Yankees Dump Womack, Mets Pick Up Valentin
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The Yankees traded Tony Womack to the Cincinnati Reds for a pair of 24-year-old prospects yesterday, getting rid of the second baseman-turned-outfielder one season after signing him. New York received infielder Kevin Howard and outfielder Ben Himes in the trade, and will send $900,000 to the Reds to offset part of Womack’s $2 million salary next season.
Womack hit .307 to help St. Louis win the NL pennant in 2004, then became a free agent and agreed to a $4 million, twoyear contract with the Yankees. He was their starting second baseman for the first month of the season, but lost his job when rookie Robinson Cano was brought up. Womack was shifted to left field on May 3, then wound up on the bench for long stretches. In 24 games at second, 40 in left, 22 in center, and four in right, Womack wound up batting .249 with a .276 onbase average and 15 RBI.
Howard hit .296 with 70 RBI for Double-A Chatanooga last season and led the Arizona Fall League with a .409 batting average. Himes had a combined .300 batting average for Class-A Sarasota and Dayton.
In other local news yesterday, Jose Valentin joined the Mets in a reserve role, agreeing to a $912,500, one-year contract. GM Omar Minaya envisions the 36-year-old Valentin stepping into a role similar to the one filled last season by Marlon Anderson, who signed a two-year deal with the Washington Nationals. Anderson excelled as a pinch-hitter for the Mets.
Valentin hit .170 with two homers and 14 RBI in 56 games with the Dodgers last season. He was sidelined from May 4 to July 31 with torn ligaments in his right knee after a collision at home plate.
A .241 career hitter with 228 homers and 736 RBI, Valentin hit at least 25 homers every year from 2000-04 with the White Sox.
Looking for depth on the bench, Minaya said he is talking to the agent for freeagent first baseman Julio Franco, who was not offered arbitration by the Atlanta Braves. Still a capable player at age 47, Franco hit .275 this year with nine homers and 42 RBI in 233 at-bats.
Minaya said the Mets have also heard from free agent Jeff Nelson, and the former Yankees reliever is interested in returning to New York.
