Diamondbacks deal Brown for Skelton

Diamondbacks deal Brown for Skelton

Update, 12:16 p.m.: Spoke with Skelton a few minutes ago. He sees the trade as a good thing, although he said he would have been happy either way, since both organizations treated him well.

"There’s always a positive to everything," he said. "I’m going to get an opportunity to play. The more anybody plays, the better they’re going to get. If they would have kept me on the big league side, I would have had a limited role and then the following year I probably would have been back in the minor leagues, depending on how I did, but that’s just speculation."

He said everything the Diamondbacks told him was positive.

"They said they were actually surprised with how well I caught," he said. "That was a knock on me I guess when I came into it. They were surprised, I threw runners out and then when they threw me out to second base they said I played a pretty good second base. Then when they had me to go to the outfield I performed in the outfield. Everything was a positive note. That’s what was good about it."

So was it a case of you not hitting enough? (Skelton was 6 for 40, .150, in spring training.)

"Probably," he said. "And more about me getting my reps because I'm still young. Maybe not ready to be a big leaguer right now, but hopefully in the future that could happen."

The Diamondbacks announced Skelton has been outrighted to Double-A Mobile. We're not sure what his role will be there, but we imagine he will continue to play all over the field.

As for Brown, his stock has fallen in the organization over the past couple of years. He was a supplemental first rounder in 2006 but he hasn't been able to shown consistency as a starting pitcher, and there were always people who thought he was going to end up in the bullpen anyway.

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The Diamondbacks didn’t keep Rule 5 pick James Skelton on their active roster, but they will keep him in the organization.

We’re told the Tigers just announced that they have acquired minor league right-hander Brooks Brown from the Diamondbacks for Skelton.

So here’s what we're guessing happened: Skelton cleared waivers, the Diamondbacks offered him back and Tigers technically accepted him before making the deal.

Brown, 23, posted a 4.18 ERA in 26 starts for Double-A Mobile last season and we heard before the trade that he was slated to repeat the level again this year.

We’ll have more on this later.