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Adam Eaton goes to texas
Rangers get Eaton, Otsuka from Padres for Chris Young, two others
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer
December 20, 2005
DALLAS (AP) -- The Texas Rangers made another move Tuesday to bolster their pitching staff, agreeing to acquire right-hander Adam Eaton and reliever Akinori Otsuka from San Diego for pitcher Chris Young, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Terrmel Sledge.
The deal was pending physicals, according to three baseball officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been finalized.
DEC 14, 2005
Eaton won 11 games in each of the last two seasons, but this year had two stints on the disabled list because of a strained middle finger that limited him to 128 2-3 innings and 24 games (22 starts). He was 11-5 with a 4.27 ERA, but didn't pitch in the postseason for the NL West champion Padres.
Eaton had won eight straight decisions, improving to 9-1 before he was injured during a start at Detroit on June 15.
"I'm healthy as can be," Eaton said Tuesday. "The finger is a non-issue. With the way the season started and the way I was going, it was just rolling, like a snowball going down a hill. It was disappointing for what it could have been. It could have made September easier if I'd have been healthy all year."
New Texas general manager Jon Daniels' primary focus has been to improve the rotation. Though spurned in their pursuit of Matt Morris and Josh Beckett, the Rangers last week acquired former All-Star pitcher Vicente Padilla from Philadelphia and had been in talks with San Diego for several weeks regarding Eaton.
Free-agent right-hander Kevin Millwood, whose 2.86 ERA for Cleveland this year led the AL, and his agent, Scott Boras, met with Rangers officials in Texas on Tuesday. Millwood rejected a salary arbitration offer from the Indians on Monday night, but could still re-sign with Cleveland through Jan. 8.
Eaton was 47-41 in six seasons with the Padres. He is coming off a $5.3 million, two-year contract and is eligible for salary arbitration. He could become a free agent after next season.
The hard-throwing Otsuka was 2-8 with a 3.59 ERA and one save in 66 appearances for the Padres last season, after going 7-2 with a 1.75 ERA in 73 games as a rookie in 2004. The right-hander from Japan, due to make $1.75 million in 2006, could become a primary setup man for closer Francisco Cordero after the Rangers failed to sign Octavio Dotel.
The Padres also will send a minor league prospect to Texas.
Young, at 6-foot-10 the tallest pitcher in Rangers history and a Dallas-area native, was 12-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 31 starts last season. The 12 wins matched the most for a Rangers rookie, but the right-hander had arm fatigue late in the season.
After the Sacramento Kings approached Young about playing in the NBA, the Rangers signed him to a $1.5 million, three-year contract in November 2004. Young was a two-sport standout at Princeton.
Gonzalez is a San Diego-area native who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Florida Marlins in the 2000 amateur draft. He was traded to Texas in July 2003, when he was still recovering from offseason wrist surgery. With All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira in the Rangers' lineup, Gonzalez spent most of the past two seasons at Triple-A Oklahoma and played in just 59 games for Texas.
Sledge came to Texas earlier this month in the trade that sent All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano to Washington. Sledge, who hit the first homer in Nationals history, played in just 20 games last season after tearing his right hamstring off the bone while chasing a ball in the outfield on May 2.
AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.
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Originally Posted by bigboydan
