Nate Springfield
Trading Places: Tuesday's Minor Moves
Tuesday July 31st, 2012
Broxton will act as a right-handed setup man for the Reds. (US Presswire)
Cardinals Acquire Edward Mujica for Zack Cox
To add some depth to the team's bullpen, Cardinal's GM John Mozeliak struck a deal with the Miami Marlins to bring in right-handed reliever Edward Mujica in exchange for former first-round pick third baseman Zack Cox.
Mujica will be another late innings option for manager Mike Matheny, posting a 4.38 ERA so far this season. He is a ground ball pitcher, and probably will have better numbers by the end of the season considering the defensive upgrade he will have backing him in St. Louis compared to Miami.
In return the Marlins are getting a former top prospect of the Cardinals in Zack Cox. Cox has struggled in professional ball since being selected 25th overall in the 2010 amateur draft. He currently owns a triple-slash line of .254/.295/.421 this season at Triple-A Memphis with nine home runs. He adds some third base depth back to Miami's system with the departure of Matt Dominguez earlier this month.
Red Sox Add Lefty Reliever Craig Breslow
The Diamondbacks make their second move of the week by sending left-handed reliever Craig Breslow to Boston in exchange for veteran outfielder Scott Podsednik and pitcher Matt Albers.
Breslow, who is arbitration eligible for one more time, will give the Red Sox one more left-handed option out of their bullpen. His 2.70 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 43-plus innings pitched are both career best marks.
Coming back to Arizona is a veteran presence and outfield depth in Scott Podsednik, who has missed considerable time this season due to injury, and right-handed reliever Matt Albers. Albers figures to join the Diamondbacks bullpen immediately with Podsednik likely heading to Triple-A initially.
Pirates Trade for Gaby Sanchez
The Marlins and Pirates worked out a deal that sent Gaby Sanchez and pitching prospect Kyle Kaminska to Pittsburgh in exchange for outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and a competitive balance pick in the 2013 amateur draft.
Sanchez has been a shell of himself this year at the plate, hitting only .202 with three homeruns to start the season before being demoted to Triple-A on July 5th. The Pirates hope that a change of scenery will recharge his bat back to his previous career numbers, which included a .269 batting average while hitting 19 home runs in 2010 and 2011. Initially Sanchez will act as depth for the Pirates, but may be able to play himself into a full time role if his bat comes back to life. Also coming to the Pirates is 23 year-old Kyle Kaminska. Kaminska has pitched at both Triple and Double-A this season, posting a 5.20 ERA over 53-plus innings out of the bullpen.
The Marlins continue to add younger talent by getting Gorkys Hernandez in return for Sanchez and Kaminska. Hernandez has played 25 games at the major league level this season, collecting only two hits in 24 at-bats for a .083 batting average. He will likely be assigned to the minor leagues.
Broxton Joins the Reds Bullpen
It was obvious that the Kansas City Royals were hoping to flip reliever Jonathan Broxton at some point in time this season when they signed him in the offseason, and they were able to when trading him to the Cincinnati Reds for left-handed reliever Donnie Joseph and righthander J.C. Sulbaran.
Even though Broxton has been excellent in the closer role for the Royals this season, converting 23 saves with a 2.27 ERA over 35-plus innings, he will act as a right-handed setup man for manager Dusty Baker out of the Reds bullpen. Currently the end game options for the Reds are both left-handed in setup man Sean Marshall and closer Aroldis Chapman. This flexibility will allow the team to play match-ups more in the late innings. This definitely is a hit to Broxton's fantasy value, but will make for a decent pick-up in any NL-only leagues for teams looking for a quality reliever to add.
For the Royals, they receive two pitchers who have spent time between Double-A and Triple-A this season. Joseph, 24, has a 1.72 ERA and 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 52 1/3 innings of relief across Double-A and Triple-A. Prior to the start of the season, Baseball America ranked Joseph the 27th best prospect in the Reds organization. Additionally, the Royals also receive 22-year-old righty J.C. Sulbaran, who has logged just over 100 innings as a starter in Double-A this season while posting a 4.04 ERA. Baseball America ranked Sulbaran as the 12th best prospect in the Cincinnati organization prior to the season.
Red Sox Unload Lars Anderson
Although the Boston Red Sox remained relatively quiet for most of the trade deadline, they were able to send prospect first baseman/outfielder Lars Anderson
to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for for pitcher Steven Wright.
Anderson, 24, has appeared in 30 games for the Red Sox across the span of three seasons, hitting .167/.268/.188 with a .455 OPS in 56 plate appearances. Once rated as high as the 17th best prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America (prior to the 2009 season) - Anderson couldn't find regular playing time with the Red Sox. In Triple-A this season, Anderson is hitting .259/.359/.415 with a .774 OPS in 93 games.
Steven Wright, 27, is a former second-round pick by the Indians in the 2006 MLB Draft. Although he has a fastball in the low-90's, Wright turned to the knuckleball as his primary pitch during the 2011 season. This season while in Double-A, Wright has a 9-6 record with a 2.49 ERA and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings across 20 starts.
Yankees Add Corner Infield Option Casey McGehee
When Alex Rodriguez went on the disabled list due to a broken hand there was much speculation on what third baseman the Yankees would pick up at the deadline. Even though there were rumors of bigger names, they ended up acquiring Casey McGehee from the Pirates in exchange for reliever Chad Qualls.
McGehee has struggled for the second consecutive season at the plate after posting career high numbers in 2010. Currently hitting .230 with eight home runs in 265 at-bats, his current fit for the Yankees is probably due more to the flexibility he provides by having experience and being able to play both corner infield spots with the recent injury to Mark Teixeira.
The Pirates have made a few moves today that have seemed to facilitate this deal. Once they acquired Gaby Sanchez it made McGehee expendable, and Chad Qualls has proved to be a good bullpen arm when put into the right situations. If the Pirates are in fact going to make a run for the playoffs Qualls mound performance and experience in meaningful games will be pluses for the teams bullpen.
Yankees Add Corner Infield Option Casey McGehee
When Alex Rodriguez went on the disabled list due to a broken hand there was much speculation on what third baseman the Yankees would pick up at the deadline. Even though there were rumors of bigger names, they ended up acquiring Casey McGehee from the Pirates in exchange for reliever Chad Qualls.
McGehee has struggled for the second consecutive season at the plate after posting career high numbers in 2010. Currently hitting .230 with eight home runs in 265 at-bats, his current fit for the Yankees is probably due more to the flexibility he provides by having experience and being able to play both corner infield spots with the recent injury to Mark Teixeira.
The Pirates have made a few moves today that have seemed to facilitate this deal. Once they acquired Gaby Sanchez it made McGehee expendable, and Chad Qualls has proved to be a good bullpen arm when put into the right situations. If the Pirates are in fact going to make a run for the playoffs Qualls mound performance and experience in meaningful games will be pluses for the teams bullpen.
Reggie Yinger and Nate Springfield contributed content to this article.
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