TG Fantasy Baseball

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:

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Nelson Cruz is headed to a contender in the biggest deal yet ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.

The defending AL champion Rays acquired Cruz, one of baseball’s most proven sluggers, in a four-player trade with Minnesota on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay, in a tight race with Boston atop the AL East, received Cruz and minor leaguer Calvin Faucher from the struggling Twins in exchange for minor league right-handers Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman.

The 41-year-old Cruz has 436 career homers and 1,202 RBIs. He’ll bring some needed pop to Tampa Bay’s lineup and should help the Rays against left-handers. They’re hitting .226 versus lefties.

The seven-time All-Star also has plenty of playoff experience with 17 homers and 37 RBIs in 46 postseason games. He’s batting .294 with 19 homers and 50 RBIs this season.

“People joke about how he’s ageless, and it really does feel that way,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said.

FRONT AND CENTER

A pair of first-place teams square off in the opener of an interleague series at Milwaukee when Lucas Giolito (8-6, 3.90 ERA) and the Chicago White Sox visit All-Star Freddy Peralta (7-3, 2.39) and the Brewers. Chicago’s nine-game cushion in the AL Central is the largest of any division leader in the majors, followed by Milwaukee (6 1/2 games) in the NL Central.

NL EAST ARMS

Atlanta left-hander Max Fried (7-5, 4.29 ERA) faces Phillies All-Star Zack Wheeler (7-5, 2.44) in an excellent pitching matchup as the teams continue their four-game series in Philadelphia. The Braves and Phillies are tied for second place in the NL East at 47-48, four games behind the New York Mets.

RAMPING UP

Veteran lefty David Price is...

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays added a big bat for the remainder of the season, acquiring slugger Nelson Cruz from the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Moments before opening a four-game series at Cleveland, the Rays, who entered Thursday one game behind first-place Boston in the AL East, announced they got Cruz and minor leaguer Calvin Faucher from Minnesota in exchange for right-handers Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman.

The 41-year-old Cruz has 436 career homers. He'll bring some pop to Tampa Bay's lineup and should help the Rays against left-handers. They entered the series batting .226 versus lefties.

The designated hitter is batting .294 with 19 homers and 50 RBIs this season.

With a week until the trade deadline and no shot at the postseason, the Twins figured they'd get something for Cruz to begin building toward 2021. Minnesota entered Thursday at 41-55.

A 17-year veteran, Cruz signed a one-year, $13 million deal with Minnesota in February. He spent nearly three seasons with the Twins after four in Seattle. Cruz has also played with Baltimore and Texas.

Cruz hit at least 37 homers per season from 2014-19. He belted a career-high 44 homers for the Mariners in 2015.

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