Bill Lee Traded For Expo Reserve

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Bill Lee, the outspoken, flaky lefthander of the Boston Red Sox, got his wish to be traded Thursday. He was dealt to the Montreal Expos for reserve infielder Stan Papi. Lee, who fell into manager Don Zimmer's doghouse, posted a 10-10 record and a 3.46 earned run average last season but was hardly used over the last two months of the season. Lee got into trouble with Zimmer when the manager removed him from the starting rotation. Lee said he would never pitch again for the Red Sox. Lee spent nine seasons with Boston and had a 94-68 record. Papi, 27, played in 67 games for the Expos last year and batted .230.

[source: upi]

Giants Get Carew If He Agrees

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Minnesota Twins have traded seven-time American League batting champion Rod Carew to the San Francisco Giants in a deal that requires only Carew's approval, Twins' owner Calvin Griffith said Thursday. That approval, however, was not assured. Carew appeared on WCCO-TV in Minneapolis Thursday night after word broke of the trade and said. "I didn't want to go to San Francisco. I don't know how its going to work out."

Carew said he and agent Jerry Simon would meet with Giants officials Friday in Minneapolis to discuss the trade. Carew was not available for further comment at his home, but his wife, Marilyn, said he had refused a trade to the Giants four times previously. "That's right. He refused them four times," she said. "He told the Twins that and he told San Francisco. too. If he can't play here, it really doesn't matter where we go as far as making a home is concerned because home is in Minnesota. It will just be up to Rod, for him to decide, and where he thinks it's good for him as a player." Mrs. Carew said.

Griffith, meanwhile, told reporters as he was leaving the joint meeting of major league owners that the Twins would get three players and cash for Carew, who reportedly will ask for $3.5 million over five years from the Giants. Carew had made it clear he would not sign with the Twins, and with the 33-year-old first baseman entering the option year of his contract, Griffith faced the spectre of losing him on the free agent marketplace with no compensation in return.

Griffith came to the winter meetings determined to trade Carew, preferably to a National League team. Philadelphia and San Francisco were the prime candidates but the Phillies fell out of the sweepstakes when they signed free agent Pete Rose to a four-year, $3.2 million contract. That left the Giants and the deal was agreed to Thursday. Minnesota would receive two players from San Francisco's major league roster, probably first baseman Mike Ivie and centerfielder Larry Herndon, and a minor league pitcher. "I'm confident the deal will be completed," Griffith said.

Unless the transaction is completed by the Friday midnight interleague trading deadline. Griffith would have to hang onto Carew or trade him to an American League team. "I don't feel there's a gun at my head, not at all," the Twins' owner said. "You can't operate that way. If we don't trade him here, we can trade him in March (when another interleague trading period opens)."

[source: ap]