MLB Trade Deadline: Blockbuster Trade Between Toronto, St. Louis and White Sox

Earlier today, Twitter was abuzz with the news that Toronto was on the verge of acquiring Edwin Jackson from the Chicago White Sox for Jason Frasor plus a prospect.  Then Twitter almost exploded when it was reported by various sources (including Buster Olney, Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal) that the St. Louis Cardinals were involved and would be sending Colby Rasmus to Toronto for Jackson.

Allow me to digress for a moment...

Last week I reported that the St. Louis Cardinals had been in discussions with Toronto about reliever Jason Frasor.  I also mentioned that the Cards were shopping Colby Rasmus and that I'd be shocked if Toronto didn't get involved.

Well, I won't say I told you so...

Instead, you can read the article here.

Getting back to the topic at hand.  This trade keeps evolving but as I write this the trade is thus:

To Toronto: Colby Rasmus, P.J. Walters, Brian Tallet, Mark Teahen

To St. Louis: Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Mark Rzepczynski, Corey Patterson

To Chicago (AL): Jason Frasor, Trevor Miller, Zach Stewart

In a nutshell, the White Sox dump the salaries of Jackson and Teahen while acquiring a pair of veteran relievers and a decent pitching prospect with closer potential.  Meanwhile the Cardinals acquire the mid rotation starter they need along with a pair of power arms for their bullpen and a veteran outfielder.

However, Toronto is far and away the winner in this deal.

Teahen's contract is a bit of an albatross but he's a serviceable hitter with multi-position flexibility and Tallet (former Blue Jay) will offset the losses in the pen.  The addition of P.J. Walters is a nice bit of slight of hand as his power arm and breaking ball could make him a nice bullpen addition with starting potential.

And then there is some guy named Colby Rasmus.  I hear good things.

The 24-year-old center fielder is an elite talent with a tantalizing power/speed combo.  He's had some well documented run ins with his coaches, most notably Manager Tony LaRussa, and he's having a down year at the plate.  Regardless, Jays fans heard the same thing about Yunel Escobar when he was traded here last season and that seems to have worked out nicely.

By no means am I downplaying the baggage this young man potentially brings north of the border. However, with his potential so exceedingly high and considering Toronto gave up very little in this deal the Blue Jays have possibly set up their team for sustained success for the next decade.

Alex Athopoulos, take a bow.

As always, feel free to follow me on Twitter @tdotsportwriter