According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Kansas City Royals have acquired utility player Ben Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics. This is the second major move for the Royals in the last week, as they acquired Johnny Cueto just a few days ago.
Source: #Royals getting #Athletics’ Zobrist.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2015
In return, the Royals are sending pitching prospects Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks to the Athletics. Manaea was just recently promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, after having played in Single-A and rookie ball this year. Overall on the season, Manaea is 1-1 with a 3.69 ERA in seven games. Opponents are batting .275 against him this season.
Brooks has bounced around between Triple-A Omaha and the Royals, with the majority of his time being in the minor leagues. In Omaha, Brooks is 6-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 18 games. In the majors, Brooks has a 6.23 ERA in only 4.1 innings pitched for the Royals.
Zobrist is the main piece moving in this deal, and one has to wonder what the Royals will look like now that they have him and Cueto on their team. This can be a monster team who will be a force to be reckoned with in the American League Central.
The Royals most likely are not done dealing yet, as they have been linked to multiple other players, namely David Price and Cole Hamels.
Zobrist is a player who can play really anywhere, as this season he has logged games at second base, shortstop, and right field. His contract does expire after the season, which means if the Royals can not resign him, they will have ultimately given up two young pitching prospects for a two month rental.
The Royals are currently at Progressive Field in a series with the Cleveland Indians.