Lohse trade comes as no surprise
07/30/2007 7:58 PM ET
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
CINCINNATI -- One of the worst kept secrets approaching the trade deadline was that pitcher Kyle Lohse was on the trading block. It was only a question of where he'd end up.
On Monday, the Lohse learned it would be Philadelphia.
"I'm a little excited, happy to be going to a team in the race. But I'm disappointed we couldn't get it done here. So it's a little bit of mixed emotions," Lohse said.
Lohse was dealt from the Reds to the Phillies in exchange for Minor League pitcher Matt Maloney.
The 23-year-old Maloney will report to Double-A Chattanooga.
In 21 starts this season, Lohse was 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA and baffled observers with his inconsistency. The 28-year-old had a brilliant 0.77 ERA in the games he won and a 7.97 ERA in his losses.
"My numbers are what they are. I just try to go out there and give my team the best possible chance to win. I had a couple bad games here and there that kind of skewed the numbers," Lohse added.
The moves comes nearly a year to the day the Reds acquired Lohse in a playoff push of their own. The right-hander came over from the Twins on July 31, 2006 for Minor League pitcher Zach Ward and went 2-5 with a 4.57 ERA in 12 games. He was signed to a one-year, $4.2 million contract that voided his final year of arbitration in January.
"Everybody knew he was going to be a free agent," Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "It's somebody that's been on everybody's radar that's looking for a starting pitcher. He's an accomplished starting pitcher that fits in a lot of rotations. There was a lot of interest in him from many teams."
The non-waivers trade deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday. But Krivsky didn't want to make this particular deal at the last minute. Lohse was scheduled to start Tuesday's series opener vs. the Nationals in Washington D.C.
The Reds were scheduled to take a late Monday afternoon charter flight out of town shortly after the deal was announced. Rookie Bobby Livingston was moved up and will start for Cincinnati instead. Because of Monday's off day, Livingston will still work on his usual four days of rest.
"It got to the point where two or three were very active of late and our preference was not to have Kyle Lohse get on an airplane and go to Washington," Krivsky said. "I made up my mind that it was going to get done today before he got on the bus because it would have been awkward. (Tuesday) is his day to pitch."
The Phillies' third-round draft pick in 2005, Maloney entered this season rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect in the Phillies' organization. With Double-A Reading this season, the left-hander went 9-7 with a 3.94 ERA and one complete game in 21 starts. He allowed 117 hits while striking out 115 batters in 125 2/3 innings. He leads the Eastern League in innings pitched and ranks fourth in strikeouts.
In 2006, in his second professional season, he was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year after going 16-9 with a 2.03 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 27 starts and 168.2 innings pitched for Lakewood.
As talks with the Phillies about Lohse heated up in recent weeks, Krivsky had dispatched multiple scouts to watch Maloney pitch.
"We're really pleased to acquire him. We saw his last two or three starts at Reading," Krivsky said. "It's somebody closer to the big leagues. Maloney is in [Class-AA]. You have a better chance at being right projecting on his ability than you do someone in rookie ball."
Several trades are expected around baseball in the final hours leading up to the deadline. As is common for Krivsky, he would not reveal if he planned to swing any more deals.
"We'll see," Krivsky said. "It takes two."
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.