When the Rays traded Ben Zobrist to the A’s back in January, Rays boss Matt Silverman was asked how much Zobrist had meant to the Tampa Bay franchise. “How much time do we have?” was Silverman’s classy reply. Zobrist is a player who does whatever a team needs — bunt or homer, play second base or rightfield. A devout Christian, Zobrist is a team player if ever there was one.
The A’s didn’t do much with Zobrist, and they shipped him this week to Kansas City for minor league talent. The Royals are a juggernaut (61-38) and they like Zobrist’s team play, his versatility and what manager Ned Yost called Zobrist’s “winner’s mentality.” It seems like a perfect match of talent and team. Besides, Zobrist’s wife Julianna is a singer. She’ll have to start practicing that Lorde song everybody’s so fond of in Kansas City — though as a Christian singer Julianna usually works with a different Lord. The Zobrists co-authored a book about how they work together — it’s called Double Play
