The Rays have acquired utility infielder Ryan Roberts from the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league second baseman Tyler Bortnick, the clubs announced.
Roberts, 32 in September, was designated for assignment earlier today in what was a procedural move to clear space on Arizona's 40-man roster. The right-handed hitter owns a .250/.330/.398 career batting line in 1,288 plate appearances, most of which came with the Snakes. He enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2011, when he mashed 19 homers and became something of a cult hero for his all-out style of play and trademark tattoos.
Bortnick, 25, was a 16th-round pick of the Rays in 2009 and has posted a career minor league batting line of .289/.396/.431 in 1,773 plate appearances, none above the Double-A level.
Roberts, meanwhile, will be under the Rays' control through 2015.
diesel2410
Welcome Tatman, hopefully you can be as big of a hero as Batman (Bale)
Jaron Duenas
Bye Tat-Man…. ;(
Jordan Folkman
AHH was hoping the Phils would go after him.
rfffr
Any chance he succeeds Hill?
jamesa-2
It could be possible, but he’s still a long way from MLB ready.
Leo Ramos
Mmm tha´t wasn´t a bad traade after all, despite we´ll miss roberts
AndreTheGiantKiller
To the surprise of no one.
DerekJeterDan
Saw this coming from a mile away.
ricky clark
dr ro bortnick
formerdraftpick 2
A-Bort trade
Gator4444
Snakes need to make a move for Headley.
jamesa-2
They will have better options than Headley if they wait for the off season.
Gator4444
No they won’t. The 3B FA class is horrible this winter. D’Backs have the prospects to pull a deal on what will probably be a 5 WAR player this year. Towers has always liked Headley.
jill
I don’t think I agree with that at all. I would think about 10 teams currently are happy with their third base situation-there’s a real shortage of quality third baseman right now. Headley would be a good fit for a lot of teams that have a black hole at 3rd base.
alexw2840
Dang, Bortnick raked in the minors….it’s just his defense he needs to work on.
Carl Langley
This makes complete sense.
bigpat
They like versatile guys who can’t hit…
mgsports
Ryan Wheeler is the 3B.