Mariners deal Winn to Giants
SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners traded center fielder Randy Winn to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night for backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba and minor league pitcher Jesse Foppert.
Winn, 31, was in his third season in Seattle after coming to the Mariners in an Oct. 28, 2002, trade with Tampa Bay that was contingent on manager Lou Piniella signing as the Devil Rays’ manager.
Winn is hitting .275 with six home runs, 37 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases this season. A career .283 hitter, he was an All-Star in 2002 when he hit a career-high .298 with 14 home runs, 75 RBIs and 27 stolen bases for Tampa Bay.
Giants manager Felipe Alou said Winn would report to the Giants on Monday and be the team’s starting center fielder when the Giants play Colorado in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Winn said he did not expect to be traded – even though the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins also talked to the Mariners about him.
“I try not to pay attention to rumors,” he said in a conference call. “I didn’t know the Giants were interested, but I’m definitely happy about it.”
Winn, who is earning $3.75 million this season, should have known something was up, though, when he was held out of Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Cleveland. Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said the Mariners had “a couple of” offers for Winn on the table and “we didn’t think it was right to risk getting him hurt.”
Bavasi said Foppert, 25, was the key to the trade as far as the Mariners were concerned, but it was “a gamble” because Foppert is still trying to recover from elbow ligament replacement surgery that caused him to miss virtually all of the 2004 season after posting an 8-9 record with a 5.03 ERA in 21 starts with the Giants in 2003.
Alou said Torrealba, 27, was not getting to play much as the backup to starting catcher Mike Matheny. Torrealba, who has spent five years with the Giants, played in 34 games this season, starting 24.
“Seattle made a second trade, sending disappointing Miguel Olivo, who started this season as their No. 1 catcher, to the San Diego Padres for catcher Miguel Ojeda and right-hander Nate Mateo, both minor leaguers.