As if the Johnny Cueto trade left any doubt, the Royals are going all in this year. Kansas City has acquired second baseman Ben Zobrist from the Athletics, the team announced. Minor league pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea are heading to the A's in the deal.
Zobrist, 34, is hitting .268/.354/.447 (122 OPS+) with 20 doubles, six home runs, 33 walks and 26 strikeouts in 67 games for Oakland this season. He missed some time with minor knee surgery a few weeks ago. The A's acquired Zobrist from the Rays back during the offseason.
Although he is versatile enough to play almost anywhere on the field, Zobrist figures to step in and play second base every day with the Royals.
 
A's trade Ben Zobrist to Royals for two pitchers
 
Omar Infante is hitting a weak .230/.244/.316 (53 OPS+) so far this year and will likely find himself in a bench role now.
Manaea, 23, is the prized prospect in the deal. Baseball America ranked the southpaw as the 81st-best prospect in the game before the season. The Royals selected Manaea with the 34th-overall pick in the 2013 draft. He has a 3.69 ERA in 31 2/3 minor-league innings this season while missing time with an abdominal issue.
Brooks, 25, has some big-league time with the Royals, totaling seven innings from 2014-15. He has a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 245 2/3 career Triple-A innings. Brooks, a righty, could step right in to help the Athletics at the major-league level if necessary, perhaps out of the bullpen.
Between Cueto and Zobrist, the Royals have made two significant upgrades without sacrificing much off their major league roster. Another outfielder to help fill-in during Alex Gordon's injury -- or replace the unproductive Alex Rios -- could be in the cards before Friday's trade deadline.
The A's, meanwhile, are in full-blown sell mode. They are last in the AL West at 44-56 and have already traded Scott Kazmir and Tyler Clippard. Zobrist was their last highly-sought-after rental player.
Kansas City comes into Tuesday with a 60-38 record. They have a healthy eight-game lead in the AL Central. They're already planning for October.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW -- By David Brown
The Kansas City Royals continue to make transactions in order to improve their chances of winning the World Series. After trading for ace right-hander Johnny Cueto, the Royals traded two prospects -- left-hander Sean Manaea and right-hander Aaron Brooks -- to the Oakland Athletics for utility man extraordinaire Ben Zobrist. Here are five things to know about the deal and where each team goes from here.
1. Ben Zobrist gives the Royals a starting player who can play all over the field.
The Royals say Zobrist will begin with them in the outfield, with left-fielder Alex Gordon out for at least the next several weeks because of a groin injury. Zobrist has experience at every position except catcher and pitcher. His greatest value comes at second base; he's been one of the top-hitting middle infielders since he came into the league in 2006. Save for a career-best season for the Rays in 2009, Zobrist's stats don't jump off the page. His line -- .264 batting average, and .784 on-base plus slugging percentage -- certainly compare favorably with most infielders. But his entire career has been spent playing home games in some of the tougher hitter's parks in the majors. Tropicana Field, the O.co Coliseum, and now Kauffman Stadium. His power won't be helped at the K, but it can play closer to neutral for overall run production. So maybe he'll hit a few more doubles and triples.
2. "Going for it" is costly.
In trading for Cueto and Zobrist, the Royals have given up two of their top three prospects (according to Baseball America). Kansas City has hung onto shortstop prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. Left-hander Sean Manaea is ranked by MLB.com as the No. 56 prospect in the majors. He's had injury issues with his hip and abdomen (nothing with his arm!) and just reached Class AA after being drafted 34th overall in 2013. Standing 6-foot-5, he can reach the upper 90s with his fastball and showed improved command overall in high A-ball. At 23, reaching the majors sometime in 2016 seems possible. Brooks hasn't shown much in brief stints with the Royals this season and in 2014, but has averaged 6.9 strikeouts and 1.8 walks over 639 minor-league innings. The A's could pop him into their rotation now for an extended look.
3. Zobrist is a free agent at the end of the season.
This is definitely a "win now" kind of move for Kansas City. There's some hope (but it sounds like a long shot) that Cueto could re-sign with the Royals. Zobrist, too, is expected to see what happens in free agency. Because both were traded during the 2015 season, neither will have a qualifying offer attached come the offseason, meaning no draft-pick compensation will be attached -- which means the players stand to benefit financially from bidders who'll feel freer to do so.
4. Omar Infante (or Ned Yost?) complicates things once Gordon returns from the disabled list.
As we mentioned, Zobrist's best value comes when he's able to play second base. Infante starts there for the Royals, and is under contract through at least 2017, but he has been brutal at the plate, and limited on defense because of shoulder/elbow injuries that require surgery. Still, he's an experienced leader/well-paid guy whatever and it seems unlikely that Yost would just bench him outright, even for an obviously better offensive option. The Royals also have had a void in right field, and they don't owe Alex Rios anything like they do Infante, so Zobrist could play there, as well. Rios has picked it up in recent weeks, but if his offense flat-lines again, he could be sacked with little political currency lost.
5. The A's, with an eye on sustainability, are taking a half-step back from being perennial contenders. This statement by general manager Billy Beane says it all, or mostly: Beane: "If we’re going to have some sustained success, it’s going to have to really be done organically."
No fan base wants to hear it, but they've needed prospects and probably need more. Outfielder Josh Reddick is another who might be headed into a pennant race somewhere.
Mike Axisa/CBS Sports
 

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