Royals acquire outfielder Peter O'Brien from Diamondbacks
The Kansas City Royals are continuing to add to their already crowded outfield.
On Tuesday, the Royals acquired Peter O'Brien from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Royals traded minor league pitcher Sam Lewis in return.
The 26-year-old outfielder has been a top prospect in the Diamondbacks' minor league system for years but has yet to find his stroke at the major league level.
O'Brien played in 28 games with the Diamondbacks last year, recording five home runs, nine RBIs and a .141 batting average. He hit 24 homers with 75 RBIs and a .254 batting average over 105 games last season with the Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces.
O'Brien started his minor league career as a catcher before moving primarily to the outfield in 2015. He has also played sparingly at first base.
Lewis, 25, finished his 2016 season with Wilmington (A), appearing in 19 games for three different Royals minor league affiliates.
The Royals' trade for O'Brien comes roughly a month after they picked up Jorge Soler from the Cubs in exchange for closer Wade Davis. They also return Alex Gordon in left field, Lorenzo Cain in center and Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson, who shared right field a year ago. Soler is the front-runner for the right field job in 2017.
O'Brien is expected to compete for a spot in the Royals' outfield but could see time at Triple-A Omaha.
