Jared Cohen
The Arizona Diamondbacks off-season of wheeling and dealing is still in full swing.
On Saturday, they inked a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers as they have traded second baseman Aaron Hill, starting pitcher Chase Anderson, minor league infielder Isan Diaz and cash considerations in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and right-handed pitcher Tyler Wagner.
Aaron Hill who had seen success in a D-Back uniform since being dealt to AZ from Toronto in 2011, had been mentioned in plenty of trade rumors since the middle of last season. He hit .273 (512-for-1,874) with 121 doubles, 12 triples, 55 homers and 241 RBI in 525 games in Sedona red.
Anderson pitched two seasons and 48 starts in Arizona going 15-13 with a 4.18 ERA (124 ER in 267.0 IP) and .270 opponents average with 80 walks and 216 strikeouts. He got off to a hot start in 2014 which almost saw him complete a perfect game but as the season unfolded, began to struggle and dealt with injuries as well.
Jean Segura is the main piece the Diamondbacks land in return. He one of Major League Baseball’s breakout players in 2013 which saw him named a National League All-Star as he hit .325 with 11 doubles, 8 triples, 11 homers and 36 RBI in 92 games leading into the All-Star Game. He had struggled to find consistency since and in 2014, hit .257 (144-for-560) with 16 doubles, 5 triples, 6 homers and a career-high 50 RBI in 142 games.
The add of Segura is an interesting one as the Diamondbacks already have middle infielders they have had coming up through their system that they have seemingly been high on. They already have Nick Ahmed at shortstop who they love for his defense. Chris Owings’ time up with the big league club has been injury laden but he is a former organizational player of the year and Pacific Coast League MVP. Finally, there is Brandon Drury who is their highest rated position player in their minor league system who the D-Backs called up to get a taste of the bigs last season. He has been flip-flopping between second base and third base in the field.
Oddly enough, Jean Segura and new Diamondbacks ace Zach Grienke have something in common. They were part of a trade for one another back in 2012. Segura was a prospect the Brewers received in exchange for Greinke in the trade that sent him to the Angels.
Tyler Wagner was rated as the Brewers No. 15 prospect by MLB.com. In 2015, he entered the season as the Brewers’ 10th-best prospect, according to Baseball America, and in 25 starts at Double-A Biloxi went 11-5 with a 2.24 ERA (38 ER in 152.1 IP) and a .235 opponents average with 120 strikeouts. He also made his Major League debut with 3 starts last season, and in his third start, on October 3 vs. Cubs, allowed 1 run in 6.0 innings.
February is upon us which means we are just weeks from Pitchers and Catchers reporting for the start of the 2016 season.
