Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Oakland Athletics acquired first baseman Ike Davis from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, three days after he was designated for assignment. The teams swapped international bonus slots as part of the deal, with the Pirates gaining the No. 27 slot and the As landing slot No. 86 from Pittsburgh. Davis finished fifth in the National League with 32 home runs while with the New York Mets in 2012 and spent the majority of last season as Pittsburghs regular first baseman. The 27-year-old hit just .233 with 11 homers and 51 RBI in 143 games between the Pirates and Mets in 2014, however. Over five major league seasons, Davis owns a .240 average with 78 homers and 270 RBI. To create room for Davis on the 40-man roster, Oakland designated outfielder Andrew Brown for assignment. Brown spent most of last season with the Mets Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas (PCL), batting .283 with 21 homers and 69 RBI in 103 games. 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DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2.TORONTO -- After months of speculation, Toronto FC is finally set to introduce the men it hopes will take the underachieving MLS team to the promised land -- England international striker Jermain Defoe and U.S. international midfielder Michael Bradley. The club has already announced the signing of Defoe, with the 31-year-old Spurs star set to be unveiled at a news conference Monday morning at the huge high-tech sports bar owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment across the street from the Air Canada Centre. The invitation said nothing about the 26-year-old Bradley although his former club AS Roma has already announced the American has been sold to Major League Soccer for US$10 million. A source confirmed that Bradleys signing is part of Mondays TFC gala. The black hole surrounding Bradley is likely linked to the fact that Defoes signing brings Toronto to the league limit of three designated players, adding to newly signed Brazilian striker Gilberto and incumbent Argentine midfielder Matias Laba. Bradley would make four, meaning Toronto has to do something with Laba, either trading him or restructuring his deal short of MLS changing its rules -- which has happened before. The current DP rule allows teams to sign marquee talent without blowing the leagues modest salary cap. In 2013, only US$368,750 of a senior designated players pay counted against a teams US$2.95-million salary cap. The wave of signings -- the 24-year-old Gilberto arrived last month -- essentially represents a Toronto FC line in the sand after a sad-sack seven-year existence. Since entering MLS in 2007, Toronto has compiled a 51-105-66 league record with players and coaches coming and going through an always-moving revolving door. The team has yet to make the post-season -- something both Vancouver and Montreal have done -- and its once formidable fan support has slipped to the 10th-best attendance in the 19-team league. Enter first manager Ryan Nelsen and president Kevin Payne, then MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke. Payne did not last the 2013 season but Leiweke hired GM Tim Bezbatchenko and elected to keep Nelsen. The three amigos then went on a worldwide talent, backed by the deep pockets of the MLSE board. Toronto has not disclosed financial details of the recent acquisitions but Bradleys transfer fee alone exceeds the 2013 salaries listed for Clint Dempsey and Thierry Henry, the leagues highest-paid players. Add in Defoes transfer fee, pegged at between six million and eight million pounds (C$10.8 million to C$14.4 million) and lengthy contracts reportedly worth C$7.1 million a year for Bradley and C$8.3 million for Defoe, and Toronto is entering a whole new financial zip code in MLS. The worlds best soccer players are paid crazy money. Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, reportedly makes 288,000 pounds a week (C$517,845) after taxes. Toronto likely overpaid to get both Defoe and Bradley to come to North America, which has yet to match the top leagues elsewhere in terms of reputation, competition or compensation. In exchange for a huge outlay, Toronto is gettting battle-hardened internationals from two of the finest leagues in the world.dddddddddddd And both arrive at or near their peak. Defoe is a proven goal-scorer who left home at 14 after winning a scholarship to the F.A. National School of Excellence at Lilleshall and signed his first pro deal at 16. Bradley, the son of former U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley, left home at 13 to join the U.S. residency program, before signing with the MLS MetroStars at 16 and moving to Europe at 18 to become an influential midfield general. Gilberto has largely been forgotten in the recent hoopla but the young striker scored 14 goals for a team headed for relegation out of Brazils top league this season. One ranking TFC official predicted Gilberto may score more goals than Defoe. Add in former league MVP Dwayne De Rosario and the off-season acquisitions of Brazilian midfielder Jackson and U.S., international fullback Justin Morrow to a young roster and there is reason to hope. Stil not everyone is convinced coming to Toronto make sense for any other reason than money. "Defoe, to put it bluntly, is joining a club where the limitations are limitless," wrote Daniel Taylor in a blog for Englands Guardian newspaper. "A club with plenty of cash and a showy front but nothing behind it, like a Kinder chocolate egg with no toy inside -- the equivalent in standard, you could say, of a side in the bottom six of the (English second-tier) Championship, if you were putting it generously." Defoe, for his part, says there are several reasons for coming. One was the offer of a new four-year deal when he only had one year left at Spurs. But he also cited his family, which has endured a string of personal tragedies in recent years. Defoe had to fly home from Englands training base in Poland before Euro 2012 when his father died of throat cancer. Later that summer, his cousin Hannah was electrocuted in a freak accident at a pool in St Lucia. His half-brother Jade, a musician, died after a brutal street attack in 2009 and Jades grandmother died after collapsing at the funeral. A 78-year-old cousin was stabbed to death in 2011 at his home in St. Lucia, where Defoes family is from. "On a personal note, the things that weve been through over the last few years in the family and sometimes it is nice to have a change," Defoe told Sky Sports News before flying to Toronto. "I only had a year left on my contract at Tottenham and that was the situation. So I supposed. If youve got a year left and someone comes in and offers you four, then I suppose youve got to think about it and consider your options. So its as simple as that." Leaving Tottenham after nine years wont be easy, he added. "Ive always said Ive had a special relationship with the fans over the years but you know its football, players move on," he said. "I think at the age of 31 its a great opportunity for me and my family." Defoe will return to England and Spurs after Mondays news conference. He will stay with Tottenham through the end of February. ' ' '