Yankees Trade For Lance Berkman

It is being reported that the New York Yankees have acquired 1B Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros. The Yankees paying for big name players? Shocking. Berkman has ten and five rights (been in the league 10 years and with the same team the last 5) which means he can veto any trade. Apparently he approved the deal but still has 24 hours to make a final decision which means nothing will be final until tomorrow. The Yankees were considered the front-runners to land Adam Dunn but it appears the Nationals asking price was too high for them.

Berkman is in the middle of a down year, hitting .245 with 13 HR but can still provide a lot of power when needed. His fantasy value goes way up with the move to the 2nd friendliest HR park in MLB and a WAY better lineup. He will play mostly DH for the Yankees and has a club option for $15 million next season (with a $2 million buyout). Annnnddd the rich get richer.

Roy Oswalt Traded to Phillies and Other Deadline News

Roy Oswalt has officially accepted a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are sending the Astros pitcher J.A. Happ and 2 prospects, OF Anthony Gose and SS Jonathan Villar. The Astros will pay $11 million of the $23 million Oswalt is owed through the 2011 season. The Phillies would have been better keeping Cliff Lee for an entire season rather than acquiring Oswalt for half a season. Even after winning 7 straight they are still 3 games back of the Braves in the NL East - god I hope they don't make the playoffs after making this deal. Immediately after the trade was finalized the Astros sent Anthony Gose to the Blue Jays for Brett Wallace. Toronto acquired Michael Taylor in the Roy Halladay deal with the Phillies and immediately traded him to the Athletics for Brett Wallace. Confused yet?

In terms of fantasy value, Oswalt should stay where he's currently ranked. The move to Citizens Bank will hurt his ERA a little but playing on a much better offensive team should get him more wins. Think a 3.50 ERA and 6-8 wins the rest of the way. The fantasy value for J.A. Happ remains useless.

In other MLB trade deadline news...

The Orioles traded Miguel Tejada to the Padres for Wynn Pelzer (Dan Hayes Twitter)

The Rays are the favorites to acquire Adam Dunn (Twitter)

The White Sox, Nationals and Diamondbacks are talking 3-way trades (Jon Heyman)

The Marlins traded Jorge Cantu to the Rangers (Joel Sherman)

The Orioles hired Buck Showalter as manager (Ken Rosenthal)

The White Sox are considering Lance Berkman if they don't get Adam Dunn (Buster Olney)

In the "hilarious story of the day"...

Mike Lowell hit 3 HRs Tuesday night on a rehab assignment in Pawtucket. David Ortiz was asked on Wednesday if he saw what Lowell did the night before. He replied...

“Mikey Lowell is bombing some fuckers down there, right? That’s what he’d do here, too. Bomb fuckers. We all know that. That’s what we do for a living -- bomb fuckers."

Source