HEADLINERS: Zack Greinke lands in Houston while Cubs pick up Nicholas Castellanos and Giants swing deal for Scooter Gennett,
He joins Verlander, Cole in rotation with four prospects going to Arizona
From out of nowhere, the Houston Astros turned up another ace.
Getting a huge head start on October and the playoffs, the Astros added Zack Greinke to a starting pitching rotation that already included Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
On a dizzying day that featured two dozen trades, the Astros upstaged everything else when they dealt four minor leaguers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Greinke.
“We had him high on our list and we didn’t know this was even remotely possible and it really wasn’t until the last 48 hours and really the last 24 hours that we started to get traction on something,” Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said of Greinke.
The minor- leaguers innvolved in the trade were right- handed pitchers J. B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin, outfielder Seth Beer and infielder Joshua Rojas.
The deal was made right before the 4 p. m. deadline and soon after that the Diamondbacks confirmed they had obtained pitcher Mike Leake from Seattle for minor league infielder Jose Caballero.
The AL West- leading Astros also added two more pitchers, reeling in starter Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini from Toronto.
“Houston made some big deals. They’re really good. They were good before,” Red Sox’s president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said.
Leake and rookie righthander Zac Gallen, acquired from the Miami Marlins, will slide into the Diamondbacks rotation. Leake gives them a veteran presence to replace Greinke, and Gallen folds into their immediate and long- term plans.
Leake, 31, went 9- 8 with a 4.40 ERA in 22 starts with the Mariners this season. The right- hander has played 10 major league seasons, with stops in Cincinnati, San Francisco and St. Louis.
Brewers
Milwaukee acquired lefthander Drew Pomeranz and right- hander Ray Black from San Francisco for infield prospect Mauricio Dubon to bolster a pitching staff ravaged by recent injuries.
Giants
San Francisco was busy on other fronts, too, dealing reliever Sam Dyson to Minnesota, former Pirates closer Mark Melancon to Atlanta and minor league lefthander Jacob Lopez to Tampa Bay for outfielder Joseph McCarthy. The Giants also got second baseman Scooter Gennett from Cincinnati for a player to be named.
Braves
In addition to acquiring Melancon, Atlanta reeled in closer Shane Greene from the Detroit only a few hours after picking up Chris Martin from Texas Tuesday. Greene. 30, will likely become the closer after being acquired for minor- league left- hander Joey Wentz and outfielder Travis Demeritte. Greene has a 1.18 ERA and 22 saves this season for the rebuilding Tigers.
Tanner Roark was on the road headed to Atlanta for Cincinnati’s next series when he stopped to get something to eat and learned that he’d be going in a much different direction. Playoff- contending Oakland acquired Roark onto fill out a starting rotation that also could have left- hander Sean Manaea back soon. Oakland sent outfield prospect Jameson Hannah to Cincinnati. The Reds are sending Oakland $ 2.1 million to offset much of the $ 3,225,806 remaining of Roark’s $ 10 million salary.
Rays
Tampa Bay picked up Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar in an attempt to give the Rays offense a boost in power. An All- Star last year, when he hit 35 home runs with 108 RBIs for the NL Central champion Brewers, Aguilar is hitting .225 with eight homers and 34 RBIs this year.
Cubs
With about a minute to spare, Nicholas Castellanos was traded from the lastplace Detroit to the contending Chicago. The Tigers sent Castellanos to Chicago for two minor league pitchers in a deal that gives the Cubs a powerful bat against lefthanded pitching. Detroit general manager Al Avila said the trade came down to the last 42 seconds before the deadline.
Castellanos, 27, hit .273 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs for Detroit this season. He has played third base and in the outfield during his career and has been considered a liability defensively. Castellanos, who complained recently about the spacious dimensions at Detroit’s Comerica Park, is tied for the major league lead with 37 doubles. He has a .347 average and a 1.026 OPS this year in 72 at- bats against lefthanders.