Travis Wood will be pitching for his second team since winning a World Series ring with the Chicago Cubs in the fall.
Wood (Bryant) was involved in a six-player trade Monday, as the Kansas City Royals sent the left-hander to the San Diego Padres along with pitcher Matt Strahm, minor league infielder Esteury Ruiz and cash for pitchers Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer.
Wood, 30, was 4-0 with a 2.95 ERA for the Cubs last year during their championship season, including a 2.84 ERA in the postseason. He has not been as effective this season in Kansas City, going 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA in 41⅔ innings. A source told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Padres will pay only the league minimum salary for Wood, a 2005 Bryant High School graduate who is earning $4 million this year and $6.5 million in 2018. The Royals will pay the rest.
On Sunday, Wood gave up 4 runs and 7 hits in 4⅔ innings against the Chicago White Sox. Kansas City went on to defeat Chicago 5-4 on Brandon Moss' game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Wood has an 8.31 ERA in three starts this season and is winless as a starter in eight appearances since April 28, 2015.
Kansas City (50-47) entered Monday tied with Tampa Bay for the second AL wild-card spot and 1½ games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland. The Royals had been looking to bolster their rotation and bullpen, and they did so with one swap.
San Diego (43-55) is 24½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
Buchter, 30, is a left-hander who had made only one major league appearance before coming to San Diego last year. He wound up pitching in 67 games with a 2.86 ERA as opponents hit just .160 against him. He had 78 strikeouts in 63 innings.
This season Buchter had appeared in 42 games, with a 3.05 ERA and a .199 opponents' batting average. He had 47 strikeouts in 38⅓ innings. He has one more season before he becomes eligible for arbitration.
Cahill, 29, joined the Padres in January. In 11 starts this season, he was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 61 innings. He recently spent seven weeks on the disabled list but returned July 4 and has made four starts since.
Cahill is earning $1.75 million and will be a free agent after the season.
Maurer, 27, joined the Padres before the 2015 season in a trade for Seth Smith. He had 13 saves last year and was 20-for-23 in save chances this season despite a 5.72 ERA. He is earning $1.9 million and is arbitration-eligible the next two seasons.
Ruiz, 18, originally signed with Kansas City as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in July 2015. This season he has played in 21 games for the Royals' Arizona Rookie League team, hitting .419 (36 for 86) with a .440 on-base percentage and .779 slugging percentage. He has 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 22 runs scored and 9 stolen bases. He primarily has played second base.
Strahm, 25, recently underwent season-ending surgery to repair a patellar tendon tear. A 21st-round pick in 2012, he has appeared in 45 major league games (three starts), going 4-7 with a 3.81 ERA. This season, in 24 appearances (three starts), he was 2-5 with a 5.45 ERA, although opposing batters hit just .236 against him. In his minor-league career, the left-hander had 304 strikeouts in 251⅓ innings.
Sports on 07/25/2017