Royals acquire Ben Zobrist from Oakland A’s

Although he is versatile enough to play nearly anywhere on the field, Zobrist figures to step in and play second base every day with the Royals.

Oakland Athletics’ Ben Zobrist, right, celebrates with Billy Butler (16) after hitting a home run against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 24, 2015, in San Francisco.

The deal is in exchange for pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea.

The Royals added Johnny Cueto in a trade with the Reds this past weekend, shoring up a rotation that has dealt with a struggling Yordano Ventura and had lost Jason Vargas for the year with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. He missed some time with minor knee surgery a few weeks ago. 784 OPS, including hitting. The Royals selected Manaea with the 34th overall pick in the 2013 draft. He has a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 245 2/3 career Triple-A innings.

The Royals aren’t stopping their push to return to the World Series. He could fill in for Alex Gordon until Gordon returns from the disabled list in September, or replace Alex Rios, if he is unable to sustain his recent surge.

The A’s, meanwhile, are in full blown sell mode. Zobrist was their last highly sought after rental player.

Cueto tweeted a photo of him on Tuesday wearing a crown after arriving in Kansas City. They’re now the owners of the top record in the AL, sitting eight games ahead of the second-place Twins. They’re already planning for October.

The Yankees are among many teams pushing hard for the A’s 34-year-old utility man Ben Zobrist, according to a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.