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Astros, Blue Jays Complete Ten-Player Trade

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The Astros and Blue Jays have completed a ten-player trade, the teams announced. The Astros obtain seven players from Toronto: right-hander Francisco Cordero, outfielder Ben Francisco, minor leaguers Joe Musgrove, Asher Wojciechowski, David Rollins and Carlos Perez, and a player to be named. The Astros send left-hander J.A. Happ (pictured) and right-handed relievers Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter to Toronto in the trade.

J.A. Happ - Astros (PW)

“Once again we are adding depth to our minor league system with quality young players," GM Jeff Luhnow said in a team press release. "We really feel this will help us moving forward and are extremely excited about the players we’ve added to our organization.”

Cordero and Francisco don't have assurances of staying with the Astros beyond 2012. Cordero, 37, has a 5.77 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 34 1/3 innings this year. He signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $4.5MM before the season. Francisco, 30, earns $1.54MM this year and will be arbitration eligible again this coming offseason. He posted a .240/.296/.380 batting line in Toronto and battled a hamstring injury, so he could be considered a non-tender candidate.

The Blue Jays selected Wojciechowski in the supplementary first round of the 2010 draft. The 23-year-old has a 4.05 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in parts of three minor league seasons. He ranked tenth on Baseball America's offseason list of Toronto's best prospects. Musgrove, 19, was a supplementary first round selection of Toronto's in the 2011 draft. The 6'5" right-hander has a 3.31 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 32 2/3 innings over the course of two pro seasons.

Rollins, 22, has a 2.46 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in parts of two pro seasons. The Blue Jays selected the left-hander in the 24th round of the 2011 draft. Perez, 21, has a .275/.358/.447 batting line at Class A Lansing this year. The Venezuelan catcher has a career .777 OPS in parts of five minor league seasons.

Lyon, 32, is also on track to hit free agency this coming offseason. The former Blue Jays reliever has a 3.25 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 36 innings with Houston this year. Lyon, who pitched in Toronto from 2001-02, earns $5.5MM this year in the final season of a three-year, $15MM contract.

This marks the second time in three years that Happ has been involved in a midseason trade. The Astros acquired the left-hander from Philadelphia along with current Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Gose for Roy Oswalt in 2010. Happ, 29, has a 4.83 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 104 1/3 innings so far in 2012. He's earning a salary of $2.35MM this year and will remain under team control through 2014.

Carpenter, 27, has a 6.07 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 29 2/3 innings out of the bullpen this year. The right-hander has a strong minor league record: a 2.97 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in five seasons.

The Blue Jays announced that they called up Travis Snider. The 24-year-old had a .335/.423/.598 batting line at Triple-A Las Vegas.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

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If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

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Sherman On Mets, Hamels, Padres

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The asking price for relief help remains high, even for players nearing free agency, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The Mets, of course, are looking for relievers and they’d prefer to acquire a controllable player, according to Sherman. Here are Sherman’s latest notes, starting with the Mets:

  • Acquiring a controllable reliever would provide the Mets with a long-term bullpen option but, it won’t be easy to complete a deal. “The problem is those guys are so scarce, and the cost, at least at this point, is prohibitive,” a Mets official told Sherman.
  • The Rays have always liked Lucas Duda, so there’s a potential match between the Mets and Rays, Sherman writes.
  • The Mets privately believe that the future of pitching prospect Jeurys Familia may be in the bullpen, so they could promote him in a relief role.
  • Cole Hamels could decline an extension offer that’s expected to fall in the six-year, $130MM range, but it wouldn’t be easy to do so, one team executive told Sherman. “My sense is he is comfortable in Philly, they have made the playoffs five years in a row and the $130MM says they value him, so it is going to take a heck of a reason to say no to that.”
  • If the Padres’ efforts to lock Huston Street up to an extension fail, they’ll make him available in trades later this month.

