Brewers officials say 22-year-old Brinson, acquired from the Rangers, entered the 2016 season ranked by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com as the second-best prospect in the Rangers organization.
Advertisement
Arguably the top prize in this year’s MLB trade season, Jonathan Lucroy has been traded to the Rangers in exchange for prospects Lewis Brinson, a 22-year-old outfield prospect now in AA, and Luis Ortiz, a 20-year-old pitching prospect who has split time between A and AA in the minor leagues.
First he used his no-trade rights to reject a deal to the Cleveland Indians, then he seemed to be destined for the Texas Rangers, but now it seems the Rangers and Brewers are at an impasse as the two sides have (reportedly) yet to speak today. 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.
Lucroy himself later confirmed the news on Twitter.
Lucroy acknowledged the trade in a tweet on Monday.
A two-time All-Star, Lucroy is batting.300 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs this season. He’s making $4.35 million this year and will earn $5.25 million next year if the Rangers did not waive the club option and exercise it in the final year of his deal. They have been relying on the trio of Robinson Chirinos, Bobby Wilson and Bryan Holaday behind the plate.
The aggressive strike is the second move of the day for the Rangers, who acquired Carlos Beltran from the Yankees earlier in the afternoon in a 3-player haul that was headlined by right-hander Dillon Tate. Lucroy provides an immediate upgrade over the Rangers mix of catchers and will be a huge contributor down the line for Texas. A 1st round selection by the Rangers in the 2012 June Draft out of Coral Springs High School, Brinson also played 43 games in Hickory in 2014 with a.335 average, 10 home runs, and 28 RBI prior to a mid-season promotion to High-A. He becomes a free agent in 2020. 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.
Ortiz was selected by Texas in the first round (30th overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.
Advertisement
Herrera, a 22-year-old infielder now playing for Triple-A Las Vegas, has had a pair of brief stints in the majors. Days later, he accepted a trade to Texas, and the Rangers erased a 7 1/2 game deficit to the Astros and won the West by two games.
