By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Reds have said all spring that there would be competition for the few open spots on the pitching staff.

So you'd think throwing two scoreless innings and striking out four would keep you in the race.

Left-hander Bruce Chen found out otherwise. Two days after looking dominant against the Cleveland Indians, Chen was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville.

"I didn't expect it at all," he said. "It wasn't based on performance - I've only had two outings. I thought I pitched well."

The reason for the move's timing became apparent Thursday afternoon when the Reds announced a four-player trade with Kansas City.

The Reds got right-hander Jeff Austin and left-hander Brian Shackelford from Kansas City for infielder Damaso Espino and outfielder Alan Moye.

Austin will take Chen's spot on the 40-man roster and compete for a job on the Opening Day pitching staff.

Reds general manager Jim Bowden said the team looked beyond results when it decided to outright Chen.

"Our evaluation right now is that he's not in the mix for one of 11 pitchers on Opening Day," Bowden said. "We told Bruce that."

Chen was shocked by the news.

"It took me completely by surprise," he said. "Maybe if I had a bad spring. But I felt good. I came in good shape. I thought I had a chance."

He thought so even more after his performance against Cleveland.

"You can be effective against certain hitters. Other hitters might hit the same stuff," Bowden said. "You're not evaluating groundball, strikeout, fly ball. You're evaluating his stuff, how he'd do against the Brian Gileses or (Aramis) Ramirezes, the big boys. We made our evaluations based on that."

Another big factor was Chen's salary. He went to arbitration and lost, but he was still due to earn $700,000 this year. Chen was competing with players making less than that.

Chen cleared waivers, which means no other team tried to claim him.

"I think it's based on my salary," Chen said. "There are a lot of guys out there with major-league time who will sign for $500,000."

The move indicated how far Chen's stock has fallen. He's 25, throws hard and is left-handed. That's usually a million-dollar combination.

Chen once was considered the future of the Atlanta Braves rotation. He went 2-0 with a 3.98 ERA in four starts as a 20-year-old in 1998. He was 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA in 2000 as reliever when the Braves traded him to Philadelphia.

He has been with three teams - the New York Mets, the Montreal Expos and the Reds - since July 2001.

When the Reds got Chen in exchange for Jim Brower on June 24, they talked as if they had found a left-handed starter for the rotation. Chen made only one start for the Reds, allowing seven runs in a four-inning outing against Oakland.

After that start, Chen appeared in 37 games as a reliever, compiling a 3.71 ERA.

Chen has until Saturday to accept the assignment to Louisville. If he doesn't, he becomes a free agent.

"I'm going to talk my wife (Meredith) and my agent (Scott Boras) and decide what's best," he said.

The Kansas City trade was based on the principle you can't have too much pitching.

"We're trying to stockpile as much pitching as we can," Bowden said.

Austin, 26, was 4-0 with a 3.27 ERA at Triple-A and 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA with the Royals last year.

He was the fourth pick in the1998 draft. He's the fifth player the Reds have from the first 50 picks in that draft. The others: Austin Kearns (seventh) Felipe Lopez (eighth), Seth Etherton (18th) and Adam Dunn (50th).

"He throws 90 to 93 mph," Bowden said. "They took away his curveball. We're going to bring it back. We think it was his best pitch coming out of Stanford. The good thing about getting him this early is he'll get a chance to work with (pitching coach) Don Gullett. We'll see if he can work his magic again."

Shackelford, 26, is a converted outfielder. He was 3-1 with a 3.51 ERA in Double-A last year. In 2001, he hit .260 with 20 homers and 702 RBI in 110 games at Double-A.

Moye, 20, was the third round pick in the 2001 draft. He hit .261 with five homers and 22 RBI at Billings last year. Espino, 19, hit .332 with 32 RBI in 58 games for the Gulf Coast Reds last year.