Diamondbacks acquire J.D. Martinez from Tigers for 3 prospects
The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired J.D. Martinez from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for infield prospects Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara, and Jose King, the Tigers announced Tuesday.
Martinez, who is on an expiring contract, has had his name come up in the rumor mill for weeks, especially in relation to the Diamondbacks, who were in dire need of outfielders.
The second-place Diamondbacks have been patrolling a combination of A.J. Pollock, Daniel Descalso, and David Peralta in their outfield, which ranks 18th in the league by WAR, according to FanGraphs.
Martinez was mysteriously removed from Monday night's game in the sixth inning with what ended up being described by the Tigers as lower back tightness.
The 29-year-old is having yet another impressive campaign, with 16 home runs and an OPS of 1.018 through just 57 games. The 2015 All-Star began the 2017 season on the disabled list with a foot injury and missed nearly a month-and-a-half. Martinez will be eligible for free agency for the first time this upcoming offseason.
Going back the other way, the Tigers loaded up on speculative infield options in Lugo, Alcantara, and King - all of whom are international prospects.
The 22-year-old Lugo is the highest-touted member of the trio. He's the fourth-ranked prospect in the Diamondbacks' system, according to MLB Pipeline. That being said, none of the three rank among the top 100 by MLB or Baseball America.
Lugo has a .282/.325/.428 slash line through 88 games with Double-A Jackson while playing the majority of his games at third base.
The 20-year-old Alcantara has performed well this year while stationed at High-A Visalia, posting a .706 OPS from the shortstop position.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old King has played just 13 games at the Rookie level, primarily seeing action at shortstop while slashing .261/.333/.348.