By Will Kimmey
December 16, 2003

Two of baseball's more actively trading teams (at least among those not in the American League East) made another budget-conscious move Tuesday night. The World Series champion Marlins traded Mark Redman to the Athletics in exchange for Mike Neu and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Redman is the fifth regular to leave Florida since its victory parade. The Marlins traded Derrek Lee and Juan Encarnacion, and won't re-sign free agents Ivan Rodriguez and Ugueth Urbina after declining to offer them arbitration. Florida decided to deal Redman rather than risk going to arbitration with him after he made $2.15 million in 2003. A.J. Burnett's expected return from Tommy John surgery made him expendable. The A's, meanwhile, will try to work out a new contract with Redman before Dec. 20, at which point they'd have to nontender him or face arbitration. Oakland might let him go if the two sides can't strike a deal, which is why his acquisition price was so low.

Redman, a 29-year-old lefty, would replace the traded Ted Lilly as Oakland's fourth starter. Redman enjoyed his best year in the majors in 2003, setting career bests in wins (14), ERA (3.59), strikeouts (151) and opponent average (.239) while logging 191 innings. A typical lefthander, he relies on deception and command to make up for a lack of velocity or movement on his high-80s fastball. His best pitch is a changeup, which he likes to throw late in counts, and he also throws his breaking ball for strikes. Redman has compiled a 37-39, 4.27 career record, with a 421-187 strikeout-walk ratio in 616 innings. The trade was his third in the last two years. The Twins, who made him a 1995 first-round pick, sent him to the Tigers for Todd Jones in July 2001. Detroit shipped him to Florida for three pitchers, most notably Rob Henkel, last January.

Neu, a 25-year-old righty, heads back to Miami, where as a collegian he recorded the final out of the 1999 College World Series for the Hurricanes. The A's selected him from the Reds in the 2002 major league Rule 5 draft and kept him on their big league roster all season. Neu appeared in 32 games, posting no record and one save to go with a 3.64 ERA. He gave up just two homers in 42 innings and held lefties to a .214 average, but his 20-26 K-BB ratio left much to be desired and righties hit .295 against him. A college and minor league closer, Neu recalled a poor man's Trevor Hoffman. His fastball rarely gets out of the 80s, but he can put it and his plus changeup anywhere he wants. Neu ranked second among minor league relievers in 2001 with 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings in high Class A. He compiled a 69 saves, a 2.96 ERA and a 305-121 K-BB ratio in 219 minor league innings prior to 2003.

Dec. 23 update: Oakland completed the deal by sending one of its best pitching prospects, lefthander Bill Murphy, to Florida. Murphy, 22, was a 2002 third-round pick out of Cal State Northridge. Though his fastball usually sits at 89-91 mph, its life and his deceptive motion induce a lot of swing-and-misses. He also throws a curveball and changeup. He split 2003 between low Class A Kane County (where he threw a no-hitter) and Double-A Midland, going a combined 10-7, 2.94 in 25 starts. He had a 121-58 K-BB ratio and a .200 opponent batting average.