After pulling off a big trade earlier in the day to land Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran, Jon Daniels and the Rangers nearly immediately made a much bigger trade just minutes before the 4pm EST trade deadline, acquiring catcher Jonathan Lucroy and closer Jeremy Jeffress from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for top-level minor league prospects CF Lewis Brinson, SP Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later.
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According to widespread reports here and elsewhere, the Brewers and Indians agreed to terms on a deal that would send Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy to Cleveland for an impressive package of prospects. Now in Double-A, Brinson has dealt with a shoulder strain in 2016 and his numbers have dipped a bit.
The Rangers did everything they needed to do at the trade deadline, and did it without surrendering their top prospect, Joey Gallo, or any of the young and exciting players who figure to make up their core for years to come. They got All-Star left-hander Cole Hamels last season after the pitcher voided a proposed trade that would have sent him from Philadelphia to Houston. The Rangers are not on Lucroy’s no-trade list, so he has no say in if he gets traded there or not.
On the season, Lucroy is batting an impressive.300 clip, with 13 homers and 50 RBI. His six-year career in the major league has all been spent with the Brewers, where he hit.284 in 805 games.
Earlier Monday, the Rangers acquired designated hitter Carlos Beltran from the New York Yankees.
“Now, moving on to the @Rangers let’s take this bad boy to the ‘ship!” Jeffress has 27 saves this season and has just blown one all year.
The Rangers have acquired Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy and RP Jeremy Jeffress, the club announced Monday. In 61 games, he hit.277 with eight home runs and 38 RBI.
Brinson, who ranks second in the Rangers’ farm system according to MLB.com was drafted 29th overall in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft. A former first-round pick (30th overall) out of Sanger High School in the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft, Ortiz is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound right-hander. In three seasons down in the minors, Ortiz has a 9-8 record with a 2.62 ERA in 137.2 innings of work.
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The Cleveland Indians are making big moves before the Major League Baseball trade deadline acquiring New York Yankees pitcher and reliever Andrew Miller early. 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.
