Happy Birthday - 8/10

No future Astros with birthdays today, but several former Astros mark the day ~

OF Josh Anderson (32)
Drafted by Houston in the fourth round in 2003, Anderson made his major league debut four years later on September 2, 2007. He only played in 21 games for Houston hitting .358/.413/.403 before being traded to Atlanta for Oscar Villarreal. Anderson was second in all-time stolen bases in the Astros minor league system until he was passed by Delino DeShields in 2012.

RHP Brandon Lyon (35)
A 14th round pick by the Blue Jays in 1999, Lyon signed as a free agent with Houston in December 2009. It is only fitting that he was included in a 10-player trade that sent him back to the Blue Jays organization in July of 2012. In between he pitched in 131 games for the Astros with a 9-11 record, a 4.03 ERA, a 1.406 WHIP and 24 saves. He is currently a free agent after having pitched for the Angels AAA affiliate earlier this seasaon.

RHP Bobby Tiefenauer (died June 13, 2000)
Tiefenauer came to Houston from St. Louis prior to the 1962 season. In 43 games out of the bullpen that season, he was 2-4 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.318 WHIP.

LHP Al Osuna (49)
Osuna was drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 1987. A September call-up in 1990, he played in 193 games for the Astros over four seasons with a 16-10 record, a 3.75 ERA and a 1.339 WHIP.

2B/SS Andy Stankiewicz (50)
Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 12th round in 1986, Stankiewicz came to Houston in a November 1993 trade and played for the Astros in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 80 games, he hit .189/.344/.255. He has served as the head baseball coach at Grand Canyon University for the last three years.

CF Chuck Carr (47)
A ninth round draft pick by the Reds in 1986, Carr signed as a free agent with Houston in June 1997. In 63 games for Houston that season, he hit .276/.333/.417. Carr led the National League in stolen bases with 58 in 1993 while playing for the Marlins.

Happy Birthday - 8/10

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

OF Josh Anderson (31)
Drafted by Houston in the fourth round in 2003, Anderson made his major league debut four years later on September 2, 2007. He only played in 21 games for Houston hitting .358/.413/.403 before being traded to Atlanta for Oscar Villarreal. Anderson was second in all-time stolen bases in the Astros minor league system until he was passed by Delino DeShields last season.

RHP Brandon Lyon (34)
A 14th round pick by the Blue Jays in 1999, Lyon signed as a free agent with Houston in December 2009. It is only fitting that he was included in a 10-player trade that sent him back to the Blue Jays organization in July of 2012. In between he pitched in 131 games for the Astros with a 9-11 record, a 4.03 ERA, a 1.406 WHIP and 24 saves.

RHP Bobby Tiefenauer (died June 13, 2000)
Tiefenauer came to Houston from St. Louis prior to the 1962 season. In 43 games out of the bullpen that season, he was 2-4 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.318 WHIP.

LHP Al Osuna (48)
Osuna was drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 1987. A September call-up in 1990, he played in 193 games for the Astros over four seasons with a 16-10 record, a 3.75 ERA and a 1.339 WHIP.

2B/SS Andy Stankiewicz (49)
Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 12th round in 1986, Stankiewicz came to Houston in a November 1993 trade and played for the Astros in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 80 games, he hit .189/.344/.255.

CF Chuck Carr (46)
A ninth round draft pick by the Reds in 1986, Carr signed as a free agent with Houston in June 1997. In 63 games for Houston that season, he hit .276/.333/.417. Carr led the National League in stolen bases with 58 in 1993 while playing for the Marlins.

Looking at the Astros/Blue Jays July 2012 Trade

Going into July 20, 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays were 45-47. They were in 5th place in their division, 12 and a half games out. And then Astros GM Jeff Luhnow came in and robbed them blind. That day a 10-player trade went through sending RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP David Carpenter and LHP J.A. Happ to the Blue Jays in exchange for MLB OF Ben Francisco and RHP Francisco Cordero, and minor-leaguers RHP Asher Wojciechowski, C Carlos Perez, LHP David Rollins, RHP Joe Musgrove and RHP Kevin Comer as the player to be named later.

Toronto went 28-42 the rest of the season and ended in 4th place, 22 games behind in their division. Here's what they got:

Brandon Lyon (currently 33)
Lyon pitched 25 innings in 30 appearances for Toronto. He was 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.120 WHIP. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Mets on February 8th.

David Carpenter (currently 27)
Carpenter only pitched in three games at the MLB level for Toronto. In two and two-thirds innings, he had a 30.38 ERA and a 3.750 WHIP. In 16 minor-league appearances, he was 0-1 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.245 WHIP. He was part of an October trade that brought 31-year old infielder Mike Aviles to Toronto from Boston. A month later, Carpenter was selected off waivers by Atlanta.

J.A. Happ (currently 30)
In ten starts for Toronto, Happ was 3-2 with a 4.69 ERA and a 1.289 WHIP. For his MLB career, he is now 35-35 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.388 WHIP. He is still with the Blue Jays.

Net for the Blue Jays: A 30-year old LHP (Happ) and a 31-year old infielder (Aviles)

Here is what the Astros got in the trade:

Francisco Cordero (currently 37)
Cordero was released by the Astros on September 10th after going 0-3 with a 19.80 ERA and a 3.400 WHIP in six games (five innings).

Ben Francisco (currently 31)
Francisco played in 31 games for the Astros, hitting .247/.289/.365 before being traded to Tampa Bay on August 31st for a player to be named later. The player turned out to be Theron Geith, a 23-year old lefty relief pitcher who had a 2.98 ERA and a 1.086 WHIP in 31 appearances in High A.

