Giants Masters of All Trades

It didn’t take an act of Congress for the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants to continue their trade wars Tuesday.

Gearing up for a potential showdown in the National League West, the historic rivals each made valuable bullpen additions, joining other playoff contenders in beating the non-waiver deadline. The Boston Red Sox, for example, got the closer they have been missing by acquiring Ugueth Urbina from the Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros filled a rotation void by landing Pedro Astacio in a deal with the Colorado Rockies.

The deadline, of course, is a deadline in name only. Teams can continue to trade until Aug. 31 but now must secure waivers on the involved players.

Who were the winners amid the trade action of the last week?

Here’s one view:

1. SAN FRANCISCO

The acquisition of left-handed relief specialist Jason Christiansen from the St. Louis Cardinals was a touch of frosting. The Giants had previously acquired Andres Galarraga to fill the Ellis Burks void and provide a wake-up call for their slumbering offense; Jason Schmidt to fill the Mark Gardner void in their rotation; John Vander Wal to platoon with Eric Davis in right field and replace the traded Felipe Crespo and Armando Rios, and Wayne Gomes to help bullpen depth.

General Manager Brian Sabean aggressively traded seven players under 30 in making four trades before the non-waiver deadline, but only pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, packaged for Pittsburgh’s Schmidt and Vander Wal, is considered a real prospect. Nevertheless, with a thirty-something cast of Galarraga, Davis, Vander Wal, Gardner, Shawon Dunston, Benito Santiago and free-agent-eligible Barry Bonds, the Giants have a win-now imperative.

“You take your chances, but that’s the price of doing business,” Sabean said. “There’s no dominant team out there, and if you can get in the playoffs, it’s all about getting past the first round. I mean, any team is a work in progress, but I think we’re deeper, more experienced now. I think our pitching staff is now as formidable as we hoped it would be.”

2. DODGERS

With their addition of versatile left-hander Terry Mulholland in a Tuesday trade with the Pirates and Baltimore Oriole setup man Mike Trombley, interim general manager Dave Wallace and assistant Dan Evans continued to pull off little miracles considering the lack of tradeable farm depth.

They have acquired James Baldwin, arguably the best available starter, and significantly improved the bullpen without sacrificing their top young players, all at lower levels of their beleaguered system. Mulholland and Baldwin have playoff experience, and Mulholland can start as well as relieve.

In addition, Tuesday’s acquisitions allowed the Dodgers to return Jeff Williams to Las Vegas, where he can regain a starting groove if Kevin Brown can’t rejoin the rotation because of his strained elbow.

All of that is not to say Tuesday was a total success. They had also hoped to land Kansas City shortstop Rey Sanchez, but only if the Royals picked up $500,000 of Sanchez’s salary, as the Chicago White Sox agreed to do in the Baldwin trade. The Royals refused and also accepted what they considered a better trade package from the Atlanta Braves, who will employ Sanchez at both shortstop (Rafael Furcal being out for the season) and second base (Quilvio Veras having been bothered by injuries and designated for assignment Tuesday).

The Dodgers will continue to milk what they can from the shortstop platoon of Alex Cora and the opportunistic Jeff Reboulet. Chairman Bob Daly held firm on the $500,000 because of his sensitivity about the club’s top rank on the salary scale. There are several methods of computing payroll, and one Tuesday had the New York Yankees, with the acquisition of Sterling Hitchcock, and the Red Sox, with Urbina, moving ahead of the Dodgers.

If true, the deadline brought relief for Daly and the Dodgers beyond Mulholland and Trombley.

3. TIE AMONG SEVERAL

* The Astros are taking a major financial and artistic gamble with Astacio (6-13 and 1-8 in his last 10 starts), but with Scott Elarton, traded for Astacio as a 4-8 disappointment and on the disabled list after his 17-7 breakthrough last year, they needed another veteran arm to join Shane Reynolds in their otherwise inexperienced rotation of Wade Miller, Roy Oswalt and Tim Redding. Astacio may not find Enron Field much of an improvement on Coors Field, but he’ll no longer have an Arson Squad coming out of the bullpen to protect his leads. The Astros strengthened an already strong bullpen by also acquiring Pittsburgh closer Mike Williams.

