Arizona Diamondbacks acquire outfielder J.D. Martinez from Detroit Tigers
The Arizona Diamondbacks have added a bat to their lineup, getting J.D. Martinez from the Detroit Tigers.
The MLB trade deadline is coming in less than two weeks, and teams have to determine if they are buyers or sellers. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Detroit Tigers fit those labels, respectively, and Jon Morosi of MLB Network was first to report a deal to send outfielder J.D. Martinez to Arizona for prospects.
Martinez was an obvious trade chip for Detroit, in the final year of his contract and with a .305/.388/.630 slash-line, 16 home runs and 39 RBI over 57 games since returning from a foot injury. Morosi previously reported interest in Martinez from the Rockies and Diamondbacks, and it appears Arizona ultimately came with the best offer.
Arizona’s lineup is already pretty loaded, with Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb, David Peralta and A.J. Pollock having very god seasons. But Yasmany Tomas is out with a groin issue, and Martinez’s presence offsets that while also presumably shifting Peralta to left field.
The Tigers are getting three prospects in the deal, and the team’s Twitter feed named them as a confirmation of the deal.
The #Tigers have acquired INF's Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara & Jose King from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for OF J.D. Martinez.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 18, 2017
Lugo (a 3B/SS) and Alcantara (a SS) were top-30 prospects in the Diamondbacks’ minor league system, via MLB Pipeline, and King is an 18-year-old middle infielder. Three infielders seems like a redundant return for the Tigers, and MLB.com prospect analyst Jim Callis was not very complementary of it during an appearance on MLB Tonight talking about the deal. Time will tell if the Tigers got enough for Martinez, but the Diamondbacks look like the immediate winners of the deal.
Next: MLB Trade Deadline rumors: 30 players most likely to be moved
Lower back tightness caused Martinez to leave his final game with the Tigers early on Monday night. But he was in the original lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Royals, before the trade went down, so Arizona should be able to have him in their lineup right away upon arrival.