KC Royals Add Ben Zobrist In Trade

The Kansas City Royals are in the news again as they have added Ben Zobrist in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.

The KC Royals may not thave much recent experience being the powerhouse team in the American League, but they are taking that role very seriously.

The team added another key piece to their puzzle Tuesday by acquiring Ben Zobrist and cash from the Oakland Athletics for minor league pitchers Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks.

ESPN baseball writer Jerry Crasnick broke the news on Twitter.

Ben Zobrist trade for Brooks and Manaea another sign #Royals are in go for it mode. Huge pickup for KC.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 28, 2015

The Kansas City Star Royals beat writer Andy McCullough confirms the news.

Can confirm: KC has acquired Ben Zobrist for Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks. The Royals did not come to the trade deadline to mess around.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) July 28, 2015

The versatile Zobrist is seemingly a perfect fit for the KC Royals because he can play a number of positions in which the team needs depth. He can play left field while Alex Gordon recovers from his groin injury, and he can play right field if Alex Rios slumps.

He can also provide infield help as he has plenty of experience at second base and shortstop in his career.

Zobrist has missed some time this season with injuries but is healthy now. He has a slash of .268/.354/.447/.801. He has 20 doubles, six home runs, and 33 Runs Batted In so far, in 67 games for Oakland.

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He should help their offense down the stretch and his versatility could be huge in the postseason for the Kansas City Royals.

This is the second big trade the KC Royals have made in the last three days. On Sunday, they added an ace in Johnny Cueto.

In these two deals, the Royals have surrendered five youngs arms from their minor league system. Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed in the Cueto deal, and now Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks are gone.

If pitching is the biggest commodity in baseball, then the KC Royals have really depleted their organizational pitching depth to strengthen the big league roster. This is what it is about. Fans want to win, and now it is obvious how much effort the team is putting forth to win.

For so many years, the Royals have been sellers at this time of the year. It is so incredible that they now can be the team that is being the aggressor.

ESPN baseball insider Jm Bowden summed up this deal as well as anyone could.

Dayton Moore #Royals GM clearly understands that this is the window for them to win the World Series and he’s not afraid to pay the price
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) July 28, 2015

The KC Royals are going for it. These deals may come back to haunt them later, but for right now, they were the right deals to make and the team should be even stronger down the stretch.

The Royals own an eight-game lead in the American League Central, but it is nice they are not counting on that to stay the same. The additions of Cueto and Zobrist make them stronger not only for the rest of the season but into the playoffs.

Fans should be proud of their team and general manager.

Next: 10 Things All Royals Fans Should Know

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