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The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired closer Joakim Soria from the Detroit Tigers for AA shortstop JaCoby Jones. Soria was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001 and made his Major League debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2007. He has 201 career saves and a career ERA of 2.61 in 8 seasons.
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The Pirates also acquired middle reliever Joe Blanton from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations. Blanton was the 24th overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athetics. He made his Major League debut with them in 2004. Blanton has been a starter throughout most of his career, which makes him a good long reliever and spot starter.
The Pirates are strengthening their bullpen, first by adding Joe Blanton, and now with Soria. Soria joins Jared Hughes, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon to make up one of the deepest bullpens in the National League.
Melancon leads the league with 32 saves this season. Soria brings another 23 saves, so he has been successful in pressure situations. He will most likely set up for Melancon for the remainder of the season.
The Pirates are 4.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central, but they have a firm hold on a Wild Card spot. They added Aramis Ramirez in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to help them in their playoff run.
Both Soria and Blanton will be free agents after the 2015 season.
All MLB trades are pending medical reviews.
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com.
