After being acquired by the Red Sox, Steve Pearce has completed his cycle of the AL East
Barrel-bodied slugger Steve Pearce just keeps rolling: On Thursday night, the lefty masher was traded from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox in exchange for Minor League infielder Santiago Espinal. The move will not only see Pearce head to Fenway to bash southpaws from the corner outfield and first base positions, but it will also see him complete his circuit of the American League East.
That's right: The division now has a player that has suited up for every team in it. He played 12 games with the Yankees and hit one home run in 2012. He broke out with the Orioles in 2014:
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He even played second base with the Rays:
And he's become a consistent lefty destroyer in Toronto:
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Now, he'll be the second ever to complete the circuit around the AL East. Kelly Johnson was the first -- playing for all five teams between 2011 and 2014.
Juan Beniquez and David Wells came closest to joining that group, playing for the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays and Yankees.
Here are the players that accomplished it in other divisions (we're only counting players that played after the league was split into six divisions in 1994):
AL East: Pearce, Johnson
AL Central: 0
AL West: Mark McLemore
NL East: 0
NL Central: Cesar Izturis
NL West: Steve Finley, Matt Herges