Who doesn’t love an early-season trade. It’s the type of deal that benefits both sides as Pittsburgh fortifies their catching situation at Triple-A Indianapolis in the wake of an injury to Endy Rodríguez (finger) at the big-league level. The versatile 31-year-old has gotten into 40 games over the last two years with the Padres. He went unclaimed last month after being removed from San Diego’s 40-man roster.

Sullivan went unclaimed after being designated for assignment. He’ll likely back up Luis Campusano in the minors.

Sullivan is off the 40-man roster to make room for Mason McCoy. Sullivan will now hit the waiver wire, and someone looking for a bench backstop could be interested in a trade or claim. This also likely means Martin Maldonado has won the backup catching role.

The Padres had been playing with three catchers on their active roster since Luis Campusano returned last weekend, but Sullivan wasn’t playing enough to justify keeping on the roster with Xander Bogaerts (shoulder) returning to action on Friday. He’ll continue to serve as depth at Triple-A until he’s needed once more.