Hawkins Gets Jettisoned to Houston

Wow, two in one day. The Yankees, who DFA'ed LaTroy Hawkins recently, dealt him and cash to the Houston Astros for minor league infielder Matt Cusick. The cash will pay for the remaining money on Hawkins one year, $3.75 million deal.

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Breaking News: Diamondbacks Acquire Haren

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland has dealt pitcher Dan Haren and Connor Robertson to Arizona for Carlos Gonzalez, pitchers Brett Anderson, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland, outfielder Aaron Cunningham and first baseman Chris Carter. That's 5 of the Dbacks top 10 prospects.

The Diamondbacks also sent closer Jose Valverde to the Astros for infielder Chris Burke and right-handers Chad Qualls and Juan Gutierrez.

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Breaking News: Tejada Dealt to Astros

We had a false alarm during the winter meetings, but this time it appears to be true. The Baltimore Sun is reporting the Astros have acquired Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate, and third baseman Michael Costanzo.

5 for 1 seems a lot considering that Tejada's skills have deteriorated a bit. We also think Tejada will probably switch to 3rd base unless the Astros decide to move Adam Everett.

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Breaking News: Tejada Headed to Houston?

790 AM in Houston is reporting that the Astros are close to acquiring Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for Adam Everett, Chris Burke and a pitcher. Kudos to the guys at Rotoworld.

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Phillies Acquire Brad Lidge

Sometime closer, sometime set up man Brad Lidge has been dealt by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a 5 player deal.

Joining Lidge in Philly will be infielder Eric Bruntlett. Outfielder Michael Bourn, righthanded pitcher Geoff Geary and minor league third baseman Mike Costanzo are being shipped to Houston.

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Rocket Lands Back in Houston

Not as a player, at least not yet. Roger Clemens has decided to start his 10 year service oriented contract that was part of his deal with the Astros. They should make him sell popcorn.

He's not officially calling it a career, but this looks like a signal that he could be done. "Roger has said several times that he has failed at retirement, so I am not announcing his retirement," agent Randy Hendricks said. "The plan for 2008 is this: Roger plans to start the new year as the first year of his post-playing career contract as a consultant to the Houston Astros."

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Hanging with Mr. Cooper

Congrats to Cecil Cooper on being named full-time manager of the Houston Astros. Coop got a 2 year deal after taking over from Phil Garner on August 27th.

Coop gave the Yankees trouble back in the '70s and '80s with as a sweet swinging 1st Baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers. He had 3 top 5 finishes in the AL MVP race.

Good luck to a class guy!

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Lord of the Cardinals

J.R.R. Tolkien Towles is a 23 year old rookie catcher on the Houston Astros. You probably never heard of him and you wouldn't be alone. But you will now. The homegrown kid had appeared in 5 games this year and was hitting a less than gaudy .231 (3-13). The kid went ape shit in St. Louis tonight with a home run, 2 doubles, a single and 8, count 'em, 8..RBI.

His official website (how he got one already is anyone's guess) describes him as a "a Christian Baseball Player with great work ethics and morals".

He's not just a flash in the pan apparently, having been chosen for this year's Futures game. Wonder what God thinks of some of his favorite activities?

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Odd Rumor of the Day

From the NY Post via Yahoo Sports. Tony Pena is being considered for the Houston Astros job. Pena refused comment when asked about it. Okay, that's now the odd part. Here it is.

The rumor is based on the fact that Pena is the godfather of one of Tim Purpura's children. I guess the Post didn't get the memo that Purpura was fired as GM when Phil Garner got let go.

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Astros Drop the Ax

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Houston Astros have sent manager Phil Garner and GM Tim Purpura to the unemployment line. The Astros are just 58-73 this season, 2 years after making it to the World Series. Bench coach Cecil Cooper takes over as interim manager.

Although they signed Carlos Lee this off-season, the Astros took a big hit with the loss of Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens.

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