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The St. Louis River Walkers have made a trade with the Green Bay Long Haulers, sending right-handed relief pitcher Bill Warson and outfielder Steve Rutland to the Haulers in exchange for left-handed hitting outfielder Alek Thomas.
The deal was made because Warson was not going to make the team coming out of camp and unlikely to survive the waiver process.
A former first-round selection, Warson pitched in 48 games for St. Louis in 2023 going 1-4 with one save and a 5.64 ERA in 52.2 innings.
Ruland, a 26-year-old right-handed hitter, played most of 2023 at Memphis where he batted .246 with 20 homers and 64 RBIs.
He also got into 11 games late in the season with the River Walkers, batting .389 with a homer and four RBIs.
In the 25-year-old Thomas, the Walkers receive an outfielder who in 2021 won the National League batting title with a .353 average.
During the 2023 season, Thomas hit .311 with three homrs and 34 RBIS.
Thomas is considered an outstanding defender at all three positions. He also will likely see a number of starts early in the season as the Walkers will open the campaign without regular right fielder Michael Toglia who is out for at least three more weeks with an injury.
After that, Thomas could settle into the center field role or become the primary backup at all three positions.
The Haulers found Thomas expendable after signing center fielder Mike Trout in the outfield, where he will join Aaron Judge and Yo****omo Tsutsugo.