Three former Kansas City high school pitchers traded on MLB deadline day
The final hour before Major League Baseball’s trade deadline caught three Kansas City high school products in its crosshairs.
Two of them are headed to Detroit.
The Tigers acquired former Shawnee Mission East pitcher Joey Wentz from the Atlanta Braves and former Lee’s Summit West right-hander Alex Lange from the Chicago Cubs; and the Tampa Bay Rays traded former Blue Valley pitcher Ryne Stanek to the Miami Marlins, according to multiple reports.
Stanek, 28, has spent three major-league seasons with the Rays after the team selected him in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft. He has served primarily as an “opener” in Tampa this year, starting 27 games, most in baseball. He has a 3.40 earned-run average. The Rays flipped him to acquire pitchers Trevor Richards and Nick Anderson.
Wentz, 21, was part of the Tigers’ return package for top reliever Shane Greene. Drafted 40th overall in 2016, Wentz has spent this season exclusively with Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate, compiling a 4.72 ERA, though he’s thrown much better as of late.
Lange, 23, posted a 5.82 ERA in 18 starts between High-A and Double-A in the Cubs’ system this year. The Cubs sent him to the Tigers Wednesday as part of a trade for Nicholas Castellanos. After graduating Lee’s Summit West, he attended LSU for three seasons before the Cubs drafted him 30th overall in 2017.