The Cleveland Indians on Saturday acquired Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, the Rockies have confirmed.
The Cleveland players that are going to Colorado will include top pitching prospects Alex White, Drew Pomeranz, and Joe Gardner, along with C/IF/OF Matt McBride. Pomeranz, who was pulled from his start in Class AA on Saturday, is ineligible to be traded until Aug. 15 due to the fact that he was drafted last June.
The deal is also pending due to a necessary physical examination on Jimenez to be performed by Cleveland medical staff for Sunday.
Jimenez made his scheduled start against the San Diego Padres on Saturday, but Esmil Rogers warmed up in the bullpen even before Jimenez threw his first pitch. Jimenez was pulled after the first inning. Afterwards, he immediately began shaking hands and hugging with teammates, then went into the clubhouse, and packed up his locker.
Even though Jimenez has put up sub-par at best numbers this season, he was still considered during the trade deadline to be the top potential trade pickup at the pitcher position.
Their main ace, Jimenez is known by Rockies fans as the only pitcher from that franchise to ever throw a no-hitter.
Rockies Executive Vice President, Chief Baseball Officer/General Manager Dan O’Dowd commented on the trade; “This was a very difficult decision for us to make, but our focus with this deal was to make our team better in the very near future and we feel like we were able to do that in this situation. We believe the timing of this deal also allowed us to maximize the value we were able to get in return.”
With the Indians in the playoff hunt, this definitely shakes up American League Central Division, with the Indians receiving this great starting pitcher to a long-time weak bullpen. This move without a doubt will be able to help the Indians have a shot to beat Detroit for the Division Title.
