The Kansas City Royals have acquired Ben Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The teams have now confirmed the trade.
Sean Manaea appears to be one of the players going to Oakland, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Aaron Brooks is believed to be the other player heading out west.
Zobrist, 34, is hitting a slash of .268/.354/.447 with six homers and 33 RBIs in 271 plate appearances this season. The switch-hitting utility player will provide the Royals with a versatile player that’s one of the best in the league at getting on base. He hasn’t had an on-base percentage less than .339 since 2007. This is a good pick up for Kansas City, but it did cost them one of their better prospects in Manaea.
Manaea, 23, was ranked as the third best prospect in the Royals organization in our preseason rankings. The left-hander has been good in his second season playing professional baseball, posting a 3.69 ERA in 31 2/3 innings Rookie, Class A and Double-A ball this season.
The Royals also traded away 25-year-old pitching prospect Aaron Brooks. The righty has limited major league experience, pitching 7 innings the past two seasons. He struggled during his short stints in the big leagues, giving up 16 earned runs. Brooks has been decent in Triple-A Omaha this year, posting an ERA of 3.71 and a WHIP of 1.303.
This looks like a solid trade for both side and should help the Royals this season and will improve the A’s farm system.
[poll id=”105″]
