Atlanta strengthens bullpen with deal for Dotel

The Associated Press

Published Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The Atlanta Braves made another trade to bolster their bullpen, getting Kansas City reliever Octavio Dotel yesterday for pitcher Kyle Davies.

The Braves, in contention for the National League East title and in the middle of the wild-card race, made the deal shortly before the 3 p.m. CDT deadline for making trades without waivers.

The acquisition of Dotel, a hard-throwing righty who has 11 saves this season, followed the Braves’ trade for lefty Ron Mahay. Atlanta got Mahay as part of a seven-player trade with Texas involving first baseman Mark Teixeira.

The 31-year-old Dotel is 2-1 with a 3.91 ERA and 11 saves in 14 chances this season after missing the first seven weeks with a strained left oblique muscle. He has bounced back well after a major elbow injury that plagued him in 2005 and 2006.

Dotel signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Royals, who will move rookie Joakim Soria into his closer role. Zack Greinke and David Riske will be the setup men in a bullpen that been good enough to help Kansas City post winning records in June and July.

Dotel will be missed, though.

"He’s a great kid," Manager Buddy Bell said. "He gave us a lot of energy. He’s a lot of fun to be around. We’re going to miss him."

Soria was sorry to see Dotel go but happy to fill his spot.

"It’s kind of the same, being a closer and a setup man. The game is on the line. There’s no big difference, but I’ll take it," said Soria, who had 10 saves when Dotel was hurt and has a 2.44 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 441/3 innings.

Davies, a 23-year-old righty, was 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA for Atlanta. He has been in and out of the Braves’ rotation for the past three seasons. Bell said he will use Davies as a starter, though he wasn’t sure yet how he would juggle the rotation.

There were just two big trades yesterday.

Eric Gagne went from Texas closer to Boston setup man, and Atlanta finalized its seven-player trade to acquire power-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira from the payroll-paring Rangers.

There were 10 trades that involved 25 players but many of the big names bandied about in recent weeks stayed put, with no deals materializing for White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, Washington closer Chad Cordero and Cincinnati outfielder Adam Dunn.

Instead, contenders scrambled for whatever relief pitching was available, with the Los Angeles Dodgers getting Scott Proctor from the New York Yankees for infielder Wilson Betemit.

Gagne, a three-time All-Star and the 2003 National League Cy Young Award winner for the Dodgers, was traded for left-hander Kason Gabbard and minor-league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre. Gagne will serve as Jonathan Papelbon’s primary setup man and will close on days Papelbon needs rest.

"We actually love our bullpen," Boston Manager Terry Francona said of his relievers, who have the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.74. "I think it just got a lot better."

Milwaukee also tried to land Gagne, who can become a free agent after the World Series.

"Scott Boras represents Dice-K" Matsuzaka, "J.D. Drew and Jason Varitek, and they’re all in Boston," Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin said. "So I don’t know whether that pushed him that way or did it come down to just the players that were offered, I don’t know that. We were offering a lot for what probably would amount to 20 innings for the rest of the year."

Teixeira went to the Braves with left-hander Ron Mahay for rookie catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and four prospects: shortstop Elvis Andrus, left-hander Matt Harrison, left-hander Beau Jones and right-hander Neftali Feliz.

Teixeira played at Georgia Tech and his wife, Leigh, is from the Atlanta area. Plus he has the chance to play on a perennial contender.

"It’s more relief," he said. "You hear a few teams and you’re like you don’t want to end up there."

Teixeira, eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, was an All-Star in 2005 and is a two-time Gold Glove winner.

Saltalamacchia was rated Atlanta’s top prospect by Baseball America before the season, with Andrus second, Harrison third, Jones 14th and Feliz 18th.

"As Atlanta showed, the team with the best farm system wins," Washington General Manager Jim Bowden said. "They did the best at the deadline because they had the best system."