Angels acquire David Murphy from Indians, David DeJesus from Rays
One day after acquiring Shane Victorino, the Angels have acquired outfielders David Murphy and David DeJesus from the Indians and Rays, respectively.
The Angels continue to bolster their outfielder for the second half of the season. The club acquired outfielder David Murphy from the Indians and David DeJesus from the Rays in separate trades on Tuesday. Tampa Bay announced the DeJesus deal and CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman confirmed the Murphy trade.
| ANGELS get: | INDIANS get: | ||
 |
OF David Murphy |  |
IF Eric Stamets |
| ANGELS get: | RAYS get: | ||
|
OF David DeJesus |  |
P Eduar Lopez |
The Murphy and DeJesus trades come one day after the Angels acquired Shane Victorino in a trade with the Red Sox. Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun are locked into center and right field, respectively, but left field has been a problem all season. DeJesus, Murphy and Victorino will help fix that.
Murphy, 33, is hitting a healthy .296/.344/.437 (115 OPS+) with 12 doubles and five home runs in 229 plate appearances this season. That includes a .297/.341/.432 (116 OPS+) line against right-handers. The left-handed hitter has historically been much better against righties than lefties.
The 35-year-old DeJesus is hitting .259/.323/.375 (96 OPS+) with eight doubles and five home runs in 257 plate appearances this year. Like Murphy, he is a left-handed hitter who has been better against righties in his career. DeJesus owns .263/.331/.384 (101 OPS+) against right-handers in 2015.
Angels left fielders are hitting a combined .212/.277/.312 (64 OPS+) this season, with Matt Joyce (65 OPS+) getting the most playing time at the position. Also, their DHs are hitting .229/.293/.399 (81 OPS+). C.J. Cron (101 OPS+) has received most of the playing time there.
DeJesus, Murphy and Victorino add some veteran depth for left field, DH and the bench at relatively little cost. DeJesus is owed approximately $2 million the rest of the season with an affordable $5-million club option for 2016. Murphy is owed roughly $2.4 million the rest of 2015 with a $7-million option for next year.
To acquire Murphy, the Angels sent 23-year-old minor league infielder Eric Stamets to the Indians. Stamets is hitting .248/.306/.360 with 13 doubles in 62 Double-A games this year. Baseball America ranked him as the 23rd-best prospect in the Angels' farm system before the season. They dubbed Stamets the best defensive infielder in the system.
The Angels sent minor league right-hander Eduar Lopez to Tampa Bay for DeJesus. Lopez, 20, has a 4.32 ERA with a 33/16 K/BB in eight starts and 33 1/3 innings in rookie ball this year. Baseball America ranked him as the Halos' 22nd-best prospect before the season, saying Lopez may profile better as a reliever long-term.
The Angels come into Tuesday with a 55-43 record, one game up in the AL West. The Indians, meanwhile, are 45-53 and seven games back of the second wild-card spot while the Rays are 50-51. They're 3 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.
