The St. Louis Cardinals announced a four-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays this evening, acquiring top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, minor league catcher Edgardo Rodriguez and the Rays Compensation B draft pick (66th overall), in exchange for outfielders Randy Arozarena, Josè MartÃnez and the Cardinals Compensation A draft pick (38th overall).
"We are extremely excited to be adding a top pitching prospect in Matthew Liberatore to our organization, and this trade also helps us to create more opportunity in the outfield for players like Tyler O'Neill, Lane Thomas and others," stated Cardinals' President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.
Liberatore, 20, was the Rays 1st round draft pick in 2018 (16th player overall) out of Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Ariz., and is ranked as the no. 3 prospect in the Rays system.
The 6-5, 200-pound Liberatore has compiled an 8-4 mark with a 2.59 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) in the minors, striking out 113 batters in 111.0 innings pitched, allowing just two home runs to go along with a 1.22 WHIP and .224 opponent’s batting average. Liberatore was 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) for Bowling Green of the Midwest League (A) this past season.
Rodriguez, 19, a right-handed hitting catcher from Valencia, Venezuela, was signed by the Rays as an international free agent in July of 2017. The 6-0, 205-pound Rodriguez has produced a .338 batting average, six home runs and 40 RBI in his first two seasons as a professional.
No comments:
Post a Comment