The Texas Rangers made the biggest push on before Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, acquiring a pair of All-Stars — Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers and Carlos Beltran from the Yankees — for five prospects.
The AL West-leading Rangers also acquired closer Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers in the deal for two former first-round picks, outfielder Lewis Brinson and righthander Luis Ortiz.
Texas completed the deal Monday, a day after Lucroy blocked a trade that would have sent him to AL Central-leading Cleveland.
The Rangers sent three pitching prospects to the rebuilding Yankees for the 39-year-old Beltran, New York’s top offensive player this season.
This is the second year in a row at the deadline that the Rangers acquired a top player who had first rejected a deal to another team. They got All-Star lefthander Cole Hamels last season after the pitcher voided a proposed trade that would have sent him from Philadelphia to Houston.
Lucroy, 30, is hitting .299 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs in 95 games this season. He has been with the Brewers for all six of his major league seasons, and his contract includes a $5.25 million team option for 2017.
The Rangers have used four starting catchers this season, with Bobby Wilson making a team-high 38 starts. Robinson Chirinos has started 33 games, most since coming off the disabled list in early June after missing 53 games because of a broken bone in his right forearm.
To make room on their 40-man roster for Lucroy and Jeffress, the Rangers designated Wilson and fellow catcher Bryan Holaday for assignment.
Holaday, who was recalled an injury rehabilitation assignment at Triple A Round Rock, started 25 games behind the plate for Texas.
Jeffress, 29, is 2-2 with 27 saves and a 2.22 ERA in 47 games this season, the first year as a closer. He likely will be in a setup role for the Rangers behind Sam Dyson.
To get Beltran, the Rangers traded away righthander Dillon Tate, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft, and two other pitching prospects.
Texas also sent the Yankees righthanders Nick Green and Erik Swanson, both selected in the 2014 draft.
Green was taken in the seventh round and Swanson in the eighth.
New York agreed to send Texas $3,708,333 on Dec. 31 to offset part of the just over $5 million remaining in Beltran’s $15 million salary.
Beltran was the Yankees’ top offensive player, leading the team with a .304 batting average, 22 homers, and 64 RBIs. Beltran’s trade follows deals that sent relievers Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and Andrew Miller to the Indians.
‘‘I think as a player, you know that this moment could happen. But when it happens, it hits you,’’ Beltran said. ‘‘I don’t blame nobody other than we didn’t do our job as players.’’
Beltran signed a $45 million, three-year contract before the 2014 season but played with an elbow bone spur during much of his first season in New York and got off to a slow start in 2015 following surgery. He will be eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.
He was traded from Kansas City to Houston in June 2004 and from the Mets to the Giants in July 2011. While he has appeared in the playoffs with the Astros, Mets, Cardinals, and Yankees, Beltran remains in search of his first World Series title, as do the Rangers.
The Yankees’ rebuilding featured one other deal Monday, with righthander Ivan Nova going to the Pirates for two players to be named.
Nova was 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA in 15 starts and six relief appearances, his inconsistency among the reasons the Yankees have struggled for much of this season. He was 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA over 17 starts last year in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Nova was running on treadmill in weight room when Yankees bullpen catcher Ramon Rodriguez told him about trade and then he saw his name on TV. And then Yanks pitching coach Larry Rothschild informed Nova.
Nova is making $4.1 million this year and is eligible for free agency after the World Series.
Dodgers add Hill, Reddick
The contending Dodgers boosted their depleted rotation, getting lefthander Rich Hill and right fielder Josh Reddick from the Athletics for a trio of pitching prospects.
The A's made the deal with former Athletics executive and now-Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi.
Hill, who signed a $6 million, one-year contract with Oakland during the offseason, is on the disabled list with a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand. He had been scheduled to pitch Sunday in Cleveland before the DL stint.
Big-spending Los Angeles began the day with a 59-46 record, two games out of first place in the NL West behind San Francisco. Hill will eventually go into a rotation that is missing injured ace Clayton Kershaw.
Hill, 36, is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 14 starts and 76 innings. Reddick, 29, is batting .296 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. This was his fifth year with the A’s after spending his first three seasons with the Red Sox. Hill, a Milton (Mass.) product, did two tours with the Red Sox.
Both Hill and Reddick can become free agents after this season. Reddick is earning $6,575,000 this year.
The addition of Reddick had ramifications for outfielder Yasiel Puig, who followed the Dodgers’ wishes when he didn’t show up to the stadium before the team departed on its road trip to Colorado.
‘‘[Puig] did what the organization asked him to do,’’ manager Dave Roberts said in a phone interview. ‘‘We didn’t want him to come to the ballpark because we knew he wasn’t going to Denver with us. We were looking for more production from that position, so we acquired a player who is having a really good year and great track record.’’
Puig expects to be sent to the minors Tuesday after the Dodgers were unable to move the Cuban slugger, according to his agent, Adam Katz.
‘‘The club informed me and the player understood clearly that they were making every effort to trade him,’’ Katz told the AP, ‘‘and that if they were unable to come to terms with another club on a trade — and successful in acquiring another outfielder — that he likely would be demoted.’’
The demotion will be a surprising turn in the fast-burning career of Puig, who hasn’t built on the promise of his first two big-league seasons.
Oddly enough, Puig went 3 for 5 with two RBIs against Arizona on Sunday, playing impressively in his first start since July 20 after his latest bout of hamstring injuries.
Puig was an All-Star in 2014 after a meteoric rise with the Dodgers, who signed the prospect to a seven-year, $42 million deal in June 2012. He hit 35 homers and drove in 111 runs while batting .305 in 2013 and 2014, but slipped to .255 last season while playing in just 79 games due to hamstring troubles.
Puig has been physically limited and largely inconsistent even when healthy this season, batting .260 with seven homers in 81 games. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage is down to a career-worst .706.
Giants shore up staff
The NL West-leading Giants had a great first half and started the second with a post-All-Star break flop. General manager Bobby Evans got serious at the trade deadline to improve his club, acquiring a pair of proven pitchers to boost his staff. San Francisco got lefthander Matt Moore from the Rays for third baseman Matt Duffy and two minor leaguers, shortly after landing reliever Will Smith from Milwaukee. The Giants sent catcher Andrew Susac and pitching prospect Phil Bickford to Milwaukee; the Rays also got shortstop Lucius Fox and righthander Michael Santos . . . The Indians didn’t stop after being rebuffed by Lucroy over the weekend, adding outfielder Brandon Guyer from Tampa Bay for two minor leaguers . . . The Mets acquired All-Star outfielder Jay Bruce from the Reds for infielder Dilson Herrera and minor league lefthander Max Wotell. Bruce, 29, is hitting .265 with 25 homers and a National League-leading 80 RBIs. New York also reacquired lefthander Jon Niese from Pittsburgh for reliever Antonio Bastardo . . . The Blue Jays bolstered their starting rotation, acquiring Francisco Liriano and two minor league prospects from the Pirates for pitcher Drew Hutchinson.
The Blue Jays also received catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez.
