The Diamondbacks say goodbye to one of the players they picked up in the Paul Goldschmidt trade. For Weaver, the D-backs are getting Emmanuel Rivera, a right-handed bench bat for the infield.
The Diamondbacks make their second trade of the week, with Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reporting that right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver has been traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for infielder Emmanuel Rivera.
Diamondbacks on verge of trading Luke Weaver to Kansas City for Emmanuel Rivera.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) August 1, 2022
This appears to be a swap of a pair of bottom of the roster players for the two teams. Luke Weaver was originally acquired by the D-backs in the Paul Goldschmidt trade December 2018, but has never lived up to his promise. Injuries and poor performance have prevented Weaver from getting into a rhythm in Arizona, so a change of scenery and role may do him good. They’ve converted him into a short reliever recently, with Weaver showing promising results in short bursts. The Royals are likely hoping to buy on those results for a potential late-inning arm for the end of this season and next.
Rivera, 26, is a depth option on the infield with most of his experience coming at third base. As a right-handed bat, he will at a minimum serve as a bench bat against lefties and get starts at both corner infield positions and the designated hitter. In 63 games and 211 plate appearances, Rivera hit .237/.284/.399 with six home runs and a 91 wRC+ on the season. Not surprisingly, Rivera has strong platoon splits against left-handed pitching with a .288/.338/.545 and three home runs. Against left-handed pitchers, he should be somewhere in the lineup.
Since both players were on their team’s respective rosters, there is no need to make any 26 or 40-man roster moves.