Reds get Holmberg in three-team deal

The D-backs, Rays and Reds agreed to a three-team trade on Tuesday that will send right-handed prospect David Holmberg to Cincinnati and Rays righty Justin Choate to Arizona.

Reliever Heath Bell was sent to Tampa Bay in the trade, as was Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan. The D-backs sent about $500,000 to the Rays to offset Bell's contract and will receive a player to be named later or cash in addition to Choate.

For Holmberg, who was ranked as the D-backs' No. 5 prospect, it's the second time he's been traded in four years -- the 22-year-old was drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2009 Draft but was shipped to Arizona along with right-hander Daniel Hudson in exchange for Edwin Jackson in July 2010.

Holmberg said he was looking forward to the new opportunity.

"Excited to join the Reds organization!" he wrote on Twitter. "Thank you to the D-backs for everything they've done for me in my development as a player and person."

Holmberg went 5-8 with a 2.75 ERA in 26 starts for Double-A Mobile last season, striking out 116 batters in 157 1/3 innings. He held opponents to a .239 average, walked 50 and threw one complete game while also making his Major League debut on Aug. 28 in which he allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings against San Diego.

A 2013 Southern League All-Star, the lefty entered the season ranked as Arizona's No. 9 prospect after going 11-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 27 starts between Mobile and Class A Advanced Visalia in 2012. He won a dozen games between two levels in 2011 after spending his first two seasons with the White Sox's Rookie-level affiliates.

Choate, 22, signed with the Rays as an undrafted free agent on June 19 after pitching at Stephen F. Austin for two years. He played at Texarkana College in 2010 and 2011 and had been with Roswell of the independent Pecos League when the Rays offered him a contract.

At Class A Short-Season Hudson Valley, the right-hander went 1-3 with a 2.88 ERA, 35 strikeouts and six saves in 40 2/3 innings over 16 outings.

Bell, 36, is owed $9 million in the final year of a three-year contract he signed with the Marlins in 2012. Miami is expected to pay $4 million of that, with Arizona adding $500,000 and the Rays kicking in the remaining $4.5 million next year. The three-time National League All-Star went 5-2 with a 4.11 ERA and 15 saves in 69 appearances for the D-backs last season after saving 40 or more games in three straight seasons from 2009-11.

Hanigan, 33, hit .198 with two homers, 21 RBIs and eight doubles in 75 games with the Reds last season but is valued more for his defense and framing skills. The Rays agreed to a three-year contract extension with the backstop that will pay him $10.75 million with a fourth-year option that could make the deal worth as much as $13.7 million.