In this breaking Royals trade rumors and news update, the Toronto Blue Jays have traded RHP Liam Hendriks and C Erik Kratz to the Kansas City Royals for third baseman Danny Valencia, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
Here is the Royals' official Twitter account with the announcement:
#Royals acquire C Erik Kratz and RHP Liam Hendriks in a trade with Toronto for 3B Danny Valencia.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 28, 2014
Sources: Erik Kratz, pulled from triple-A Buffalo lineup, also expected to be traded. — Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 28, 2014
The 34-year-old Kratz has appeared in 34 games with the Blue Jays in 2014, hitting .198/.226/.346 in 84 plate appearances.
25-year-old Liam Hendriks is likely the centerpiece of this deal, with his age giving him plenty of time to grow into a serviceable MLB starting pitcher. Over parts of four years in the Majors with the Twins and Blue Jays, Hendriks has gone 3-13 with a 6.06 ERA in 33 appearances (31 starts).
Valencia hit .282/.328/.382 in 119 plate appearances (36 games) with the Royals in 2014. This will be Valencia's fifth teams in the past four years (Minnesota, Boston, and Baltimore being the others).
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