LA Angels acquire infielder Josh Rutledge from Colorado Rockies

Baseball's winter meetings in San Diego have seen a slew of players swapping teams, and the Los Angeles Angels have been quite willing participants in those festivities this offseason, as the team today acquired infielder Josh Rutledge from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for righty pitcher Jairo Diaz.

The deal for Rutledge became a necessity for the Angels after they dealt second baseman Howie Kendrick this week to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Rutledge will help offset the loss of Kendrick in the Angels infield.

Rutledge, 25, has appeared in the Majors with Colorado since 2012. He batted .269 (83/309) with four home runs and 33 RBI over a career-high 105 games in 2014 with the Rockies. Rutledge also set career-bests in at-bats (309), hits (83), triples (7) and on-base pct. (.323). He made starts at shortstop (58), second base (12), and third base (5) during the 2014 campaign and has logged a .961 fielding pct. (544 TC/21 E) during his three campaigns in the Majors.

Rutledge made his MLB debut on July 13, 2012 after being called up to play shortstop while Troy Tulowitzki was on the disabled list. The infielder finished his first MLB campaign batting .274 (76/277) with eight home runs and 37 RBI.

He was originally selected by Colorado in the third round of the 2010 Amateur Draft after playing at the University of Alabama and leading the team in batting average as a freshman (.369).  Rutledge also earned All-SEC First Team honors the following season.

Diaz, 23, appeared at three different levels of the Angels organization this year, pitching for Single-A Inland Empire, Double-A Arkansas, and the Angels. The right-hander began the season in Single-A, posting a 2-3 record with four saves and a 4.78 ERA (32 IP – 17 ER) in 29 games before his promotion to Double-A on June 24. Over his final 27 games at the minor league level, Diaz registered a 2-1 record with 11 saves and a 2.20 ERA (32.2 IP – 8 ER).

The Venezuelan native was called up to the Angels on Sept. 8 and made his Major League debut that afternoon, tossing a scoreless inning in relief in Cleveland. Overall, Diaz went 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA (5.2 IP – 2 ER) in five games with the Halos.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services