Rios Claimed by White Sox

Outfielder Alex Rios has been claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox. The Blue Jays had been looking to dump his expensive contract somewhere and the White Sox have gladly taken in the 2-time All-Star. He was in the lineup today for the White Sox game at Yankee Stadium.

Rios is batting .264 with 14 homers and 62 RBIs. He will probably play center for the White Sox and join their already stacked outfielder with Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin. He should help the team and raise the Sox payroll. They already took on Jake Peavy's massive contract.

Tigers Strengthen Rotation With Washburn

The Detroit Tigers made a deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners for 34-year old pitcher Jarrod Washburn. The Mariners received Luke French and Mauricio Robles, two young pitchers with some upside. Washburn is in the final year of his contract.

Washburn is having a great year. He has a 8-6 record with a stingy 2.65 ERA. Washburn will join a Tigers rotation that already is pretty decent. Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson have been anchoring the rotation all year and now Washburn should help them.

The Tigers AL Central rival Chicago White Sox traded for Jake Peavy earlier today. Both the teams improved their rotation but Washburn will have more of an impact on the pennant race this season. Peavy may not even pitch. This will be an exciting race that I see going down to the end.

Peavy Traded to White Sox

Many deals have taken place today and I hope to post about all the major ones. The Chicago White Sox have made a last-minute deal with the Padres for ace Jake Peavy according to various sources including Jon Heyman, and Bob Nightengale. The Padres received a package of Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter, and Adam Russell. Peavy is on the DL with an ankle injury.

Nobody is sure when Peavy can pitch again. He may not even be able to pitch again this season. Peavy is an ace who has been bothered by injuries recently. Peavy contract is not up until 2012 and he has an option for 2013.

Poreda is a highly-ranked prospect who may enter the Padres rotation immediately. In 10 games with the White Sox, the 22-year old Poreda has a 2.45 ERA. He is projected to someday become a top starter.

Richard is 4-3 with a 4.65 ERA in the White Sox rotation. The Padres got a pretty good return for Peavy. Peavy might not help the Sox run this season, so that's why this deal confuses me. Could they have put a similar package together for Roy Halladay? Nobody knows.

Thome Comes Through

The Chicago White Sox will being playing baseball in October. Last night they beat the Minnesota Twins, 1-0. They won the one game playoff to make the playoffs. John Danks (White Sox) and Nick Blackburn (Twins) both pitched incredibly for young pitchers in this important game. The deciding run came in the 7th inning, when former Phillie Jim Thome launched into the haze in deep center. He was the hero for the heroic White Sox.

Ken Griffey Junior also made a nice play when he threw out Micheal Cuddyer from center field. Cuddyer would have been the first run of the game, but Junior made a very nice throw to nail him at the plate.

The White Sox will now be facing the AL East Division-winning Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS.