DETROIT (AP) - The Motown Miracles have finally, after all the speculation, begun making moves to secure their team's future.

Today they made two trades with the BL Barnes division - the first with the Hong Kong Dragons. Going to Hong Kong, along with a draft pick, is closer Alex Panchio. Panchio had been rumoured to be moving since his very public confrontation with manager Ryne Sandberg, and this deal didn't disappoint. In exchange for Panchio and Motown's second round pick in 2010, the Miracles have acquired young catcher Bill East, oufielder John Donohue, and the rights to Hong Kong's first round pick in 2010.

"Alex has been a Miracle for a long time, and it was pretty tough to move him", said GM Muzyka. "He's definitely going to help Hong Kong's bullpen, and we wish him all the best. He's been a great player for us for so long."

"We think that this trade addresses some of our long term needs. Bill East is one of the best young catchers in the league, he can hit, and has a cannon arm behind the plate. Donohue is only 21 and has shown that he can hit, and is going to have top notch speed. Plus on top of that we're getting a first round pick out of the deal."

The second trade was made with the team chasing Hong Kong and Belfast - the Cairo Scorpions.

Cairo receives a load of Motown's top veteran players - starting pitchers Rocky Coppinger and Bill Keener, along with outfielder Ricky Otero and second baseman Jason Bates. In exchange for this load of talent, the Miracles have acquired future star third baseman Dick Simpson, young outfielder Orlando Tracy, Cairo's first round pick (#8 overall) in this year's draft, and the rights to St Petersberg's first overall pick in 2010.

"This was a really difficult deal to pull off - Scottie and I worked really hard on it, so many thanks to him for his persistance."

"It was hard to put together this load of players, many of which I have only been associated with for the past 3 weeks", said GM Muzyka. "But we feel that they all deserve a chance to be on a winning team, and in Cairo they are going to get that."

"In return we're getting Dick Simpson, a guy we really coveted. We think he is one of the top 5 prospects in the entire minor leagues, and he is a guy who is going to definitely play in this league. We also get Orlando Tracy. Orlando is a guy we think may play in the league someday, but not in the forseeable future. He'll get all the time he needs to develop in our minor league system."

"The key to this deal were the draft picks - the #8 overall from Cairo will net us a very good player, and next year we'll have St Petersburg's first round pick as well."

Obviously, Motown was looking for youth in these deals and they got it.

"We've acquired three first round picks and four guys that we think are going to play in the league, so we think we have done pretty well."