 |
| Thursday, December 13 Pirates trade Ritchie for Lowe, Wells Associated Press |
||||||||||
|
PITTSBURGH -- The Chicago White Sox got the quality starter they felt they needed after slipping to third place last season, acquiring right-hander Todd Ritchie from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a five-player deal Thursday. The pitching-thin Pirates got three right-handers -- Kip Wells, Sean Lowe and Josh Fogg -- and also sent minor league catcher Lee Evans to the White Sox. However, the White Sox didn't come away with the player they most wanted -- outfielder Brian Giles, who has averaged 37 homers and 111 RBI the last three seasons. The Pirates are listening to offers for Giles, a proven run producer who is affordable by current-day standards with a $45 million contract that runs through 2005. But a limited trade clause allows him to be dealt to only six teams, and the White Sox aren't among them. Giles, who lives in San Diego during the offseason, would accept a deal to the Padres, Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, Diamondbacks and Braves. His brother, Marcus, is a Braves infielder. Giles reportedly would expand that list to include the Mariners and the Yankees, but not for another small- to mid-market team. The Pirates had a $52 million payroll last season they are cutting to $48 million, while the White Sox, who won the AL West in 2000, had a $67 million payroll in 2001. Some general managers are questioning why the Pirates would even be interested in dealing Giles, clearly their best player, but general manager Dave Littlefield insists he would do a deal only for proven players. "Giles is the type of player you build around," Littlefield said as the winter meetings in Boston began to wrap up. "However, we lost 100 games last season and we need to explore all avenues to get better." Ritchie's affordability and durability made him attractive to the White Sox. The right-hander, 35-32 the last three seasons, will make $3.25 million in the second year of a $5.25 million, two-year contract and is not eligible for free agency for two more years. "In our financial situation, we can't afford to be a player in the free agent market, so we have to be creative," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. "We have to find a player who's on the verge of doing something great. We don't have the luxury to just write a check." The 30-year-old Ritchie, a longtime Twins minor leaguer, had a breakthrough 15-9 season with Pittsburgh in 1999 before slipping to 9-8 in 2000. He lost his first eight starts last season, but recovered to finish 11-15 with a 4.47 ERA for the NL's worst team.
Padres, Yanks make minor trade
Castro, a switch-hitter, hit .271 with 16 doubles, seven triples and one home run for Class A Greensboro and short-season Staten Island last season. He signed with the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 1999.
Castro, 20, missed the entire 1999 season because of an injury to his right elbow. He has a career on-base percentage of .408 and has stolen 197 bases in 241 professional games.
Reese was the Padres' 27th-round selection in the 2000 draft.
Blue Jays deal with Cubs, Dodgers
New general managers J.P. Ricciardi of Toronto and Dan Evans of Los Angeles nearly made a deal last week that would have sent closer Billy Koch to Los Angeles. But it fell through, paving the way for Koch to go to Oakland.
"We had a good match," Evans said. "We saw that from the start."
Ricciardi has been busy in his month at the helm of the Blue Jays, who went 80-82 last season. Last Friday, he acquired minor league third baseman Eric Hinske and pitcher Justin Miller from the Athletics for Koch.
Earlier at the winter meetings, the Blue Jays traded shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Felix Heredia and minor league infielder James Deschaine.
"We feel like we had to make some significant changes," Toronto manager Buck Martinez said. "J.P. has a real distinct idea of what he wants to do."
The Dodgers are in need of bullpen help after losing closer Jeff Shaw to free agency. Quantrill should provide a big boost, joining Matt Herges in a quality setup duo.
Quantrill was an All-Star this year, going 11-2 with a 3.04 ERA in 80 relief appearances. He walked just 12 batters in 83 innings and led major league relievers in wins.
"You see the success the Mariners had this past year, and the New York Yankees had the past few years, with the bullpens they put together," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "You have six innings to get the lead off them. It changes the game drastically."
The 21-year-old Izturis played 46 games for Toronto last season, batting .269 with two homers and nine RBIs. With Felipe Lopez set to take over at shortstop for Gonzalez, Izturis was expendable.
The Dodgers project Izturis to compete with Alex Cora for the starting shortstop job in spring training.
"I considered shortstop a position we needed to upgrade in 2002," Evans said. "This is a good addition. You need to have athletic ability in the middle of the field. Izturis has that."
Prokopec, who nearly was traded to Toronto last week, went 8-7 with a 4.88 ERA in 29 games as a rookie last season.
"He's going to be a front-line starter, a solid No. 2 or 3 pitcher on our staff," Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez said. "We picked up a pretty special arm in Prokopec."
Ricketts, a native of Waterloo, Ontario, went 1-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 48 relief appearances at Triple-A Las Vegas last season.
"Quality starting pitching is hard to find," Ricciardi said. "We feel like we got one. To be able to get Ricketts in the deal is good, too. The opportunity for him to win a job is going to be there."
Toronto saves money in the deal. Quantrill was set to make $2.5 million next season, $3 million in 2003, and $3.1 million in 2004. Prokopec won't be eligible for salary arbitration until after the 2003 season. Cutting payroll is a priority for the Blue Jays, who had the largest operating loss of any team in baseball last season.
Tigers steal utility man Paquette from Cards
Paquette, who played five positions for St. Louis last season, batted .282 with 15 homers and 64 RBIs. The Tigers hold a club option for 2004.
"Craig's a gamer," Detroit general manager Randy Smith said. "His makeup is above the norm and is complemented by his versatility. He's a guy who has driven in runs and hit for power when given the opportunity to play."
To make room for Paquette on the 40-man roster, the Tigers designated infielder Deivi Cruz for assignment.
Mets, Weathers agree to three-year contract The Mets have been busy in the last week. New York traded Robin Ventura for David Justice last Friday, acquired Roberto Alomar in an eight-player deal from Cleveland on Monday, and signed outfielder Roger Cedeno to a $18 million, four-year contract earlier Thursday. After going to the World Series in 2000, the Mets went 82-80 this year. Weathers went 4-5 with four saves and a 2.41 ERA last season for Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs. He will be a right-handed setup man for closer Armando Benitez, taking over the role of Turk Wendell, who was traded to Philadelphia last July. The 32-year-old Weathers pitched in New York for the Yankees for parts of the 1996 and '97 seasons. He went 0-3 with a 9.57 ERA in 21 games for the Yankees, but helped New York win the 1996 World Series, going 2-0 with an 0.82 ERA in seven postseason appearances that season.
Righty swap: Orioles trade Wasdin for Phils' Brock Wasdin, 29, went 3-2 with a 5.11 ERA in 44 games for Colorado and Baltimore last season. In his seven-year career, he is 31-29 with a 5.07 ERA. Brock, 30, went 3-0 with a 4.13 ERA in 24 relief appearances for the Phillies last season before being sent down to Triple A, where he went 6-2 with a 3.55 ERA. Brock will be assigned to a minor league roster for Baltimore. |
| |||||||||
