Marco Estrada traded from Milwaukee to Toronto

Following a 2014 season in which he was moved from the Milwaukee Brewers’ starting rotation to the bullpen, Marco Estrada incurred an even greater transition in his Major League Baseball career Saturday when he was dealt from the Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays.

A former Glendale Community College player, the 31-year-old Estrada was traded for first baseman Adam Lind.

“I knew it could happen, but I kind of didn’t want to believe it was going to,” Estrada told MLB.com. “I thought maybe I would get the opportunity to play in Milwaukee another year. But coming off a down year, I knew I was getting a little more expensive over there, and I didn’t know if they were going to want to pay that for maybe a middle reliever. I talked to my agent about certain situations that could happen, and [a trade] was one of them.”

Lind, also 31, had played the duration of his nine-year career with the Blue Jays, while Estrada, who was drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2005, will switch from the National League to the American to play with his third MLB franchise.

Estrada is on the heels of a bit of a trying season, having given up a league-high 29 home runs and posted a 7-6 record and 4.36 earned-run average over 39 appearances and 150 2/3 innings. Estrada made 18 starts before he was moved to the bullpen. The right-hander is likely to remain in the bullpen, though his versatility was an attractive attribute to the Blue Jays.

“If the season were to start today, Marco would be in the bullpen,” Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told mlb.com. “But again, the fact that he can start - he started 20 games or more in the past, he has the ability to do that - it does give us some options and flexibility as we navigate through the offseason.

“It’s still very early. The landscape will change and we’ll find out more about the trade market, we’ll find out more about the free-agent market.”

Over seven seasons in the majors – two with Washington and five with Milwaukee – Estrada has appeared in 154 games with 71 starts. He’s tallied a career 4.23 ERA and a 23-26 record.

“Obviously, they have five really good starters there and I’m not really sure to be honest with you,” Estrada said of his role. “I could be the long guy there. Hopefully no injuries happen to anyone, but if they do, I assume I would get the opportunity to start. It’s early in the offseason now and a lot of moves could still be made.

“On my part, I want to start. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. All I can hope for is the opportunity. All I can do is show them what I can do, and to get where I want, I just have to pitch good.”

Lind hit .321 with 40 runs batted in and six homers over 96 games in 2014, as he missed time due to a back injury and a subsequent foot injury. A career .273 hitter with 146 and 519 RBI, Lind was sought after by the Brewers to fill a need for a starting first baseman that’s existed since the departure seasons ago of Prince Fielder.

“He’s a good fit for us now. We didn’t want to wait through the free-agent season,” Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin told the Associated Press of Lind, who was prevented from being a free agent when the Blue Jays exercised his $7.5 million option. “We think our ballpark is a good fit for him. ... Positional-wise, this was just a real big need -- it’s been that since Prince (Fielder) left.”

Toronto finished third in the AL East in 2014 with an 83-79 record, while Milwaukee took third in the NL Central at 82-80.