Weak-hitting Cubs make deal for Nevin
Struggling designated hitter Phil Nevin was traded Wednesday by the Texas Rangers to the Chicago Cubs, who are desperately seeking a bopper to help replace injured slugger Derrek Lee.
The Rangers got utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Cubs and will pay most of the remaining difference between Nevin’s $10 million salary and the $2.3 million Hairston is making.
“We’re just looking for somebody who has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Chicago general manager Jim Hendry said. “We explored every possibility the last month to add a bat.”
Nevin was hitting .216 with nine homers and 31 RBIs in 46 games for Texas. He split time in the lineup with Jason Botts since the rookie was called up May 23.
“I’m more of a National League player. The designated hitter deal is not something I like doing every day,” Nevin said.
Royals tab Moore as GM
Had he been willing to wait, Dayton Moore might have headed one of the most admired organizations in baseball.
Instead, he chose to leave Atlanta and become general manager of the woeful Kansas City Royals, a team that hasn’t sniffed the postseason in 21 years.
The fast-rising Moore accepted a challenging job, taking the reins in Kansas City after the club fired GM Allard Baird.
“If I didn’t think we would win a world championship in Kansas City, there is no way I would commit myself and my family to this environment,” said the 39-year-old Moore.
Writers challenge subpoena
Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury about how they got Barry Bonds’ leaked testimony urged a judge to let them off the hook.
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, the latest reporters to become entangled in the federal government’s ramped-up efforts to investigate leaks, argued the First Amendment protects reporters and their sources.
Fainaru-Wada and Williams have been have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating who leaked them the secret testimony of San Francisco Giants slugger Bonds, the Yankees’ Jason Giambi and other professional athletes.
Clearing the bases
Jose Javier Cruz, a son of Houston Astros first base coach Jose Cruz, has been missing since May 19, and a truck he borrowed was found burning outside a suburban mall, police said. Cruz, 34, hasn’t talked to family members since telling his ex-wife he would pick up their children from school May 19, said Katy (Texas) police Capt. Gay Dickerson. He never showed up at the school. … Jim Edmonds missed his fifth straight start with an abdominal injury, and St. Louis is considering putting him on the DL. … Starting pitcher Kelvim Escobar agreed to a three-year extension with the Los Angeles Angels, putting him under contract through 2009. … San Francisco Giants minor league catcher Yamid Haad was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. … Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis, formerly of the Spokane Indians, has a broken right thumb that will sideline him for up to six weeks. … Boston’s Wily Mo Pena will have surgery on his left wrist today and could miss about two months.