Royals Rumors: Royals trade Jon Jay to Diamondbacks for two prospects
Royals rumors have already begun, as the Kansas City Royals traded outfielder Jon Jay to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for two prospects.
Wow! We all knew that the Kansas City Royals were going to be big time sellers in this year’s trade deadline, but we’re less than a week into June and a deal has already gone down. That trade is outfielder Jon Jay getting flipped to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Elvis Luciano and Gabe Speier.
Jay has been one of Kansas City’s best hitters all season long, slashing .307/.363/.374 in 238 at bats these first two months of the season. It was smart of the Royals to trade him now while he was batting over .300, as the chances of Jay continuing to hit that well probably weren’t all that high.
In exchange, the Royals acquired prospects Elvis Luciano and Gabe Speier. Luciano had a 2.98 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 48.1 innings pitched in the Dominican Summer League last year. Speier has a 3.03 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 29.2 innings in AA.
Royals have traded Jon Jay to Arizona for two Minor League pitchers: 18-year-old righty Elvis Luciano and 23-year-old lefty Gabe Speier. Luciano will report to Burlington, Speier to NW Arkansas.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) June 7, 2018
The Royals continue to focus solely on pitching, drafting five pitchers with their first five picks in the draft and now acquiring these two talents from Arizona. It shows that the organization wasn’t all that confident in what they currently have pitching wise and now they’ll be able to really pile up pitching prospects to help them moving forward.
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Going back to Jon Jay, the Kansas City Royals signed him to a one-year deal prior to the 2018 season and it was basically just ensuring they had an experienced veteran in the outfield. Jay spent the majority of his starts in left field, but also saw time in center and right with an occasional start as the designated hitter.
Jay was at the top of the list as far as Royals who could be traded (behind Kelvin Herrera, who is a MUST trade for the boys in blue) and the franchise acted fast. They received an offer they liked and they snatched it up, as they should.
The Royals just flipped a veteran outfielder who was going to be a free agent in November and got two young pitching prospects in return. Both Luciano and Speier should be able to contribute moving forward, though both are still young and will need time to develop.
It’s hard to be upset with this trade and the Royals rumors are only going to get crazier as we progress through the summer. What are your thoughts on this trade Royals fans? Do you think the Royals got good bang for their buck?