Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy has blocked his proposed trade to Cleveland after the teams had reached a preliminary agreement on a deal sending the two-time All-Star to the Indians.
Advertisement
Lucroy was to be dealt to the Indians, but he had them on his no-trade list, and exercised that clause. The 30-year-old was having a terrific season for Milwaukee, hitting.299 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI’s, but the veteran catcher will also help the Texas pitching staff with his experience and on field leadership, something that could make this a risky team over the next few weeks. Texas will send prospects Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz and a player to be named later to Milwaukee in the deal.
Lucroy’s acquisition came shortly after the Rangers sent three prospects to the New York Yankees for designated hitter Carlos Beltran. In 86 games this season, he is slashing.276/.327/.462 with 13 home runs and 55 RBIs. d’Arnaud, meanwhile, has struggled at the plate for the Mets in 39 games, going.239/.290/.321. Between a combination of A+ and Double-A this season, Ortiz has a 3.48 ERA and 8.3 K/9 ratio. They liked him when the Reds took him with the 12th pick in the 2005 draft – they took Mike Pelfrey instead – and they went deep into discussions about him with the Reds at last year’s trade deadline, dangling Zack Wheeler.
In another tweet, Lucroy thanked Brewers fans and said they would always have a special place in his heart.
Gomes, the Indians’ starting catcher for most of the past four seasons, is signed through 2019 with club options in 2020 and 2021. Robinson Chirinos has started 33 games.
The Rangers have an AL-high 62 wins after a four-game series sweep of the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals, and a six-game lead over Houston in the AL West. They had agreed on Saturday to send prized catching prospect Francisco Mejia, along with shortstop Yu-Cheng Chang, outfielder Greg Allen and reliever Shawn Armstrong to the Brewers for Lucroy. And while Smith was slightly off this season (1-3, 3.68 ERA), he still had several years of team control having qualified for arbitration for the first time last winter as a “Super 2” player.
Susac spent parts of the 2014 and ’15 season in the majors.
Bickford, who had been a top prospect in the Giants’ farm system, is a combined 5-6 with a 2.71 ERA in 17 starts between Class-A Augusta and Class-A San Jose.
Advertisement
Texas will send 2015 first round pick Dillon Tate along with other prospects to NY in that deal, according to club.
