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Jays Acquire Rasmus From Cards For Jackson In Eight-Player Deal
An eight-player deal was struck today, as the Blue Jays announced they've
acquired center fielder Colby Rasmus and pitchers Trever Miller, Brian
Tallet, and P.J. Walters from the Cardinals for starter Edwin Jackson,
relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, outfielder Corey Patterson, and
three players to be named later or cash considerations. The Blue Jays will
flip Miller to the White Sox, according to ESPN's Buster Olney, who first
tweeted the full details.
In Rasmus, Alex Anthopoulos acquired a good young player who had worn out his
welcome with management, much like the Blue Jays GM did with Yunel Escobar
last summer. Rasmus, 24, is hitting .246/.332/.420 in 386 plate appearances,
a down year compared to 2010. He'll be arbitration eligible for the first
time after this season, so he's under team control through 2014. Cardinals
GM John Mozeliak recently called a Rasmus trade "highly unlikely," but as
Strauss notes, the center fielder has "fascinated and frustrated" the
Cardinals over the last three years and made repeated trade requests.
Miller, 38, has been used sparingly by the Cardinals this year, logging only
15 2/3 innings. Most of them came against left-handed hitters, but Miller
hasn't pitched well no matter how you slice it. About $700K remains on his
contract. Tallet, 33, has been ineffective as well and currently resides on
the DL for an intercostal strain. He spent the previous five seasons with
the Jays. About $263K remains on his contract.
Walters, 26, has logged 50 innings in the bigs since 2009. The righty has a
4.27 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, and 0.8 HR/9 in 103 1/3 Triple-A innings this
year, his fourth stint at the level. Baseball America ranked him 19th among
Cardinals prospects prior to the season, praising his plus changeup but
projecting a long relief/swingman role.
Jackson, 27, was traded for the fifth and sixth times in his career today.
The 27-year-old flourished in nearly 200 innings with the White Sox, and
improves a Cardinals rotation that ranks seventh in the NL with a 3.84 ERA.
The acquisition gives the Cards the flexibility to move Kyle McClellan back
to the bullpen, leaving a rotation of Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Jackson,
Jake Westbrook, and Kyle Lohse. Jackson, a Scott Boras client, figures to
test free agency after the season as a Type B. About $2.9MM remains on his
contract.
The Cardinals' bullpen gets a lift from Dotel, Rzepczynski, and possibly
McClellan. Dotel, 37, has a 3.68 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 1.53 HR/9, and
28.6% groundball rate on the season; he excels against right-handed batters.
Should the Cardinals turn down his $3.5MM club option, Dotel projects as a
Type B free agent in the AL at the moment. If the option is declined, about
$1.7MM remains on Dotel's contract.
Rzepczynski, 25, switched to full-time relief this year. He has a 2.97 ERA,
7.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9, and strong 65.7% groundball rate in 39 1/3
innings this year. He complements Dotel nicely, having dominated lefties and
struggled against righties. Rzepczynski is under team control through 2015.
Dotel and Rzepczynski do not appear to be a threat to closer Fernando Salas,
writes Dan Mennella of CloserNews.
Patterson, 31, is hitting .252/.287/.379 in 341 plate appearances for the
Blue Jays this year. He restores a little bit of outfield depth for St.
Louis.
Though there are eight players in this deal, it mostly boils down to the
Cardinals renting Jackson and Dotel and getting Rzepczynski long-term in
exchange for Rasmus' three arbitration years. It's hard to see this as
anything but a win for the Blue Jays.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/