The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, last every year since beginning play in 1998, were the busiest team on a light day of trading Sunday. They got pitcher Mark Hendrickson in a three-team swap that sent reliever Justin Speier to Toronto, acquired infielder Geoff Blum from Houston and agreed with Gold Glove outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. ($6 million, 2 years) and infielder Rey Sanchez ($1 million, 1 year).
Hendrickson was 9-9 with a 5.51 ERA for Toronto. He led AL rookies with 30 starts. Speier, 30, was 3-1 with a 4.05 ERA for Colorado.
More deals
The Detroit Tigers kept up their free-agent spending, agreeing to a $6 million, two-year contract with All-Star outfielder Rondell White. White, 31, a former Cub, started 2003 with the New York Yankees, was traded to San Diego on March 19, then was dealt to the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 26. . . . Infielder Carlos Guillen agreed on a $2.5 million, one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners, a deal that allows him to make an additional $900,000 in performance bonuses. Guillen, a 28-year-old switch-hitter, had been eligible for salary arbitration. He hit .276 last year.
Hall of Famer
Murray Chass of the New York Times won the J.G. Taylor Spink award Sunday and will be inducted into the writers’ wing of the Hall of Fame next summer.
