Lawton on move again, this time to Yankees

By Jim Callis
August 26, 2005

Matt Lawton should be used to getting traded by now. Friday marked the third time in eight months that he has changed addresses, as the Yankees acquired him from the Cubs for short-season righthander Justin Berg.

The Indians sent Lawton to the Pirates in December for Arthur Rhodes, and Pittsburgh swapped him to Chicago in July for Jody Gerut. New York plans on playing Lawton in left field and shifting Hideki Matsui to center. Lawton is having a typical Matt Lawton season, batting .268/.366/.412 with 11 homers, 49 RBIs and 17 steals in 120 games, though he had slumped in his four weeks with the Cubs. A two-time all-star, Lawton has solid power, speed and plate discipline. He has slipped defensively after knee and shoulder surgeries in recent years. A pending free agent, Lawton is making $7.25 million in 2005, the final season in a four-year, $27 million contract, and the Yankees will assume the remaining $1.47 million of his salary this year. In 1,302 career games, he has batted .269/.369/.420 with 136 homers, 626 RBIs and 164 steals.

The Yankees drafted the 21-year-old Berg in the 43rd round out of Indian Hills (Iowa) CC in 2003 and signed him as a draft-and-follow after he spent a year at Triton (Ill.) JC. His best pitch is a low-90s sinker that he delivers from a low three-quarters arm slot. He also has a decent slider and is working on a changeup. In 15 games (nine starts) at Staten Island, Berg went 6-2, 3.53 with a 52-20 strikeout-walk ratio in 59 innings. Opponents hit .226 with three homers against him.