Orioles, Mets exchange spare parts

By Jim Callis
July 19, 2004

Karim Garcia lost playing time with the Mets after they traded for Richard Hidalgo in mid-June. Similarly, Mike DeJean became a mopup man after the Orioles acquired Jason Grimsley shortly thereafter. So on Monday both clubs swapped their excess, with Garcia moving to Baltimore and DeJean heading to New York.

Garcia, 28, was nontendered by the Yankees in December and signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Mets. He shared time in right field with Shane Spencer before the Hidalgo deal, and subsequently went on the disabled list with tendinitis in his left wrist. He hit .234/.272/.401 with seven homers and 22 RBIs for New York. Garcia is what he always has been: an overly aggressive hitter with occasional power, and a decent athlete with a strong arm. He'll help the Orioles as an extra outfielder, and they really need one with Marty Cordova, Jay Gibbons and B.J. Surhoff all on the disabled list. Garcia is a career .242/.280/427 hitter with 63 homers and 201 RBIs in 465 games. This is his second stint in Baltimore after he went 0-for-16 in eight games for the O's in 2000.

DeJean, a 33-year-old righthander, struggled mightily in his first taste of the American League this season. He parlayed a combined 19 saves with the Brewers and Cardinals last year into a one-year, $1.5 million free agent deal with the Orioles, and gave them an 0-5, 6.13 record in 37 appearances. Opponents strafed him for a .308 average with two homers, and his control was shaky with a 36-28 strikeout-walk ratio in 40 innings. DeJean uses a sinker-splitter combination and must get ahead in the count to succeed. He has a career 24-29, 4.40 mark with 52 saves in 480 games.