Here’s the morning rundown on the biggest news items from around Major League Baseball for Thursday, December 10th:

• The Houston Astros agreed to a trade that would send four prospects to the Philadelphia Phillies for reliever Ken Giles, as first confirmed by Mark Berman.
• The Chicago White Sox agreed to a trade to acquire infielder Brett Lawrie from the Oakland Athletics for two minor league prospects.
• The New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a swap that sent Neil Walker to New York in return for Jon Niese, as first reported by Joel Sherman.
• The New York Yankees agreed to a deal with the Detroit Tigers to send left-handed reliever Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for two minor leaguers.
• In minor news, the Nationals agreed to contracts with pitchers Yusmeiro Petit and Shawn Kelley, and the Mets agreed to a contract with infielder Asdrubal Cabrera.
• Finally, the Seattle Mariners acquired first baseman Adam Lind from the Milwaukee Brewers for a trio of low-level minor league pitchers.