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As Max wrote last week, lefty Jake Diekman has been listed as one of the most likely pieces to move at the trade deadline. On Saturday, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics.
The trade was first reported by Jeff Passan:
Left-handed reliever Jake Diekman has been traded to the Oakland A's, league sources tell ESPN. Diekman had been pursued by a number of teams on trade market before Kansas City agreed to deal him to A's. Oakland bullpen has monster stuff with Treinen, Hendriks, Trivino, Diekman.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2019
A’s beat writer Susan Slusser reported the return was OF Dairon Blanco and RHP Ismael Aquino.
Blanco, 26, was with Double-A Midland, where he was batting .276 with seven homers, 44 RBIs and 29 steals. Aquino, 20, was 1-1 a 4.58 ERA in 10 games in the Arizona Rookie League.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 27, 2019
In corresponding roster moves:
Royals also DFA Lucas Duda and recall Ryan O’Hearn.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 27, 2019
Royals are recalling Kyle Zimmer.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 27, 2019
So Diekman out, 2 prospects in, Zimmer up, Duda DFA’d, O’Hearn recalled.
Here’s the story on Athletics Nation.
Here’s what MLBTR had to say about the prospects:
Blanco, 26, was an ’18 Cuban signee who’d spent all of 2019 at AA-Midland, where the outfielder slashed .276/.342/.468. He didn’t check in among the team’s top 38 prospects at FanGraphs, who did note that the righty possesses “80 grade” speed, which could vault him into a potential fifth outfielder spot in the big leagues.
Aquino, 20, had appeared in 10 games for the A’s Arizona League affiliate, mostly in relief. He didn’t crack the team’s top 30 prospects at either FanGraphs or MLB.com.