Roster

The Miami Marlins' spending spree a year ago didn't work, so now they're trying another payroll purge, swapping stars for prospects Tuesday. Miami traded shortstop Jose Reyes, lefthander Mark Buehrle, and righthander Josh Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a blockbuster deal, a person familiar with the agreement said. The person confirmed the trade to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the teams weren't officially commenting. The person said the trade sent several of the Blue Jays' top prospects to Miami.

Lavoy Allen 6-foot-9, 255, F-C, Temple, second NBA season, age 23. Allen came on strong late in his rookie season and averaged 6.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 19.7 minutes during the postseason. He might be the strongest player on the team and can keep defenses honest with a solid medium-range game. Allen is expected to start at center while Andrew Bynum recovers from knee problems. Kwame Brown 6-11, 290, C, Glynn Academy (H.S.), 12th NBA season, age 30. Injuries limited Brown to nine games with Golden State, but he figures to get backup minutes at center.

The 76ers on Saturday reduced their roster to 14 when they waived forward Devin Searcy. The handwriting was on the wall for Searcy, a 6-foot-10 forward who played overseas last season after not being selected in the 2011 draft. Searcy appeared sparingly in two games during the Sixers' 6-1 preseason. NBA teams have until Monday to reduce their roster to 15. With the 14 on the roster already the Sixers probably won't make another move. - John N. Mitchell

ALTHOUGH HE has had his newly assembled team together - for the most part - for only a little more than 3 weeks and seven preseason games, 76ers coach Doug Collins has had to change direction more times than LeSean McCoy running behind the Eagles' crumpled offensive line. First was the injury to center Andrew Bynum, suffered just before training camp and shelving him for the foreseeable future. Then, after the team played together for 1 day, Collins saw the need to tighten the reins on the offense, deciding that point guard Jrue Holiday should have the ball in his hands most of the time.

It looks as if Johnny Cueto won't be back, after all. The Cincinnati Reds dropped the injured ace from their division series roster Wednesday, replacing him with righthander Mike Leake for Game 4 against the San Francisco Giants. Major League Baseball granted permission for the move at 11:30 a.m., less than five hours before the first pitch. The Giants won, 8-3. Cueto pulled muscles in his side during the first inning of the series opener Saturday night. The Reds had been hoping he'd improve enough to be able to pitch again.

J OZY ALTIDORE was dropped Monday from the U.S. roster for a pair of critical World Cup qualifiers after disappointing U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann in games and practice over the last year. Klinsmann instead selected Seattle's Eddie Johnson and San Jose's Alan Gordon to join Clint Dempsey, Herculez Gomez and Landon Donovan as attacking players on his 24-man roster for games at Antigua and Barbuda on Friday and home against Guatemala on Oct. 16. Seeking their seventh straight World Cup appearance, the Americans face likely elimination unless they get at least four points.

PITCHERS RHP Phillippe Aumont 2013 Age: 24 Contract Status: Pre-arbitration. Seven relievers were summoned from triple A before Aumont, which qualified as a massive disappointment. Then he was setup man for a week and showed the promise of his right arm. LHP Antonio Bastardo 2013 Age: 27 Contract Status: First-time arbitration-eligible. He's the most confounding player on this roster. His 14.02 strikeouts per nine innings was the 14th highest rate (minimum 50 innings)

LAST SEASON, the Sixers got out to a 10-3 start before center Spencer Hawes was felled by an Achilles' injury that ultimately cost him 27 games. The team struggled without its center, who before the injury had been playing perhaps the best basketball of his pro career, shooting the ball extremely well, passing the ball with precision out of the post and rebounding the way a center should. All in all, Hawes missed 29 games (one with a back strain, another DNP-CD) and the team went 13-16 without him. In the 37 games in which he appeared, they won 22. Without him, coach Doug Collins was forced at times to start untested and unproven rookies Lavoy Allen or Nikola Vucevic in the middle.

Former 76ers star Allen Iverson and onetime NBA rookie standout Jason Williams were added Tuesday to the roster of a team coached by Hall of Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald that will play an exhibition game against the 2012 Chinese Basketball Association champion Beijing Ducks (with Stephon Marbury ) on Saturday in China. Iverson expressed interest last month in playing in China, according to a Hoops Hype translation of a Chinese article. "I definitely want to return to the NBA, but if I can't get back there, I'm hoping to play ball [in China]

   The 76ers finalized their training camp roster Thursday, adding four free agents and bringing the number of invited players to 17.    When the Sixers convene Tuesday on the campus of St. Joseph's University, Dan Gadzuric, Devin Searcy, Xavier Silas, and Damien Wilkins will be long shots to make a roster that already has 13 players signed to contracts. Silas, a 6-foot-5 guard, was on the playoff roster last season. He took an elbow to the head during a summer league game in Orlando in July that necessitated facial surgery.