A’s trade Ben Zobrist to the Royals

The Royals entered the last week of the trade deadline with a few holes, and with a few days to go, they’ve managed to fill another. The A’s are reportedly trading the versatile Ben Zobrist to the Royals according to Ken Rosenthal, helping solve some Kansas City issues both in the present and future of 2015. In return, the A’s received pitching prospects Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks.

Zobrist should be able to join the outfield, where Alex Gordon is currently missing thanks to injury and Alex Rios has been struggling since coming back from his own. When Gordon is back, Ned Yost’s Royals will then have the option of putting Zobrist in at either second base to replace the disappointing Omar Infante, or in right for Rios. Options like this will be key for the Royals down the stretch, as they attempt to one-up their 2014 campaign in which they made it to -- but lost -- in the World Series.

The 34-year-old Zobrist hit .268/.354/.447 with the A’s, his best season since 2012. While he missed time early in the year recovering from a knee injury that required surgery, he has shown no ill effects from either the injury or the procedure since his return. The Royals won’t be able to submit a qualifying offer to Zobrist this offseason since they acquired him in-season, but they probably aren’t going to care about that too much if he does what they want him to while he’s around.

It was obvious the A’s were going to eventually trade Zobrist from the moment they dealt Scott Kazmir, and for the same reason: They are both impending free agents, and Billy Beane has always seemed more willing to make deals in-season than wait and submit a qualifying offer come the offseason. Manaea, the key to the deal for Oakland, has had trouble staying healthy -- both before and after he was drafted in 2013 -- but he was a first-round draft pick in spite of those risks and entered the year considered a top-100 prospect. Manaea has real potential, but the Royals are in a position to win now, while the A’s are reloading: this is a move that makes sense for both sides.

The Royals added Johnny Cueto in a trade with the Reds this past weekend, shoring up a rotation that has dealt with a struggling Yordano Ventura and had lost Jason Vargas for the year with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. They’re currently the owners of the top record in the AL, sitting eight games ahead of the second-place Twins.

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