Quick Hits: Strasburg, Rangers, Hunter, Cubs

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Cody Ross was a walkoff hero for the Red Sox tonight, slugging a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off White Sox closer Addison Reed to give Boston a 3-1 win in the Battle Of The Sox.  Here are some links from around the majors as we wrap up a busy Thursday of trade rumors…

  • The Nationals have decided on to shut down Stephen Strasburg at some point this season though it may not be at the 160-inning limit, GM Mike Rizzo tells ESPN's Pedro Gomez.  "There is no magic number," Rizzo said. "It will be the eye test. (Manager) Davey (Johnson) won't decide and ownership won't decide. It will be the general manager, and that's me."
  • The Rangers have "a very small list" of pitchers on their wish list and may be out of the pitching market entirely if Cole Hamels signs an extension with the Phillies, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
  • If Torii Hunter is really willing to take a big discount to re-sign with the Angels, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal speculates that the Halos could save money by keeping Hunter and Peter Bourjos at low costs and then non-tender or trade Kendrys Morales to free up more money to pursue pitching.
  • The Cubs are unlikely to make a major free agent signing this winter, as Theo Epstein tells CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney that the team isn't far enough along in its rebuilding process.  “Free agency’s definitely a nice way to add talent to an organization without giving up talent," Epstein said. "But you cannot make an organization that way. And we have a lot of steps ahead of us that we need to take care of before we’re in a position to add a finishing piece or two through free agency.”
  • Beyond their big-name talent, the Cubs are also getting calls about right-handed hitting bench players Jeff Baker and Reed Johnson, reports Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).
  • The Twins led all teams in draft spending this year, as Baseball America's Jim Callis breaks down how much each club spent on their draft picks.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America recaps the week's minor league transactions.
  • Dodgers president Stan Kasten hinted that his team isn't likely to splurge in a blockbuster trade deadline deal, saying any trade the Dodgers make will "have to be governed by reason" and "make sense long term," he tells Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
  • Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told reporters (including MLB.com's Joe Frisaro) that his team is running out of time to prove they're contenders before the Fish could be forced to sell some pieces at the deadline.  “In terms of decision making, I don’t how that’s going to go,” Beinfest said. “I really don’t. We need to win games here to make sure we’re on the periphery of even thinking about getting into things….You believe in your talent and hope we get hot. I think that’s where we are right now. But every day that goes by, it gets tougher and tougher to do that.” 

AL Central Notes: Liriano, Hernandez, Tigers

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As Tigers left-hander Phil Coke celebrates his 30th birthday, here's are a few rumors from around the AL Central…

  • The Twins are looking for pitching in exchange for Francisco Liriano and in any deadline deal, reports Scott Miller of CBS Sports.
  • Indians right-hander Roberto Hernandez is expected to soon receive a new visa that would allow him to return to the United States, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  Hernandez has been training in the Dominican Republic but would require some minor league starts before returning to the Tribe and may yet face a suspension for using his false "Fausto Carmona" identity, though the Indians don't think a suspension is likely.
  • James Schmehl of MLive.com suggests the Tigers could trade the extra draft pick they were awarded in yesterday's inaugural competitive balance lottery.  The Tigers will get a compensation pick after the second round and, unlike other MLB draft picks, these competitive balance picks are allowed to be dealt.

Ryan Dempster Rumors: Thursday

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The Red Sox are out of the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes but there is still plenty of trade interest in the Cubs' starter.  Here's the latest on today's Dempster-related news, with the freshest items at the top of the page.

  • The Braves have had general discussions with the Cubs about Dempster "without getting real specific" about players, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
  • Dempster has had "occasional contact" with the Cubs' front office and hasn't been told a deal is imminent, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • The Dodgers and Cubs are negotiating over prospects and don't appear to be close to a trade tonight, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  While the Dodgers may be in the lead now, Heyman says that other teams are "still in the picture," including the Braves and Nationals.
  • The Dodgers have made an official trade proposal for Dempster, reports Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago.  The Dodgers are known to be the frontrunners for Dempster and the pitcher himself favors Los Angeles as his top destination if he is to be dealt, an important factor given his 10-5 trade protection rights.  Levine isn't sure what the Dodgers' offer entails or if pitching prospect Zach Lee is involved, though the Cubs are known to be looking for young pitching above all else in trades.
  • The Cubs will have a Triple-A pitcher on hand in St. Louis who will be ready to pitch in case Dempster is traded before his scheduled start against the Cardinals on Friday, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

NL West Notes: Lee, Upton, Pena, Street, Denorfia

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We've already checked out some Giants and Rockies rumors today, so let's look around the rest of the NL West…

