The Brewers have traded one former top prospect to make room for his highly touted replacement.
Jean Segura, once considered to be one of baseball's most talented shortstop prospects, is headed to the Diamondbacks in exchange for veteran infielder Aaron Hill and right-handed starter Chase Anderson in a five-player deal announced by the teams Saturday night.
MORE: Best and worst of MLB's new spring training caps
Arizona will also receive right-hander Tyler Wagner and cash considerations, with Puerto Rican infield prospect Isan Diaz going to Milwaukee.
Segura, 25, broke into the big leagues with the Angels in 2012, when he was acquired by the Brewers as the key piece for Zack Greinke, who now pitches in Arizona. He was an All-Star in Milwaukee one year later, batting .294/.329/.423 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs and 44 stolen bases.
Segura's numbers have tailed off since then, but he's swipped at least 20 bases in each of the past two seasons and is considered strong with his glove.
With shortstop Orlando Arcia, rated the No. 6 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com, ready to enter the big leagues this season, Segura became expendable for the rebuilding Brewers.
Instead they add a veteran stopgap in Hill, 33, who can play alongside Arcia at both second and third base. Hill, an All-Star in 2009, batted a career-low .230 in 2015. But the career .268 hitter may still have some pop in his bat. And Anderson, 28, will round out the back end of Milwaukee's rotation after going 6-6 with a 4.20 ERA in 27 starts last year for the Diamondbacks.
Segura becomes the latest acquisition in what's been a busy offseason for the Diamondbacks.
They signed Greinke as a free agent and traded for Shelby Miller in a rotation revamp that signalled their intentions to compete for the playoffs in 2016. Segura will have the opportunity to reignite old potential as an ancillary piece in a talented lineup that already features young All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock.
