Diamondbacks send Glaus to Jays
The Arizona Diamondbacks traded power-hitting Troy Glaus and top minor league shortstop prospect Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday for gold glove second baseman Orlando Hudson and pitcher Miguel Batista.
Glaus led Arizona in homers (37) and RBIs (97) last season, playing in 149 games in his only season with the Diamondbacks despite occasional flare-ups of a strained tendon in the back of his left knee.
He was the 2002 World Series MVP for Anaheim, following a season in which he had a career-high 111 RBIs. In 2000, Glaus led the A.L. with 47 homers.
Glaus waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal.
Toronto is expected to make more trades because adding Glaus creates a glut at the corner infield positions. Glaus prefers playing third base, but the Blue Jays already have Corey Koskie. The Blue Jays also have Shea Hillenbrand and Eric Hinske at first base and DH.
Ricciardi said Glaus will play third.
Batista was a closer for Toronto last season but will move to the starting rotation for Arizona, general manager Josh Byrnes said.
The trade clears the way for Chad Tracy to return to third base for Arizona, the position he played as a rookie in 2004. When Glaus was signed, Tracy moved to first base and played some in the outfield last season. Tracy led the Diamondbacks with a .308 average last season.
Tony Clark and Connor Jackson are expected to share time at first for Arizona.
The acquisition of Hudson means Craig Counsell will shift to shortstop. Hudson hit .270 in four seasons with Toronto. This year, he batted .271 with 63 RBIs and 10 home runs.
White Sox’ title is AP Story of the Year
The Chicago White Sox’ remarkable run to its first World Series title since 1917 was voted sports story of the year in balloting by newspaper and broadcast members of The Associated Press.
Chicago’s victory received 552 points in the voting. Hurricane Katrina displacing the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, the NBA’s Hornets and college teams was second with 465 points, followed by Lance Armstrong’s record seventh straight Tour de France title (455), the furor over steroids in baseball (448), the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory (259), Southern California’s attempt to win its third straight college football title (243) and Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro getting his 3,000th hit and then getting suspended for steroids.
Pirates OF Gerut signs one-year contract
Outfielder Jody Gerut signed an $875,000, one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He made $356,200 last season for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Pirates. He was dealt by Chicago to Pittsburgh for outfielder Matt Lawton on July 31, but a knee injury limited Gerut to 18 at-bats with the Pirates.
Former pitcher Reardon arrested
Jeff Reardon, one of the top relief pitchers in history, was charged with robbing a jewelry store at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., then blamed his arrest on medication he was taking for depression.
The 50-year-old Reardon, retired since 1994 and sixth in career saves, walked into Hamilton Jewelers at the Gardens Mall on Monday and handed an employee a note saying he had a gun and the store was being robbed, police said Tuesday.
Reardon, who starred with the Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox, fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police found him at a nearby restaurant, recovered the stolen money and charged him with armed robbery.