Baseball: Royals trade former Poly pitcher Saito to Mariners

By Associated Press

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Former Cal Poly pitcher Derrick Saito and another minor leaguer were traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Seattle Mariners on Friday for shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

The Royals needed help at shortstop after Mike Aviles, who hit .325 as a rookie last year, went on the disabled list May 23 after batting .183 in 36 games. He underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is expected to be out nine to 12 months.

The 27-year-old Betancourt is batting .250 with two homers and 22 RBI in 63 games this season. He�s been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma after straining his left hamstring, and will continue rehabbing at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Besides Saito, a left-handed pitcher, the Mariners also got right-hander Danny Cortes. Cortes will report to Double-A West Tenn, and Saito will head to Class A Clinton.

The 21-year-old Saito is 2-6 with one save and a 4.26 ERA for Class A Burlington.

The 22-year-old Cortes is 6-2 with a 3.12 ERA in his last 11 games, after starting the season 0-4 for Northwest Arkansas. He was rated by Baseball America as the Royals� top pitching prospect entering the spring.

�The opportunity presented itself for us to acquire a pair of talented arms and as we move forward we felt this was the right thing to do at this time,� Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a statement.

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