  • The Dodgers won't trade top pitching prospect Zach Lee for a rental player like Ryan Dempster, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).  We heard earlier today that Los Angeles had made the Cubs an offer for Dempster.  
  • Though the Diamondbacks and Pirates have had trouble connecting on a trade match for Justin Upton, the outfielder remains "at or near the top" of Pittsburgh's search for a hitter, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Ismael Pena, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America.  Badler describes Pena as "a 6-foot-3, 175-pound lefty with a sound swing, a good approach and a hit-first, power-second profile. He's an average runner with a 45 to 50 arm on the 20-80 scale."
  • Huston Street was "aggressively" pursued by the Mets last winter, a source tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (Twitter link), but through the Mets are searching for bullpen help now, they don't think the Padres will move the closer.  We heard earlier today that the Padres were looking to propose long-term extensions to Street and Carlos Quentin before the trade deadline.
  • Street and Chris Denorfia have drawn more trade interest than Quentin, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
  • Also from Center, the Pirates and Orioles are "among the teams pushing hardest" for Chase Headley.  Center added the Mariners to the long list of Headley's suitors.  The third baseman himself says he has heard "between six and 10 teams" have shown interest.  

Rockies Links: Guthrie, Scutaro, Betancourt, Nieves

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The Rockies are one of the few teams in baseball who are firmly out of contention, and thus figure to be sellers as the trade deadline approaches.  Here's the latest on some of Colorado's top trade chips, courtesy of Troy Renck and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post…

  • Jeremy Guthrie's continued struggles are ruining the starter's trade value, writes Renck.  Guthrie has a 6.35 ERA in 19 games this season, including a whopping 9.50 ERA at Coors Field.  Renck suggests that the Rockies could limit Guthrie only to road starts in order to properly showcase him for any trade suitors.
  • Marco Scutaro has drawn interest from the Pirates and Rangers, reports Renck and Saunders, in addition to the Tigers' known interest in the veteran infielder.  Scutaro would be an upgrade over Clint Barmes at shortstop for the Pirates, and he would provide the Rangers with middle infield depth behind Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler.
  • The Braves and Red Sox have shown some interest in Rafael Betancourt.  We heard last month from ESPN's Buster Olney that the Rockies "would have to be overwhelmed" to deal Betancourt or Matt Belisle.
  • The Nationals have scouted Wil Nieves.  The catcher played for Washington from 2008-10 and has a .738 OPS in 51 plate appearances for Colorado after signing a minor league deal with the Rockies in December.  Nieves is on the DL with a turf toe injury.  The Nats also asked about Colorado's Ramon Hernandez as they continue to look for catching help.
  • Scouts say the Rockies want pitching back in any deal.

Yankees Notes: Ankiel, Pierre, Wandy, Figueroa

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It was on this day in 1961 that commissioner Ford Frick suggested that "a distinctive mark" would be placed on a new home run record if a player eclipsed Babe Ruth's then-record of 60 homers in more than 154 games (the length of Ruth's season in 1927).  Though no such notation ever used in any sort of official record, it was still popularly believed that Frick and Major League Baseball had asterisked Roger Maris' 61-homer season.

Here's the latest from Yankee Stadium…

Royals, Pirates Interested In Paul Maholm

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The Royals and Pirates have interest in Cubs left-hander Paul Maholm, sources tell Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago.  Maholm, 30, threw eight innings of one-run ball in a start against the Marlins today and now has a 4.09 ERA and a 2.38 K/BB ratio in 19 games (18 of them starts) for the Cubs this season. 

Maholm has about $1.97MM still owed to him in 2012 under the one-year deal he signed in January.  The contract also contains a $6.5MM option for 2013 which could be a key factor for the Royals, who are known to be looking for veteran pitchers who are controllable past 2012.

The Pirates have mostly been linked to big bats on the rumor mill, though they also have several big-name pitchers "on their radar" as they look to improve the team in any way possible in search of the NL Central title, or at least their first winning season since 1992.  Maholm is not an ace but he is a known commodity in Pittsburgh, pitching his first seven seasons with the Bucs.  Maholm could be had for a cheaper price than other Cubs pitchers like Matt Garza or Ryan Dempster, so the Pirates could save their top prospects as trade bait for a top hitter.

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