Bucs acquire Bayliss for Redman

12/07/2005
DALLAS -- The Pittsburgh Pirates unloaded their second left-handed starter in less than 24 hours Wednesday morning by sending veteran southpaw Mark Redman to the Kansas City Royals for right-hander Jonah Bayliss and a player to be named.
In doing so, the Pirates also gave themselves the financial flexibility to continue their pursuit of a third baseman, right fielder and veteran right-handed reliever.
Redman, whom the Pirates acquired from the Oakland A's as part of the Jason Kendall deal on Nov. 27, 2004, was 5-15 with a 4.90 ERA in 30 starts with the Bucs in 2005. After beginning the season as the club's top starter and a legitimate All-Star candidate, Redman went into a dramatic tailspin, dropping 11 of his final 12 decisions.
By dealing Redman -- who chose to exercise his $4.5 million player option for 2006 rather than opt for free agency -- for a player making a salary near the league minimum, the Pirates essentially offset the cost of acquiring first baseman Sean Casey from the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Cincinnati is believed to be on the hook for as much as $2 million of the $8.5 million Casey will earn in 2006. Williams signed a one-year, $1.4 million deal in October.
"In this case, we had the ability to save some money, if you will, and reallocate the money to other positions," said Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield. "We just felt that made more sense with how our team is put together right now."
The 25-year-old Bayliss was selected by the Royals in the seventh round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. He went 0-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 11 relief appearances as a rookie with the Royals in 2005 after beginning the season at Double-A Wichita, where he went 1-2 with eight saves in 30 relief outings.
The highlight of Bayliss' brief professional career came on August 5, 2003, when he tossed a no-hitter for Class-A Burlington.
"He's a right-handed reliever with a sinker and slider who throws hard," said Littlefield. "He probably needs to command the ball a little more to become consistent."
Although Bayliss is expected to compete for a spot in the Pirates bullpen next spring, Littlefield does not consider adding Bayliss as fulfilling his search for a right-handed, late-inning reliever.
"This is not the guy for the eighth inning. We're looking at him as [part of our] inventory of prospects," said Littlefield.
Littlefield said that the third player in the trade would be named "sooner than later."

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/