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The Arizona Diamondbacks designated third baseman Ryan Roberts for assignment earlier in the evening, but the third baseman had told reporters a deal was "on the one yard line." To continue with the football theme, the deal is in the end zone and finished.
The D'Backs have traded Roberts to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league second baseman Tyler Bortnick, as first reported by Joe Smith of The Tampa Bay Times. The D'Backs confirmed the report and have announced the deal is complete. The Rays will need to make a corresponding roster move to open up a roster spot for Roberts, however.
#Rays have acquired INF Ryan Roberts from Arizona for Double-A INF Tyler Bortnick. Roberts will be here tommorrow.
— Joe Smith (@TBTimesRays2) July 25, 2012
Team acquires INF Tyler Bortnick from Tampa Bay Rays @RaysBaseball for Ryan Roberts @RRoberts14
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 25, 2012
The Rays will take a flyer on the 31-year-old Roberts and hope he can serve as a serviceable stopgap at third until star third baseman Evan Longoria returns to action Tampa won't be expecting much, though, as Roberts is hitting just .250/.306/.357 with 6 home runs over 280 plate appearances this season.