Asher Wojciechowski (currently 24)
A first round draft pick in 2010, Wojciechowski was ranked #14 in the organization in the recent Baseball America Prospect Handbook and #15 by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. In eight starts for AA Corpus Christi after the trade, he was 2-2 with a 2.06 ERA and a 1.008 WHIP.

Carlos Perez (currently 22)
Perez's rankings are a mixed bag. Baseball America has him at #27, Mayo at #20, but Fan Graphs liked him enough to rank him #9. In 26 games after the trade, Perez hit .318/.368/.409 at High A Lancaster and boasted a 47% caught stealing percentage.

David Rollins (currently 23)
Rollins was 1-3 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.161 WHIP in six starts at Low A Lexington after the trade. For the season, he was 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.252 WHIP in 24 starts.

Joe Musgrove (currently 20)
A 2011 first round pick, Musgrove is currently ranked by Jonathan Mayo at #19 in the Astros system. Musgrove was coming off an arm injury in 2012 and only pitched 17 innings with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.353 WHIP for the season in the Rookie Appalachian League.

Kevin Comer (currently 20)
Comer was also a first round pick by the Blue Jays in 2011, but signed late and did not play until 2012. Comer was 3-4 with a 4.56 ERA and a 1.277 WHIP in 12 appearances (eight starts) for the season, playing in the Rookie Appalachian League. He is currently ranked by Jonathan Mayo at #17 in the Astros system.

Net for the Astros: A 24-year old AA RHP (Wojciechowski), a 23-year old High A lefty reliever (Geith), a 23-year old Low A lefty starter (Rollins), a 22-year old High A catcher (Perez), and two 20-year old rookie league first round RHP's (Musgrove and Comer). Four of the six are ranked in the Astros top 20 by Jonathan Mayo. In Luhnow we trust.

Tomorrow I'll be posting more on this topic over at The Futurists blog, including thoughts from Jonathan Mayo. [UPDATED with the link to the second post.]

Happy Birthday - 8/10

CF Jay Austin (22)
A second round pick by the Astros in 2008, Austin broke his hand at the beginning of Spring Training and, after starting his season late, has had trouble staying off the DL. He has only appeared in 12 games for Lexington this season with a .273/.373/.341 batting line.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

OF Josh Anderson (30)
Drafted by Houston in the fourth round in 2003, Anderson made his major league debut four years later on September 2, 2007. He only played in 21 games for Houston hitting .358/.413/.403 before being traded to Atlanta for Oscar Villarreal. Anderson was second in all-time stolen bases in the Astros minor league system until he was recently passed by Delino DeShields, Jr.

RHP Brandon Lyon (33)
A 14th round pick by the Blue Jays in 1999, Lyon signed as a free agent with Houston in December 2009. It is only fitting that he was included in a 10-player trade that sent him back to the Blue Jays organization in July of 2012. In between he pitched in 131 games for the Astros with a 9-11 record, a 4.03 ERA, a 1.406 WHIP and 24 saves.

RHP Bobby Tiefenauer (died June 13, 2000)
Tiefenauer came to Houston from St. Louis prior to the 1962 season. In 43 games out of the bullpen that season, he was 2-4 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.318 WHIP.

LHP Al Osuna (47)
Osuna was drafted by Houston in the 16th round in 1987. A September call-up in 1990, he played in 193 games for the Astros over four seasons with a 16-10 record, a 3.75 ERA and a 1.339 WHIP.

2B/SS Andy Stankiewicz (48)
Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 12th round in 1986, Stankiewicz came to Houston in a November 1993 trade and played for the Astros in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 80 games, he hit .189/.344/.255.

CF Chuck Carr (45)
A ninth round draft pick by the Reds in 1986, Carr signed as a free agent with Houston in June 1997. In 63 games for Houston that season, he hit .276/.333/.417. Carr led the National League in stolen bases with 58 in 1993 while playing for the Marlins.

Mega Trade

The Astros traded LHP J.A. Happ, RHP Brandon Lyon and RHP David Carpenter to Toronto for major leaguers RHP Francisco Cordero, OF Ben Francisco, minor league players RHP Joseph Musgrove, LHP David Rollins, C Carlos Perez, RHP Asher Wojciechowski and a PTBNL. Click on the name to see the players stats page. For the full story, see the Houston Chronicle article here.

Three of the four named minor league players were listed in Jonathan Mayo's Top 20 prospect list for the Blue Jays coming in to the 2012 season.

8th - C Carlos Perez was described as a very good defensive catcher (34% caught stealing coming in to the 2012 season) that has some ability with the bat. Baseball America had him at 14th and agreed that, even though he had an off-season in 2011, he has the ability to swing the bat well.

10th - RHP Asher Wojciechowski could be a workhorse starter if he can find consistency with his fastball. He has a plus fastball, above average slider and has a changeup that needs work. Baseball America also ranked him 10th and also cited the need to find consistency with his fastball and repeat his mechanics but thought he had the potential of a #2 starter.

11th - RHP Joe Musgrove is a hard thrower with good sink. He has a pretty good breaking ball and has used a splitter in the past. According to Baseball America who had him ranked 20th, his fastball has a very good combination of velocity and life and he has been known to hit 98.

UPDATED TO ADD: Jonathan Mayo just posted his take on these prospects and included some information on LHP David Rollins here.