By Will Kimmey
July 2, 2003

A day after the White Sox added two potent bats to their lineup by trading for Roberto Alomar and Carl Everett, the Royals answered their American League Central rivals by making a deal of their own. While acquiring Curtis Leskanic from the Brewers doesn't exactly carry the same impact as Chicago's gaining two former all-stars, it should lighten the strenuous load on the Kansas City bullpen.

The Brewers, who sent along enough cash to pay the remainder of Leskanic's $2.6 million salary this season, get Double-A second baseman Alejandro Machado and Triple-A righthander Wes Obermueller from the Royals.

Leskanic, a 10-year major league veteran, recorded 29 saves for Milwaukee in 2000-01 before missing 2002 with shoulder surgery. The 35-year-old righthander's top two pitches are a solid average fastball and slider. He works well as a setup man because he's just as effective pitching back-to-back days as he is fresh. This season, Leskanic has gone 4-0, 2.70 with 28 strikeouts in 27 innings. He has a 46-29, 4.41 and 49 saves over his 525-game big league career. He should help lessen the burden on Kansas City's top setup man, Jason Grimsley, whose 44 appearances are tied for the second-most in the majors. Leskanic will become a free agent at season's end, when his three-year, $7.2 million contract expires.

Machado, 21, was acquired from the Braves in a 2001 deadline deal for Rey Sanchez. Signed out of Venezuela in 1998, Machado is similar to Sanchez in that he's a solid defensive second baseman who can slide over to shortstop. Machado was hitting .287-1-31 with 20 steals in 78 games for Wichita. He has shown the ability to hit for a decent average, batting .294 for his career, but lacks pop and was made expendable by the emergence of slick-fielding Andres Blanco at high Class A Wilmington.

Obermueller, 26, won 14 games between Wilmington and Wichita last year and currently is tied for the Triple-A Pacific Coast League lead in victories at 10-5, 4.40. A 1999 second-round pick out of the University of Iowa, where he mostly played the outfield, he was waylaid by shoulder problems in 2000 and 2001. He's a control pitcher who succeeds by working the outside of the plate with his 90-93 mph fastball. His best pitch is an 85-88 mph slider, and he must improve his changeup before he can succeed as a starter at the major league level.