Royals trade Joe Blanton to Pirates for cash

Joe Blanton, a 34-year-old versatile pitcher who the Pirates traded for, felt like his playing days were over this past winter, so he hung up the cleats in an effort to retire from the game.

Blanton is expected to meet the Pirates in Cincinnati tonight and will be activated as the Pirates begin their series with the Reds. Blanton’s peripherals have been better than Worley’s this season, but Worley is 27, is controllable beyond 2015, and has been at least decent in every year of his career except one. “Unfortunately, I was the one out”.

“I started throwing with him, and it felt pretty good”. He was designated for assignment on Tuesday when Johnny Cueto joined the Royals. It is choosing when to use him to get those wins that is the hard part.

“He’s pitched in all situations you can ask a man to pitch in”, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “A little bit of everything, whenever”. The Royals lead the AL Central.

Conventional wisdom would say that Blanton would benefit from a move to the National League, but he spent five years in Philadelphia and a year with the Dodgers.

He’s making over $2 million this season, so maybe the Pirates are gambling that Worley clears waivers and accepts their minor-league assignment, and then they’ll have both Worley and Blanton. “But I think that it’s very fortunate for me to go from in contention to in contention”.