* When the Los Angeles Angels shipped slugger Mark Trumbo to the Arizona Diamondbacks it ruined a couple of chances that the Jays had to acquire young starters. The three-team deal added two starters to the Angels rotation. .... Sign up for CBN Newsletter

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By Bob Elliott

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. –The Blue Jays talked starting pitching with the Arizona Diamondbacks but they were trumped by Mark Trumbo.

The Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a three-team trade that sent Trumbo to Arizona, centre fielder Adam Eaton to Chicago and pitchers Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs to the Angels on Tuesday at the 111th Winter Meetings.

Trumbo hit 30 or more home runs the past two seasons. He batted .234 with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs this year. He’ll be used in left field for the Diamondbacks.

Skaggs, 22, was 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA in seven starts for the Diamondbacks. At triple-A Reno, Skaggs was 6-10 with a 4.59 in 17 starts walking 39 and striking out 107 in 104 innings. He’s a former first-round pick the Angels traded in 2010 to acquire Dan Haren.

Santiago, 25, was 4-9 with a 3.56 ERA for the White Sox last season. He walked 72 batters and struck out 137 in 149 innings. Both go into the Angels rotation.

Eaton becomes with the White Sox lead-off hitter batting after .252 with a .314 on-base mark as a rookie.

ANOTHER BITES THE DUST 

The Jays were supposed to be in on Oakland A’s lefty Brett Anderson. If they have further interest they will have to call the Colorado Rockies who sent Drew Pomeranz and Chris Jensen to Oakland for Anderson on Tuesday.

The A’s opening day starter this year, Anderson will make $8 million in 2014 –Oakland paying $2 million– and has a $12 million contract option for 2015 with a $1.5 million buyout.

Anderson was 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA in five starts and 16 appearances, eventually being bumped to the bullpen. Pomeranz was 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA in eight outings (making four starts) with the Rockies, while Jensen was 5-8 with a 4.55 ERA for class-A Modesto. He had 136 strikeouts and 39 walks in 152.making 28 starts.

 

GOING GONE 

Outfielder Rajai Davis, 33, is close to a deal with the Detroit Tigers. The free-agent was looking for work as a full-time player.

In Detroit, Davis, who spent the last three seasons with the Blue Jays, will be behind centre fielder Austin Jackson and right fielder Torii Hunter. Andy Dirks spent most of the time in left for the Tigers.

Davis stole 125 bases for the Jays.

 

HOW TO GET BOOED 

    Curtis Granderson, who left the New York Yankees to sign with the New York Mets, was introduced wearing a his new jersey on Tuesday and said: “A lot of the people I’ve met in New York have always said that true New Yorkers are Mets fans.”

Granderson is so wise, so savvy that some people have mentioned him as a possible successor to commissioner Bud Selig– if he ever retires. That comment will be read and re-read and re-read by Yankee fans.

Granderson signed a four-year, $60 million deal with the Mets.

 

CLASSING UP THE JOINT 

    Roger Angell, of the New Yorker, was elected the 2014 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink award by Baseball Writers of America Association members with 10 years experience. Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution finished second.

Angell, 93, a senior editor at the magazine and feature writer had 259 votes, Bisher, 115 and Melvin Durslag, who wrote for the Los Angeles Examiner, 74. Angell will be honoured Hall of Fame weekend July 26-27, along with Monday’s elected managers: Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre. The players will be announced Jan. 8.

 

HOW BOUT THEM EXPOS 

Former Montreal Expos scribe Danny Gallagher and Bill Young have another book coming out in time for the Christmas gifts. Eight years after their best-selling Remembering the Montreal Expos, the authors have teamed up for Ecstasy to Agony: The 1994 Montreal Expos: How the best team in baseball ended up in Washington 10 years later.

The release date is set for Dec. 18, but Expos fans can pre-order by emailing expos94book@yahoo.ca to contact the authors.

 

WHICH JOHN WOULD LAST LONGER? 

John Olerud caught at the master’s over 65 division baseball championships Fort Myers, Fla., last weekend as his team took home a silver medal.

This would be the father of the former Blue Jays first baseman, John Olerud, Jr. the only Jays hitter to win a batting title.