Ben Zobrist Traded to Kansas City Royals for Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea

Oakland Athletics utility man Ben Zobrist is headed to the Kansas City Royals, with pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manea, the Royals announced. The A's are also sending cash considerations to the Royals to offset the move, Jane Lee of MLB.com reported.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports initially reported the trade. 

The move comes less than a week after the team dealt pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros on July 23.

On July 21, Eddie Coleman of CBS New York noted (h/t Zach Braziller of the New York Post) that Zobrist's contract situation gave the Mets pause, after being initially interested:

The Royals weren't the only team interested in Zobrist prior to the move. Susan Slusser of SFGate.com previously listed the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs as other teams to watch among those interested in Zobrist. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reported the Royals are "expected to stay in on [Zobrist] until the end" despite trading for Johnny Cueto on Sunday. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports added the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees were also in on Zobrist.

"Zobrist is so popular that basically every contender but the Dodgers, Astros and Cardinals — three teams seeking pitching — is believed to have at least checked in at some point," Heyman reported.

The 34-year-old former Tampa Bay Rays star is putting up average offensive numbers in 2015. He's batting just .268 with six home runs and 33 RBI, but his true value is his versatility; he can play second base, shortstop, left field and right field.

The two-time All-Star missed about a month after being placed on the disabled list due to torn knee cartilage in April, and according to David Lennon of Newsday, Zobrist said:

"

It's going to be eight months before it feels the same way it did before. It stiffens up easier—a little more than it ever did before. They said that will take a while before it goes away. ... But as far as range of motion, speed—all the things you need to play good defense and run the bases—it's getting very close to being exactly where I want it to be.

"

For his career, Zobrist, a 10-year veteran, has a .264 batting average, .354 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage. He's hit 120 career home runs and driven in 544 RBI. His numbers have tailed off since being dealt to Oakland during the offseason.

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