D-backs acquire Jay from Royals for 2 minor league pitchers
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Jon Jay in a trade with the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday in exchange for two minor league pitchers.
With two outfielders on the DL, the 33-year-old Jay gives Arizona an experienced outfielder they desperately need.
A.J. Pollack is out with a fractured thumb, and Steven Souza Jr., with a right pectoral strain.
"With the way the division is shaping up," Hazen said on a conference call, "where every day matters more and more, we just felt like this was the right thing to do at the time."
Jay is a career .290 hitter who's in his ninth year in the majors. He signed a one-year free agent contract with the Royals on March 6 of this year. He was batting .307 with nine doubles, two triples, a homer and 28 runs scored with Kansas City this season.
Jay came up with the Cardinals and was on their 2011 World Series championship team. The Diamondbacks will be his fifth team.
"He's off to a great start this year, having a really good season," Hazen said. "We feel like he fits very nicely with what we're trying to do. He fits in at all three outfield spots. So he comes in certainly at a time when we need him."
Arizona sent Elvis Luciano and Gabe Speier to Kansas City. Luciano, 18, is a right-hander from Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic.
Speier is a 23-year-old left-hander who's in his sixth year in pro ball. Luciano will report to the Rookie League Burlington Royals, and Speier to Double-A Northwest Arkansas.
