August 19, 2008 07:10 am
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Greg Maddux, meet Manny Ramirez.
Stockpiling stars for an aggressive run at the playoffs, the Los Angeles Dodgers were ready to reacquire Maddux from San Diego in a trade designed to replenish their depleted rotation.
The Padres and Dodgers agreed to a deal that puts the 353-game winner in a pennant race again, according to a person familiar with the trade who spoke on condition of anonymity Monday night because no announcement had been made.
It was unclear what the last-place Padres would receive in return for the 42-year-old Maddux, who will join a Dodgers team tied with Arizona atop the NL West. The right-hander is 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA in 26 starts for San Diego this year.
Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said Monday night that no deal had been completed.
The trade, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on its Web site, was expected to be announced Tuesday.
Maddux was 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 12 starts for the Dodgers in 2006 after they acquired him from the Chicago Cubs for infielder Cesar Izturis at the non-waiver trade deadline. Maddux helped Los Angeles reach the playoffs that season as the NL wild card.
This year, the Dodgers and Padres discussed a deal for Maddux before the July 31 deadline, but talks fell through.
“I would say nothing ever got real close,” Padres general manager Kevin Towers said then. “We let it be known with the Dodgers, that was the one ballclub he had interest in going to, that any deal we were going to do was going to be the best baseball deal we could do and it wasn’t going to be a financial deal to try to move dollars. We just weren’t happy with the prospect we would be getting back, and we chose to hold onto him.”
A four-time Cy Young Award winner, Maddux has a full no-trade clause in his contract and agreed to waive it. He joined the Padres in 2007 and returned this season for a $10 million, one-year deal.
The Dodgers put opening-day starter Brad Penny on the disabled list Thursday with a shoulder injury and hope Maddux can fill the void in their rotation. He is likely to get seven or eight starts with Los Angeles down the stretch.
Penny could be out for the season, but his turn comes up again Saturday in Philadelphia. Maddux pitched last Friday, allowing a run in seven innings of San Diego’s 1-0 loss to 45-year-old Jamie Moyer and the Phillies.
It would be the latest go-for-broke move by general manager Ned Colletti and the Dodgers, who made a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline for Ramirez, the longtime Boston slugger. Days before that, they acquired third baseman Casey Blake from Cleveland.
Now in his 23rd major league season, Maddux has won a record 17 Gold Gloves. He reached 13 wins last year for the 20th consecutive season, passing Cy Young for the major league record.
Maddux is ninth on baseball’s career wins list, one behind Roger Clemens, and 10th in strikeouts with 3,353. He has a 3.14 lifetime ERA and his record includes 223 losses in 737 major league appearances, all but four of those starts.
Manager Joe Torre’s Dodgers, who slogged through much of the season under .500 but managed to stay in contention in a weak division, have improved since adding Ramirez and Blake. Los Angeles has won six of seven to boost its record to 64-60.
The Dodgers open a three-game series against Colorado on Tuesday night.
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