D-backs trade for Adam Rosales, place Chris Owings on 60-day DL
Jul 31, 2017, 10:52 AM | Updated: 9:31 pm
The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired infielder Adam Rosales from the Oakland Athletics for minor league pitcher Jeferson Mejia while placing Chris Owings on the 60-day disabled list with a fractured right middle finger.
He will be thrown immediately into the mix with Arizona shortstops Chris Owings (fractured finger), Ketel Marte (bereavement list) and Nick Ahmed (hand fracture) out for the foreseeable future.
Owings, 25, suffered the injury during Sunday’s loss the St. Louis Cardinals while Marte went on the bereavement list Monday after the death of his mother.
“Certainly the things that happened over the last 24 hours impacted what our 25-man roster looks like at the shortstop position specifically,” D-backs GM Mike Hazen said in a conference call. “We needed to make a move there.
“It has probably been our strongest area … to the point that clubs earlier this month had been asking us, inquiring about them for us to trade them. This sort of took a 90-degree turn on us yesterday. We didn’t feel good about some of those.”
Hazen added that Owings underwent surgery Monday and will be come off the disabled list Sept. 29. Ahmed is eligible to return from the DL August 27 but the general manager was unsure if he would be recovered enough to begin a rehab stint at that time.
Hazen did not put a timeline on Marte’s return.
Rosales, 34, is a 10-year major league veteran after making his debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. This year in 71 games he is hitting .234 with four home runs and 27 RBIs.
“I feel personally my best position is second base and maybe third base,” Rosales told Burns and Gambo on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station. “For me, I just try to make it as fundamental as possible. Just catch the ball, throw the ball.
“It’s a brand new start for me,” he added. “I feel like I’m midseason form but this opportunity to come in this playoff race gets me really excited to be with Arizona.”
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander posted career-highs in 2016 with the San Diego Padres in all offensive categories including slugging percentage (.495), OPS (.814), triples (3), doubles (12) and home runs (13).
