Until the Nationals hijacked Sunday’s baseball headlines with news of signing Max Scherzer, the biggest MLB news of the day appeared to be the Rangers making a deal with the Brewers for Yovani Gallardo. However, details of the trade had yet to be completely worked out, thus pushing an official announcement to Monday or Tuesday.
Well, the trade became a done deal Monday afternoon, as first reported by Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan:
Source: Yovani Gallardo to Rangers deal is done. Brewers get back IF Luis Sardinas, RP Corey Knebel and 18-year-old RHP Marcos Diplan.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 19, 2015
We covered what the Rangers were getting with Gallardo on Sunday. He posted a 3.51 ERA, with 146 strikeouts in 192.1 innings, resulting in the lowest rate of his career (6.8 Ks per nine innings). So let’s look at what Milwaukee is receiving in return.
Baseball America ranked Sardinas, 21, among Texas’ top 10 prospects. He played 19 games at second base for the Rangers, but has been a shortstop during most of his career. He batted .261 with a .616 OPS in 125 plate appearances with Texas last season, which is pretty close to what he hit in the minors.
Knebel, 23, was part of the Joakim Soria trade with the Tigers, so this is his second time being dealt in six months. A 2013 first-round pick, he pitched well in Double-A and Triple-A, but got knocked around when Detroit called him up. Knebel was shut down in August with an elbow injury. Diplan, 18, pitched in the rookie Dominican League last season, compiling a 1.54 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 36 walks in 64.1 innings. Signed in 2013 for $1.3 million, he’s obviously raw, but touches 94 mph on the radar gun and also features a changeup and curveball.
Additionally, the Brewers will pay $4 million of Gallardo’s $14 million salary for 2015. But those three prospects are a nice haul for a pitcher who can be a free agent after the season. And speculation is rumbling that trading Gallardo frees Milwaukee up to make a run at James Shields, who would provide a nice upgrade to its rotation.
