By Jim Callis
July 13, 2003

Matt Herges joined his fifth organization in the last two years on Sunday, as the Padres traded him to the Giants for minor league righthander Clay Hensley and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The Dodgers traded Herges to the Expos in March 2002, along with minor league infielder Jorge Nunez for Guillermo Mota and Wilken Ruan. Montreal sent him to the Pirates last December for minor league righties Chris Young and Jon Searles, but Pittsburgh surprisingly released him in late March. After signing with San Diego, he went 2-2, 2.86 with three saves in 40 games, including a 40-20 strikeout-walk ratio and a .244 opponent average in 44 innings. Herges generally pitches in the low 90s and uses a hard curveball to back up his fastball. In 253 big league games, Herges has a 24-20, 3.44 record and 11 saves.

Hensley, 23, was an eighth-round pick out of Lamar in 2002. His best pitch is his hard curveball, and it helped him throw a seven-inning perfect game for low Class A Hagerstown in May. Since promoted to high Class A San Jose, he has gone 6-6, 3.98 in 17 starts between the two stops. He has posted a 99-29 strikeout-walk ratio in 97 innings while opponents have batted .258 against him.

July 27 update: The Giants completed the trade by sending Double-A reliever R.D. Spiehs to the Padres. Spiehs, a 23-year-old righthander, signed as a 33rd-round pick out of the University of Nebraska in 2001. His two best pitches are his 88-93 mph fastball and his slider. In 39 games at Norwich, he was 2-5, 3.28 with seven saves. He also had a 51-29 strikeout-walk ratio and .252 opponent average in 60 innings.