The Cleveland Indians could be nearing a trade for Milwaukee All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy.
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Lucroy is having a peak Lucroy season, hitting.299/.359/.482 and generating 2.6 rWAR and 2.8 fWAR so far this year while nailing a career-high 40 percent of opposing base stealers.
To get Lucroy, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reported the Rangers gave up outfielder Lewis Brinson and right-hander Luis Ortiz. New York Mets and Texas Rangers are now the front runners to land him.
The Indians’ interest in Beltran has been known since the trade deadline talks began heating up, and those fires are apparently still burning, as ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted last night that the Tribe are one of the teams still poking around for a potential trade. This season, he went a combined 5-6 with a 2.71 ERA in 17 starts between Class-A Augusta and Class-A San Jose. In 77 games for Double-A Frisco, he’s hitting just.237/.280/.431 with 14 doubles, six triples, 11 homers and 11 steals. The California native returned to Hickory in 2015, where he was named a Mid-Season SAL All-Star after going 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA (10 ER/50 IP), a 46/9 K/BB ratio, and a.238 BAA while also helping the ‘Dads win the SAL Championship.
Lucroy, one of the most underpaid players in baseball, earns just $4.35 million this year and will make $5.25 million next year, then can become a free agent after the 2017 season.
Milwaukee general manager David Stearns said the Brewers would move on after Lucroy refused to waive the no-trade provision in his contract.
Lucroy said during the offseason that he wanted to play for a victor and wasn’t sure he wanted to go through Milwaukee’s rebuilding process.
Jeffress has pitched well in his first ever opportunity as a closer.
The Rangers also sent three pitching prospects to the rebuilding Yankees on Monday for All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran, New York’s top offensive player this season.
Jeffress, 28, has a 2-2 record with 27 saves and a 2.22 ERA (11 ER/44.2 IP) over 47 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season.
A day later, the Rangers swept in aggressively and once again dealt from their very deep well of A-list prospects, sending Ortiz and Brinson to Milwaukee. Past that, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress is also headed to the Rangers.
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The Brewers are in 4th place in the NL central they’re 9 games under.500 out of contention for the post-season and you want to stay in Milwaukee. He will have to continue proving his plate-discipline gains are legitimate in order to realize his ceiling, but the floor here is insane high too for a soon-to-be 22-year-old center fielder. Playing for Class A Advanced Lynchburg, the 20-year-old Mejia has a 42-game hitting streak.
