Marlins Trade Another Veteran As Villone Goes To Yankees

By John Manuel
December 18, 2005

The Marlins still had a veteran lying around, and lefthander Ron Villone fit a need for the Yankees, who needed a lefthanded reliever in their big league bullpen. So the Yankees sent minor leaguer Ben Julianel to the Marlins for Villone on Friday.

A first-round pick of the Mariners in 1992, villone made his big league debut in 1995 and has a career 52-54, 4.75 mark in 11 big league seasons. He’s been a starter and reliever at times in his career but juts 93 of his 473 appearances have been as a starter, and he didn’t start a game for either the Mariners or the Marlins in 2005. He went 5-5, 4.08 combined for the two teams, joining the Marlins in a July deal that sent righthander Yorman Bazardo and Mike Flannery to the Mariners. Villone, who turns 36 in a month, is due $2 million in 2006 as part of a two-year, $4.6 million contract he signed with the Mariners in the offseason.

Julianel, 26, went 5-3, 3.90 with two saves at Double-A Trenton in 2005. The Yankees acquired him in 2003 from the Cardinals in a trade for Sterling Hitchcock. Julianel, a 12th-round pick in 2001 out of San Diego State, profiles best as a lefty specialist with a high 80s fastball and a slider that works better when he uses a higher arm slot. Lefthanders had no home runs off im in 119 plate appearances, while righthanded hitters blasted seven. He’s durable and capable of throwing more than one or two innings if needed, however. Julianel has earned Steve Kline comparisons in the past, and while he gave up 88 hits (a .260 average) in 2005, he also had 106 strikeouts in 88 innings. He also walked 50 and needs to control his fastball better.

The Villone acquisition also probably means another year in the minors for Yankees farmhand Matt Smith, who had been added to the 40-man roster and pitched well in the Arizona Fall League while bidding for a shot in the big league bullpen.