RANGERS ACQUIRE C JONATHAN LUCROY AND RHP JEREMY JEFFRESS
FROM MILWAUKEE BREWERS IN EXCHANGE FOR MINOR LEAGUE
OF LEWIS BRINSON, RHP LUIS ORTIZ, AND A PLAYER TO BE NAMED LATER
Catchers Bobby Wilson and Bryan Holaday designated for assignment
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired catcher Jonathan Lucroy and right-handed pitcher Jeremy Jeffress from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league outfielder Lewis Brinson, right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Lucroy and Jeffress, the team has designated catcher Bobby Wilson for assignment. The club also announced that catcher Bryan Holaday has been recalled from his injury rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Round Rock, activated from the 15-day disabled list, and designated for assignment.
When the players acquired in today’s trades report to the club, the Rangers will make additional moves on the active roster to accommodate them.
Lucroy, 30, has batted .299 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI in 95 games this season for Milwaukee, where he has spent his entire major league career. He was selected an All-Star for the second time in his career in 2016 and ranks second among major league catchers (totals as catcher only) in batting average (.319), RBI (49), and OPS (.898). He has thrown out 29 of 77 (37.7%) runners attempting to steal, the 4th-best percentage in the major leagues, and the 29 runners caught stealing are most in MLB. Lucroy has made 79 starts at catcher and 5 at first base this season.
Lucroy has a career .284 batting average over 805 games from 2010-16, all with Milwaukee.
Jeffress, 28, has a 2-2 record with 27 saves and a 2.22 ERA (11 ER/44.2 IP) over 47 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He ranks among National League leaders in saves (T5th) and games finished (4th, 40), and has the 10th-lowest ERA among N.L. relievers. He has converted 27 of 28 save chances this season, including 16 consecutive tries since May 24. Over his last 14 relief appearances since June 24, Jeffress has gone 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1 ER/13.0 IP) and 8 saves, while holding opponents to a .224/.283/.245 slash line.
Jeffress was originally selected by Milwaukee in first round (16th overall) of the 2006 June draft and has gone 11-4 with a 2.93 ERA (63 ER/193.2 IP) over 198 career games with Milwaukee (2010, 2014-16), Kansas City (2011-12), and Toronto (2013-14).
Brinson has spent the entire season with Double-A Frisco, batting .237 (72-304) with 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 77 games. Ortiz has combined to go 4-6, 3.48 (26 ER/67.1 IP) over 16 games/14 starts with Frisco and High-A High Desert in his third professional season.
Wilson batted .250 (32-128) with 3 home runs and 22 RBI in 42 games with the Rangers this season. He was reacquired from Detroit on May 3 after he was traded to the Tigers near the end of spring training on March 29. Holaday batted .238 with 2 homers and 13 RBI in 30 games/25 starts at catcher for Texas this season after being acquired in a March 29 trade with Detroit. He was placed on the disabled list on July 6 (retroactive to July 5) with a bruised left thumb.
With these transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the major league roster.
