Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline still is over a week away, but the first big trade already has been made.
The Oakland Athletics have traded left-handed pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Houston Astros in return for two Astros prospects: right-handed pitcher Daniel Mengden and catcher Jacob Nottingham. FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the trade Thursday afternoon.
Kazmir was scheduled to pitch Thursday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays, but reporters at O.co Coliseum spotted the 31-year-old hugging his teammates before the game.
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The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser first reported that trade talks for Kazmir were heating up, and that Houston was the front-runner to land the lefty ace.
“Kazmir, who is fifth in the league in ERA with a 2.38 mark, is from Houston, and the Astros have one of the best minor-league systems in the majors,” Slusser wrote Wednesday. “The A’s are looking for good Triple-A prospects with an eye toward players who could help Oakland in 2016.”
The Astros currently are 53-43 and sit two games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West after winning four of their last five. Adding Kazmir, who is one year removed from his third All-Star appearance and has allowed just one run in his last three starts, should give Houston a valuable boost to its rotation as it pursues a potential playoff run.
Thumbnail photo via Bob Stanton/USA TODAY Sports Images
