Just a few seconds before the last out in Thursday afternoon's series finale with the Giants, the deal that had been rumored all week was finally done. Jorge Cantu is a Texas Ranger.
The Marlins traded Jorge, along with $600,000 of his salary, to the Rangers for double-A righty pitchers Evan Reed and Omar Poveda. Our friends at Lone Star Ball had this to say about the prospects:
Reed is a righty relief prospect who was a third round pick in 2007, and who has put himself back on the map with a soild season this year. He's someone who could be a major league reliever, potentially, but who is the type of arm the Rangers have coming out the wazoo, and thus can afford to part with.
Poveda has spent the year on the disabled list after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He's a pitchability righthander with a good changeup, but questions about whether his stuff will play at the upper levels.
Evan Reed was shipped off to AA Jacksonville. Poveda will continue to rehab in Jupiter, and is expected be ready for spring training.
Looks like the hot corner will feature a Wes Helms/ Donnie Murphy/ Hector Luna platoon for the remainder of the season, or at least until Cogz returns from his freak knee injury.
Plenty of Cantu fans here at FishStripes, and we wish him well. We also extend our condolences to Spud, who will now have the daunting task of choosing a new standing player of the game pick.