Royals land veteran Gomes from Braves
The AL-leading Kansas City Royals acquired veteran outfielder Jonny Gomes and cash considerations from the Atlanta Braves on Monday in exchange for minor-league infielder Luis Valenzuela.
The acquisition of Gomes comes just hours before Monday's midnight deadline to add playoff-eligible players to rosters.
Moments before news of the trade broke, Gomes was spotted hugging teammates in the Braves dugout after being replaced in left field by Nick Swisher against the Miami Marlins.
"He's one of the best leaders I've been around and one of the best teammates I’ve ever been around," Braves pitcher Shelby Miller told Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
The right-handed hitting Gomes brings 13 years of experience - including three trips to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons - to the October-bound Royals, who entered play Monday with the top record in the AL at 80-50.
"I'll go play a game for (Kansas City) just like I played today," Gomes told reporters. "I left everything I possibly had between those lines."
Gomes is batting just .223/.327/.368 with seven homers in 82 games, but continues to show success hitting lefties. The 34-year-old owns an .878 OPS against southpaws this season and an .862 mark for his career.
Valenzuela, 22, has spent most of the season occupying shortstop for Class-A Lexington, where the left-handed hitting infielder posted a .339/.368/.483 slash line with eight steals in 47 games.