Rangers land Lucroy and Jeffress for prospects.
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So the headline here is obviously Lucroy, who vetoed a deal to the Indians on Sunday morning. It was a move that sent shockwaves, and rightfully so. “But Jonathan’s a very good player, as well, and if he’s on our team going forward, we’ll be happy to have him”.
According to multiple reports, Lucroy had asked the Indians to remove the option year in 2017 from his contract, making him a free agent this season, a request that was denied by Cleveland.
The Milwaukee Brewers tweeted Monday afternoon that the Brewers will receive outfielder Lewis Brinson, right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz and a player to be named later.
On the season, Lucroy is batting an impressive.300 clip, with 13 homers and 50 RBI.
Lucroy sat out Saturday’s game as the trade talks were completed and was not in the lineup Sunday despite the trade being off.
Jeffress was having a stellar year from the mound in the closing role. The Rangers also acquired relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress in the deal.
Cleveland seems to see something important in Lucroy. He was rated the No.64 prospect in the game by Baseball America and No.74 by MLB.com heading into the 2016 campaign.
The 22-year-old Brinson was the 29th overall pick in the 2012 draft and has been playing at Class AA Frisco this season.
Susac, 26, was batting.273 (57-for-209) with 8 HR and 36 RBI in 58 games at Triple-A Sacramento this season. With his combo of speed and power, Brinson could turn into a 30-30 hitter once he gets to the majors. He has the potential to be a member of the 30/30 club. The Rangers could easily be four or five wins better next year as a result of his acquisition, and maybe two wins for the rest of this season. The 6-foot-3, 230 lb. right-hander was a first-rounder in 2014 and has been working at Double-A. His pitch repertoire includes a fastball that tops out in the upper-90s, a plus-slider that hangs around the low 80s, and an improving change-up. Rebuilding is the move and the team did just that, acquiring a nice set of prospects that have the potential to be everyday Major League Baseball starters.
This deal is a little surprising for Milwaukee, as they took less in the deal with the Rangers.
The Mets don’t have a ton of prospects to deal right now which as not helped them in negotiations with teams.
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For Texas, this establishes them as one of the favorites out in the American League.
