The Yankees turned Francisco Cervelli into Justin Wilson, who pitched well for them last year before being turned into Luis Cessa and Chad Green. There is a still-to-be-determined outcome to that deal, though neither Cessa nor Green has wowed in their initial major league forays.

What is more revealing, though, is that in the season-plus following his acquisition by the Pirates, Cervelli actually might have outplayed Brian McCann, particularly when you consider the disparity in salary.

For that, Pittsburgh rewarded Cervelli with a three-year, $31.5 million extension Tuesday. The removal of Cervelli and Stephen Strasburg (who was extended last week by the Nationals) further weakens what already was going to be a tepid upcoming free-agent class.

Cervelli, 30, probably could have received significantly more in free agency. But an injury-prone player would have had to risk staying healthy – and his concussion history was one of the reasons the Yankees were more willing to trade him.

The Pirates have brought in ex-Yankee catchers such as Russell Martin, Chris Stewart and Cervelli to good results. Cervelli is renowned as arguably the best pitch framer in the sport, which essentially means he turns more balls into strikes than any receiver.

But his offensive game also has blossomed. Cervelli was McCann’s backup in 2014. Since the start of 2015, McCann has out-homered Cervelli, 31-7, yet because Cervelli hits for a much higher average and gets on base more frequently, his OPS of .757 is comparable to McCann’s .768. When defense and baserunning are added to that equation, Cervelli has a Wins Above Replacement of 4.5 since the start of last year, compared to 3.8 for McCann.

In fact, since the outset of last season, only San Francisco star Buster Posey (6.5) has a better WAR among catchers than Cervelli. McCann is third. Martin, who was replaced in Pittsburgh by Cervelli, is fourth at 2.6. The Yankees signed McCann for five years at $85 million; the Blue Jays signed Martin for five years at $82 million.