Shields to KC, Myers to Rays in blockbuster

The Rays and Royals announced the completion of a blockbuster deal in which Tampa Bay sent right-handers James Shields and Wade Davis along with a player to be named in exchange for three of Kansas City's top prospects -- outfielder Wil Myers, right-hander Jake Odorizzi, left-hander Mike Montgomery and infielder Patrick Leonard.

Shields, who turns 31 this month, went 15-10 with a 3.52 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 227 2/3 innings in 2012. In seven big league seasons with the Rays, he's 87-73 with a 3.89 ERA, 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.1 walks per nine innings. In six full years in the majors, he's averaged more than 220 innings per campaign. He is under team control on options in both 2013 and 2014. If the 2014 option is exercised, he would earn $21 million over the two seasons.

Davis spent all of 2012 in the Rays bullpen, going 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. The Royals will move him back to the rotation, where he pitched from 2009-11, going 25-22 with a 4.22 ERA and 5.9 strikeouts per nine. He's under team control for two more years with three additional option seasons running through 2017; he could earn $32.6 million during the next five seasons if all of the options are exercised. 

Myers, who turns 22 on Monday, was named Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year in 2012, a year in which he hit .314/.387/.600/.987 with 37 homers in Double-A and Triple-A. 

Odorizzi, 22, likewise was a standout in the Royals system in Double-A and Triple-A, going 15-5 with a 3.03 ERA and 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He also made his big league debut, going 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in two starts. 

Montgomery, who entered 2012 as Baseball America's No. 23 overall prospect in the minors, endured a brutal 2012 season, going 5-12 with a 6.07 ERA, 6.7 strikeouts per nine and 3.8 walks per nine in Double-A and Triple-A. Still, the former supplemental first-rounder is viewed as a high-ceiling left-hander with starter's stuff. 

Leonard, a 2011 fifth-rounder, hit .251/.340/.494/.833 with 14 homers in 62 Rookie Level games in 2012, an impressive power show for a 19-year-old third baseman in a short-season league. 

The Red Sox and Royals had talked about the possibility of a deal that would have sent Myers and others to Boston for Jon Lester and others earlier in the offseason. However, it was the AL East-rival Rays who found common ground with Kansas City on a pitching-for-prospects blockbuster. 

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