Blue Jays, Marlins trade becomes official

Commissioner Bud Selig finally approved the twelve-player megatrade between the Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins on Monday night, six days after the initial agreement between the two clubs was made. There was some speculation that Selig could stop the trade from happening, but in the end Selig determined the move to be an exercise of "plausible baseball judgment":

"It is my conclusion that this transaction, involving established Major Leaguers and highly regarded young players and prospects, represents the exercise of plausible baseball judgment on the part of both Clubs, does not violate any express rule of Major League Baseball and does not otherwise warrant the exercise of any of my powers to prevent its completion," Selig said in a statement.

"It is, of course, up to the Clubs involved to make the case to their respective fans that this transaction makes sense and enhances the competitive position of each, now or in the future."

The now-official deal sends SS Jose Reyes, RHP Josh Johnson, RHP Mark Buehrle, OF Emilio Bonifacio and C John Buck to the Blue Jays for SS Adeiny Hechavarria, SS Yunel Escobar, RHP Henderson Alvarez, C Jeff Mathis, LHP Justin Nicolino, OF Jake Marisnick and RHP Anthony Desclafani.

The Marlins’ official reason for making the monster deal – just a year removed from moving into a new stadium and promising fans they would be competitive – was that they were a last place team and needed to bring in new blood in order to field a winning team, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com:

"We’ve finished in last place the past two years, and that is unacceptable to our fans, to us as an organization, and to me," said Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria in a statement.

"We want to get back to our winning ways, and we want a winning baseball team for our fans. It’s incumbent on us to make the changes necessary to make us a winner again."