.91 ERA and 95 saves in 263 relief appearances as a Brewer, including 1-3 with a 2.21 ERA and 38 saves in 60 outings this season. Rodriguez, who was an All-Star in each of the last two seasons for Milwaukee, ranks seventh on the all-time Major League saves list (386).