Houston, TX – The Houston Astros acquired left-handed pitcher Travis Blackley from the Oakland Athletics Thursday in exchange for minor league outfielder Jake Goebbert.
Blackley played a key role in Oakland's run to a surprising American League West title last season, but failed to make the club's Opening Day roster and was designated for assignment last week.
The native Australian went 6-4 with a 3.86 earned run average over 24 games, including 15 starts, for the A's in 2012. In his final outing of the season, Blackley held Texas to one run over six innings to lead Oakland to a 3-1 win that moved the Athletics into a first-place with the Rangers in the AL West.
Goebbert, a 13th-round pick of Houston in the 2009 MLB Draft, spent last season between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Oklahoma City and batted a combined .291 with 54 RBI.
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