Baltimore Orioles acquire Kelly Johnson from Boston Red Sox
By Hayden Kane
Hopefully Kelly Johnson has thick skin.
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Major League Baseball teams are generally reluctant to trade players within the division. That is especially true of high-profile players, and generally speaking, it is true with role players as well. Teams don’t like the idea of trading a player to a divisional rival just to see him come back to haunt them later.
The teams in the American League East apparently have no such concerns about Johnson. The New York Yankees traded him to the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline. On Saturday the Red Sox turned around and dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles.
The team announced the deal on Twitter:
The Orioles have acquired INF Kelly Johnson & Mi Lg INF Michael Almanzar from BOS in exchange for Mi Lg INF’s Jemile Weeks & Ivan De Jesus.
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 31, 2014
In Johnson, the Orioles get an infielder who can play multiple positions and hit for some pop. This season he has played third, second, and first base. He is batting .212/.290/.354 with six home runs and 23 RBI. The Orioles might see him as an option to address their ongoing issue at first base from time to time.
The best-known piece going to Boston is Weeks, the speedy younger brother of Brewers’ second baseman Rickie Weeks. He has spent most of the last two seasons in Triple-A trying to find his swing after batting just .221 in 2012 for the A’s.
Be sure to stay tuned to FanSided for all of the latest MLB news, rumors, transactions, and analysis as the 2014 season heads towards the playoff stretch.