The Kansas City Royals have officially acquired Athletics utilityman Ben Zobrist, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, for young pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea.
The deal delivers the second major rental piece Kansas City has acquired this summer, as the Royals already got Johnny Cueto from the Reds. Kansas City has now dealt five pitching prospects to get these deals done, showing they are firmly committed to winning this year after making a surprising World Series run last year.
Zobrist is a utility player than play seemingly every position on the field, and the Royals plan to use him that way. Star outfielder Alex Gordon is still working back from a significant groin strain, along with finding a replacement for the struggling Omar Infante at second. Zobrist will likely move between those positions depending upon needs and matchups.
Despite playing half of his game’s in Oakland’s cavernous ballpark, Zobrist owns a .268/.354/.447 batting line over 271 at bats on the year with six home runs. Those figures land right at his career mark of .264/.354/.430, signaling that there isn't likely to be any downturn in those numbers in KC.
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