NEW YORK (AP) - Bobby Crosby joined the Arizona Diamondbacks before Sunday’s game against the New York Mets, leaving only outfielder Ryan Church to catch up with the team after a five-player swap with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Diamondbacks optioned outfielder Cole Gillespie to Triple-A to make room for Crosby, a former AL Rookie of the Year who can play multiple infield positions. He was not in the starting lineup against New York, but available off the bench.
Church is expected to join the team Monday or Tuesday, when Arizona is back home for a six-game homestand against Washington and San Diego. Right-hander D.J. Carrasco has already joined the Diamondbacks, who shipped catcher Chris Snyder, minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and cash to the Pirates just before Saturday’s non-waiver trade deadline.
“Yeah, there’s 25 guys. We try to keep it that way,” interim manager Kirk Gibson said with a wry smile, after a frantic period of dealing that included trades earlier in the week involving Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson, and the shipping of reliever Chad Qualls to Tampa Bay.
Right-hander Daniel Hudson was slated to make his first start with the Diamondbacks against New York, after arriving from the Chicago White Sox in the deal involving Jackson.
Haren was sent to the Los Angeles Angels for Joe Saunders and trio of minor leaguers, while Qualls went to the Rays for a player to be named _ all leaving Gibson’s lineup card markedly different.
“It’s tricky when you have guys here and not here,” Gibson said.
Crosby signed with the Pirates as a free agent during the offseason and hit just .224 with one homer and 11 RBIs. In 2004, he was voted the AL rookie honor after hitting .239 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs for the Oakland Athletics.
The 31-year-old Church was signed as a free agent in January and is hitting just .183 with three homers and 18 RBIs. His production dipped sharply after he sustained a pair of concussions in a three-month span while with the Mets in 2008.
“Experience on the bench,” interim general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “We wanted to be in a flexible position. There are still holes to fill. We maintained a core group to build around. We have the flexibility from a payroll perspective to move into next year.
“For the most part, we feel the group of players on the field right now, the core group, is the group we want to build with.”
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