Contenders wasted no time in improving their rosters on Tuesday, with several stars changing teams on a wild day around baseball. ADVERTISING Contenders wasted no time in improving their rosters on Tuesday, with several stars changing teams on a wild
Contenders wasted no time in improving their rosters on Tuesday, with several stars changing teams on a wild day around baseball.
With Friday’s nonwaiver trading deadline approaching, Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Reyes, Jonathan Papelbon, Ben Zobrist and others were all on the move. It was the busiest 24 hours yet of the late-July trading season, and the reigning American League champions have been perhaps the most aggressive.
That would be the Kansas City Royals, who have traded five pitching prospects in two deals. In the first deal, on Sunday, they acquired the Cincinnati Reds’ ace, Johnny Cueto. In the second, on Tuesday, they got the versatile Zobrist, who had been with the Oakland Athletics.
The Tulowitzki deal, consummated late Monday night and announced on Tuesday, was perhaps the most surprising — not because the lowly Colorado Rockies had finally traded Tulowitzki, but because of where they sent him. Tulowitzki now plays for the Toronto Blue Jays, the major leagues’ highest-scoring team, who had a more glaring need for pitching.
The Blue Jays did acquire a reliever, the 21-year veteran LaTroy Hawkins, but the big prize was Tulowitzki, who was acquired for Reyes and three pitching prospects. Tulowitzki, 30, is a five-time All-Star shortstop who hit .300 with 12 home runs and 53 RBI for Colorado this season.
Shedding the remainder of Reyes’ contract will help the Blue Jays afford Tulowitzki, whose 10-year, $157.7 million contract runs through 2020. Reyes, 32, who is making $22 million this season and in each of the next two years, signed his heavily backloaded deal with the Miami Marlins after winning the National League batting title for the New York Mets in 2011.
For the Rockies, more important than Reyes are the pitchers they acquired: Miguel Castro, 20, who appeared in relief in 13 games for Toronto this season and was pitching in Class AAA; starter Jeff Hoffman, 22, a first-round draft pick last June who was recently promoted to Class AA; and Jesus Tinoco, 20, a Class A starter.
Hoffman, in time, could become that most elusive of baseball species: an elite Rockies starting pitcher. He was considered a possible first overall pick before last season, at East Carolina, but he needed Tommy John surgery and slipped to Toronto at pick No. 9. He has a 2.93 earned run average in 13 professional starts.
Cueto, 29, is already an ace and will front a Royals rotation that needed a true No. 1. The lineup will get a boost from Zobrist, a switch-hitter who has started at second base, in left field and in right field this season. Zobrist, 34, is likely to play in the outfield for the Royals, whose star left fielder, Alex Gordon, who could be out until September with a severe groin strain.
Kansas City sent the right-hander Aaron Brooks and the left-hander Sean Manaea to the Athletics and shipped three young left-handers to the Reds: Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed. The Royals already have the best record in the American League, at 60-38 entering Tuesday.
“You’ve got to believe there’s going to be a lot more wins coming in the next couple months,” Zobrist said in a conference call, as reported by The Kansas City Star. “So I’m super excited about it.”
The Royals reached Game 7 of the World Series last year on the strength of a dominant late-inning bullpen, and Papelbon should help his new team, the Washington Nationals, create something similar. The Nationals already have a closer, Drew Storen, who had 29 saves and a 1.73 ERA entering Tuesday. With Papelbon on his way from the Philadelphia Phillies, Storen will assume a setup role.
Papelbon, 34, a six-time All-Star, badly wanted out of Philadelphia but would approve a deal only to a team that would make him its closer. The Nationals agreed to do that while sending the Phillies a Class AA pitcher, Nick Pivetta. The Phillies also included cash in the deal while the Nationals agreed to sign Papelbon for next season.
The Los Angeles Angels, who traded for Boston outfielder Shane Victorino on Monday, added another outfielder, David DeJesus, in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. The Angels sent a Class AAA infielder, Josh Rutledge, to the Red Sox and sent Eduar Lopez, a pitcher in rookie ball, to the Rays.
DeJesus, a 13-year veteran, was hitting .259 for the Rays and should team with Victorino in a platoon in left field, a position that has been a problem for the Angels all season. Before Tuesday, Angels left fielders were hitting just .212, with a sickly on-base plus slugging percentage of .589.
The Angels also traded for another outfielder, Cleveland’s David Murphy, sending a Class AA infielder, Eric Stamets, to the Indians. Murphy, a left-handed hitter who had a .296 average for Cleveland this season, could platoon as the Angels’ designated hitter with the right-handed C.J. Cron.
