Angels Acquire Rengifo To Complete Cron Trade

The Angels traded first baseman C.J. Cron to the Rays in mid-February for a player to be named later. On Tuesday, that player was named.

The Angels received shortstop prospect Luis Rengifo from Tampa Bay, adding middle infield depth to their organization and completing the deal for their 2011 first-round pick.

Angels acquire:
Luis Rengifo, SS
Age: 21

The Mariners traded Rengifo to the Rays last August as part of a deal for catcher Mike Marjama and reliever Ryan Garton. He hit .250/.316/.397 with 12 homers, 52 RBI and 34 stolen bases at low Class A Clinton and low Class A Bowling Green. Rengifo became intriguing last year with his power spike, but overall he still primarily hits the ball on the ground and projects as a poor hitter. He is a switch-hitter who is significantly more effective batting righthanded (.273, .758 OPS) than lefthanded Defensively he is error-prone in the infield and began seeing time in both corner outfield spots last season. Rengifo offers versatility – he’s played shortstop, second base, third base, left field and right field – and organizational depth, but he does not project as a big leaguer for evaluators. He is set to open 2018 at high Class A Inland Empire.

Rays acquire:
C.J. Cron, 1B
Age: 28

The Angels first-round pick in 2011, Cron slugged .449 in four seasons with the Angels but was going to be squeezed for playing time in 2018 with Albert Pujols and Luis Valbuena penciled in for first base and Pujols and Shohei Ohtani set to rotate as the designated hitter. Cron struggled with inconsistent playing time last year and even got optioned to Triple-A at one point, but performed once he was put into the lineup everyday, hitting .267 with 14 homers, 42 RBIs and an .836 OPS in 66 games from July 8 on. Cron is firmly below average as a defender at first base, but he’s shown he can be an effective power hitter given playing time. He should get that at first base and designated hitter with the Rays.