The Astros have made a 10-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays this evening, General Manager Jeff Luhnow has announced.
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Houston will ultimately receive seven players from Toronto in the deal, including two Major League players, RHP Francisco Cordero and OF Ben Francisco, four minor league players, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Asher Wojciechowski, LHP David Rollins and C Carlos Perez, and a player to be named later. Two of the players the Astros received are former first-round draft picks. In exchange for the seven players, the Astros have sent RHP Brandon Lyon, LHP J.A. Happ and RHP David Carpenter to the Blue Jays.
"This is a very good deal for us," Luhnow said. "Once again we are adding depth to our minor league system with quality young players. We really feel this will help us moving forward and are extremely excited about the players we've added to our organization."
For the past several seasons, Cordero has been one of the top closers in baseball. His 329 career saves rank second among active players to Mariano Rivera. In 794 career appearances, all in relief, he has a 3.28 career ERA and has reached 40 or more saves three times in his career. Prior to the trade, he was 3-5 with two saves in 41 appearances for Toronto this season. Francisco, 30, has a .259 career average with 45 home runs in 483 career Major League games with the Indians, Phillies and Blue Jays. He was hitting .244 (11x45) in 23 games for Toronto in 2012. Both Cordero and Francisco were in their first seasons in Toronto.
The 19-year-old Musgrove (6-5, 230 lbs) was Toronto's first pick in the first compensation round of the 2011 draft. In two appearances (one start) with Rookie Level Bluefield in 2012, he was 0-0 with a 1.12 ERA (1ER/8.0IP) with no walks and nine strikeouts. Musgrove made a combined nine appearances (seven starts) with Bluefield and Toronto's Gulf Coast League club in 2011.
Wojciechowski (6-4, 235), who is 23 years old and was Toronto's first selection in the first compensation round of the 2010 draft, was 7-3 in 18 starts at Class A Dunedin this season with a 3.57 ERA (37ER/93.1IP) and 76 strikeouts. In his last seven starts, he was 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA (7ER/41.2IP). Wojchiechowski has an 18-12 career record in 46 minor league appearances (43 starts) with a 4.05 ERA.
Rollins, 22, was 6-1 with a 2.78 ERA in 18 starts with Class A Lansing this season with 75 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched. The 6-1, 195 lb. southpaw was born in Deberry, TX and attended San Jacinto College North in Houston. Rollins, who was drafted by Toronto in 2011, has a 10-1 career minor league record in 25 starts with a 2.46 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 113.1 innings of work.
Perez, 21, hit .269 in 70 games at Lansing with 21 doubles, five triples, five home runs and 40 RBI. In five minor league seasons (2008-12), he has a .279 career average in 332 games with 70 doubles, 24 triples and 11 home runs.
For Houston this season, Lyon was 0-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 37 relief appearances, Happ was 7-9 with a 4.83 ERA in 18 starts and Carpenter, who is currently with Triple A Oklahoma City, was 0-2 in 30 relief appearances for the Astros with a 6.07 ERA.