The Kansas City Royals are going all in.
Just days after acquiring new staff ace Johnny Cueto in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, the club has struck another deal, this time acquiring super-utility man Ben Zobrist and $2 million from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for pitching prospects Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks per Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan.
Final deal: Ben Zobrist to Kansas City, Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks to Oakland. Kansas City is getting more than $2M from the A’s, too.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2015
The Royals possess the best record in the AL at 60-38, so gearing up for a World Series run obviously makes sense. Zobrist is on the move again, as he didn’t even get a single full season with the A’s before getting traded again. He’s a valuable player who can play virtually any position (outside of catcher and pitcher) but will most likely see the majority of his time at second base where he’s played more this season than any other position.
Kansas City’s current option at the position is Omar Infante, who’s had over 300+ at bats, and only managed one home run and a .244 OBP. Zobrist represents an immediate upgrade, posting a .268 AVG, .a 354 OBP with six home runs and 33 RBIs so far this season. He’s set to become a UFA at the end of the season.
The 6-foot-5 Manaea was consistently ranked in multiple top 100 prospect lists entering the season, and hasn’t done anything to lower his stock since. MLB.com’s Jim Callis projected him to lead the minor leagues in strikeouts this year, and while the 23-year-old has only made six starts split between A+ and AA, he’s still fanned 33 batters in 26.2 innings. Here’s Callis’ scouting report from earlier this year.
“Hitters have trouble making contact with Manaea’s fastball. It has good but not great velocity at 90-96 mph and plays up because of his delivery, which features extension and downhill plane and adds life. Manaea doesn’t have a second plus pitch, though his slider is a solid offering that improved over the course of last season. His changeup is an average third pitch with some fade.”
The 25-year-old Brooks has consistently put up solid minor league numbers, but projects as a backend starter.
Oakland gets two more prospects to build the farm, while the Royals have added another piece to an already deep team. This is shaping up to be a very active trade deadline.
UPDATE: Royals GM Dayton Moore says Zobrist will be playing the outfield, filling the void left by Alex Gordon’s injury.
Ben Zobrist will start as an outfielder for the Royals, Dayton Moore says.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) July 28, 2015
