He was a part of the deal that brought Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt to the Brewers as he, along with Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and Jake Odorizzi, went to the Royals. The trade for Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress, Texas’ big-time move to wrest favoriteship in the American League from the Indians, was another matter, as it meant Texas surrendered Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz.
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After Lucroy used his limited no-trade clause to block a deal to Cleveland, the All-Star catcher was sent to Texas.
On his verified Twitter account, Lucroy wrote, “Now, moving on to the (at) Rangers let’s take this bad boy to the ‘ship!”
In the meantime, the Rangers bolstered their lineup with Carlos Beltran, who is having a monster year, batting.304/.344/.546 with 22 home runs and 64 runs batted in, making the addition of Lucroy an even sweeter deal for the forerunners of the AL West.
Lucroy, a 30-year-old who is regarded as one of the top five catchers in the game offensively and defensively, is under club control through 2017 at $5 million. Robinson Chirinos has started 33 games, most since coming off the disabled list in early June after missing 53 games because of a broken bone in his right forearm. Holaday, recalled an injury rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Round Rock, started 25 games behind the plate for Texas. According to USA Today, another hurdle was that the Indians would not guarantee Lucroy would be their starting catcher next season. He earned his second All-Star nod in three years. Brinson was the team’s 2012 pick, Ortiz was the team’s 2014 selection and Tate was the fourth overall pick in 2015.
The Rangers and the Brewers had been talking last week about a deal including Lucroy, but the talks ended when Milwaukee agreed to send Lucroy to Cleveland for four players.
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In exchange for Will Smith, the Brewers acquired 21 year old right hander Phil Bickford and 26 year old catcher Andrew Susac. The center fielder is batting.237 with 11 home runs, 40 RBI’s, and 11 stolen bases in Double-AA ball. Ortiz has combined to go 4-6, 3.48 (26 ER/67.1 IP) over 16 games/14 starts with Frisco and High-A High Desert in his third professional season. This time Hernan Perez reached on a two-out single against Pirates starter Francisco Liriano (6-11). Jeffress has 27 saves this season and has just blown one all year. Travis d’Arnaud has been hurt and has struggled this season, which has made the catcher position one that the Mets need to get more production from on offense.
