In a move to solidify infield depth as well as steal countless Pebble Reports' worth of NBA crossover jokes, the Rockies traded AA RHP Chris Malone to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for IF Brad Emaus.
Emaus, 25, was selected by the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft, but was not able to hold his spot in the majors for the entire season, and after his demotion, was returned to the Blue Jays. The Rockies jumped straight on this transaction, offering Malone as an immediate return. Toronto, knowing that hugo and Tom over at Bluebird Banter would need the added NBA humor (humour?), readily jumped at this deal.
Emaus, over 1810 MiLB PA, batted a combined .276/.364/.426 (.790 OPS) since 2007. Between AA New Hampshire and AAA Las Vegas in 2010, Emaus posted a .290/.397/.476 line, good for a .874 OPS.
Malone, 27, has a career 4.78 ERA in 7 years of minor league play, mixing time between the rotation and the pen up until 2009 when he made the full conversion to relief.
Emaus will likely share time with Ian Stewart and Eric Young Jr between 3B and 2B.