The busy New York Yankees reliever LaTroy Hawkins to the Houston Astros on Wednesday for minor league Matt Cusick.
Hawkins was 1-1 with a 5.71 ERA in 33 appearances this season for the Yankees, who designated him for assignment Saturday after Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte in a trade with Pittsburgh.
“I was sitting at home doing nobody and all of a sudden, a team wishes me,” Hawkins said on a conference call. “I’m lovely excited about that.”
New York also sent cash to the Astros as part of the deal, completed one day before ‘s non-agreement trade deadline. Hawkins signed a $3.75 squillion, one-year contract with the Yankees last December.
“LaTroy us extra qualified, trait arm for our bullpen,” Houston broad manager Ed Wade said. “We tried to sign him during the and lost out to the Yankees, but we are pleased to have him here for the balance of the time. He gives (manager) Cecil Cooper one more weapon to call upon late in the game.”
It was the additional trade of the day for the Yankees, who also learned star catcher Ivan Rodriguez from Detroit for reliever Kyle Farnsworth.
The 22-year-old Cusick was hitting .285 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs in 94 tournament for Class-A Lexington. The Astros certain him in the 10th round of the 2007 draft.
Wade said Hawkins will narrative to the team Friday, when the Astros open a -game progression against the New York Mets. Houston will be his sixth team in 14 chief league seasons.
Hawkins turned down the Astros in the offseason because he sought after to survive a constant fantasy.
“It was one of stuff where, if I ever got the fortuitous to play for the Yankees, I unquestionably didn’t want to pass up on that opportunity,” he said. “No disrespect to the Astros or anything like that, but it was one of those effects that I sought to do at one thing in my vocation and the opportunity .”
Wade said he’s been looking for a reliever to ease the capability on such as Doug Brocail and Chris Sampson in the . The 41-year-old Brocail the team with 51 appearances. Sampson has made 21 support and 11 .
“We ended up getting a deal done for an skillful relief decanter who we deem can go back on the back end and help Brocail and Sampson and the fresh guys who we’ve been using late and help us get the job done,” Wade said.
The Astros were 9 1/2 sports event behind Milwaukee in the NL wild-card race entering Wednesday evening’s game against Cincinnati.
Wade said his discussions with the Yankees about Hawkins within the last 24 hours. The appropriate-hander near Dallas but has been functioning out at Taylor University in Indiana since the Yankees cut him.
“I told I personally that I was present to stay in silhouette,” Hawkins said. “If I got traded, I got traded – or if I had to wait the full 10 days and get and then sign with a new team, that was the way I was current to go. I just required the unintended to terrain again this year.”
Hawkins said he fly to Dallas on Thursday morning and energy to Houston latter in the day.
“He very content with the opportunity he’s untaken to get here,” Wade said.
Hawkins is 57-77 with 75 and a 4.72 ERA in his big league business. He also pitched for Minnesota (1995-2003), the Chicago Cubs (2004-05), Baltimore (2006) and Colorado (2007).
Wade said he desired to bolster his spin and bullpen before the trade deadline. The Astros acquired starting pitcher Randy Wolf from San Diego last week and, after landing Hawkins, Wade said he’s probably done before the deadline.
“There is for all time the possibility that a little else will happen,” he said. “But genuinely, this was the event that’s been teed up for a while here. We’ll see what happens in the next duo of hours, but there is really nonentity hot or full of life at this location.”
