Thrusday, January 07, 1999Reds trade Watkins for live young arm
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati EnquirerFor the last year-and-a-half, Pat Watkins watched patiently as the Reds' outfield carousel swung by, hopping on and off with frustrating frequency until it eventually passed him up for good Wednesday.
Going in other directions in the outfield, the Reds traded the 26-year-old Watkins to the Florida Marlins for minor-league right-handed pitcher Pedro Minaya.
Minaya, 21, was 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 11 games (nine starts) for the Marlins' Gulf Coast rookie league affiliate. In 45 innings, he struck out 61, walked only nine and allowed 27 hits. A Dominican native, Minaya spent his first three years with the Marlins on their Dominican summer league roster and most of the last two at rookie ball. He's 7-3 with a 2.72 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 92ö mi nor league innings.
“We are continuing our plan to build for the future through pitching,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said. “Minaya has one of the best young arms in the Marlins system, and we could make this trade because of the number of outfielders on our roster.”
For the right-handed Watkins, the trade may finally give him a chance at more playing time, with Florida's starting outfield (Todd Dunwoody, Mark Kotsay and Cliff Floyd) all left-handed.
In Cincinnati, Watkins, who hit .265 with the Reds and .378 at Triple-A last season, never could outshine the likes of Dmitri Young, Reggie Sanders and Jeffrey Hammonds and was in-and-out of the lineup and up-and-down from Triple-A. The Reds' November trade for center fielder Mike Cameron made Watkins expendable.
“All you can ask for is a chance to play, and this might give me a better chance,” said Watkins, who was the Reds' first-round draft pick in 1993. “Hopefully I can go down there and try to win a job.”
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