MLB Trade Rumors: Rangers, Blue Jays, Pirates Trade Breakdown - Bluejaysfan65's Dynasty

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MLB Trade Rumors: Rangers, Blue Jays, Pirates Trade Breakdown

Posted on July 18, 2013 at 11:12 AM.

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Breaking Down The Pirates, Jays and Rangers Trade
By Tim Dierkes [May 1, 2013 at 9:47am ET]

The Blue Jays, Rangers and Pirates completed a seven player deal this morning. Obviously all three teams think that this deal can benefit them either in the short term view or the long run. Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors take a look at the deal and breaks it down for us.

Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays obviously got the most players in the deal by acquiring lefty pitcher Justin Wilson from the Pirates and adding right handed pitcher Justin Miller and utility player Jeff Baker from the Texas Rangers. Miller, 26 years old, pitched spectacularly last season for Double-A Frisco in the Rangers organization. The tall right hander went 9-1 with a 1.81 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00 in just over 69 innings pitched. Wilson, also 26, pitched for Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates organization last season. The southpaw from California posted a 3.78 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 135.2 innings pitched last season. He is projected to be a third spot in the rotation guy that can eat a lot of innings for the Blue Jays. Jeff Baker is the guy that they Jays went after when the contacted the Rangers about this deal reports Ken Rothensal of ESPN. He is expected to provide some stability to a weak bench after Mark DeRosa failed to perform and was ultimately demoted to Triple-A Buffalo.

Texas Rangers
The Rangers got lefty reliever Luis Perez from the Blue Jays as well as shortstop prospect Jordy Mercer from the Pirates. Perez, 28, made his major league debut for the Blue Jays last season and went 3-3 with an ERA just over five at 5.12 with a WHIP of 1.55. He mainly came out of the bullpen as the long man but made a few spot starts for the Jays. The lefty has shown lots of potential and I wouldn't be surprised if he finds a spot in the Rangers bullpen before the end of the season. Mercer, 26, was moving up through the ranks of the Pirates minor league system fairly quickly splitting last year with Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. The right handed hitting shortstop hit .239 in 226 plate appearances last season in Triple-A. He also had an on-base percentage of .329 in Double-A which decreased to .304 when he made the move to Triple-A. The Rangers are getting two players with relatively good potential while giving up less.

Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates are undoubtedly getting the best player in this deal in starter J.A. Happ. The left hander was a big part of the deal that brought starter Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia. The tall lefty was also part of the ten player deal last summer to bring him to Toronto. Happ, 30, was serving as the fifth starter in a stacked Toronto rotation and went 1-2 in four starts with an ERA of 4.40. The numbers aren't exactly great but maybe playing in the National League once again will improve his performance.