* The Chicago Cubs, trying to hold off Houston in the NL Central, put together one of the best parlays. They finally convinced Fred McGriff to leave Tampa Bay, filling the Mark Grace void at first base and giving them the left-handed power that Todd Hundley hasn’t, and they came up with a package that the Dodgers couldn’t to land reliever Dave Weathers from Milwaukee.

* Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Everett and Bret Saberhagen have all come off Boston’s lengthy disabled list in the last week, but the Red Sox weren’t going to stay alive in the division and wild-card races if they didn’t find a replacement for inconsistent closer Derek Lowe. A prospective deal between the Yankees and Expos in June collapsed because the Yankees developed concerns about Urbina’s reconstructed elbow, but Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, who agreed to trade disappointing Tomo Ohka, said all of his medical reports were fine. Besides, Urbina had 15 saves with the Expos, a healthy total for that sick team.

* The Minnesota Twins, who usually dump salary before the deadline, aggressively added it. They first acquired reliever Todd Jones from Detroit, then landed Rick Reed from the New York Mets. In trying to hold off Cleveland in the AL Central, the back end of the Minnesota rotation has been an adventure. Reed fills a void, but at the hefty price of right fielder and catalytic leadoff man Matt Lawton. The Twins have no real replacement.

* In no surprise, the Yankees did what they needed to do, acquiring one more veteran pitcher to replace the revolving door at the rear of their rotation. Hitchcock has made only three starts in his return from reconstructive elbow surgery, but leaving the San Diego Padres to join the dominant Yankees should accelerate his full recovery.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” he said, happy with this deadline development.

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REY SANCHEZ

SHORTSTOP

Atlanta got Sanchez, one of baseball’s best fielding shortstops, from Kansas City. Sanchez will displace untested rookie Mark DeRosa. Atlanta gave up two marginal prospects.

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PEDRO ASTACIO, MIKE WILLIAMS

STARTER RELIEVER

Houston wanted a veteran presence in the rotation and got it from Colorado in Astacio. Williams, obtained from Pittsburgh, will be the setup man for Billy Wagner.

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UGUETH URBINA

RELIEVER

Urbina, obtained from Montreal, will become part of a closer-by-committee for Boston that includes Derek Lowe and Rod Beck. The Yankees almost acquired Urbina in June.

Trading Places

A look at the key trades Tuesday:

* The Pittsburgh Pirates traded LHP Terry Mulholland (0-0, 3.72 ERA) to the Dodgers for RHP Mike Fetters (2-1, one save, 6.07) and LHP Adrian Burnside (4-3, 2.66 at double-A Jacksonville).

* The Baltimore Orioles traded RHP Mike Trombley (3-4, six saves, 3.46) to the Dodgers for RHP Kris Foster (3-1, 19 saves, 2.54 at triple-A Las Vegas and double-A Jacksonville) and C Geronimo Gil (.295, nine homers, 40 RBIs at Las Vegas).

* The Colorado Rockies traded pitcher Pedro Astacio (6-13, 5.49) and cash to the Houston Astros for pitcher Scott Elarton (4-8, 7.14) and a player to be named.

* The Pirates traded pitcher Mike Williams (2-4, 22 saves, 3.67) to the Astros for pitcher Tony McKnight (9-5, 4.76 at triple-A New Orleans).

* The Kansas City Royals traded shortstop Rey Sanchez (.303, 28 RBIs) to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Brad Voyles (0-0, six saves, 1.08 at double-A Greenville) and second baseman Alejandro Machado (.272, one HR, 23 RBIs at Class-A Macon).

* The Montreal Expos traded pitcher Ugueth Urbina (2-1, 15 saves, 4.24) to the Boston Red Sox for pitchers Tomo Ohka (2-5, 6.19) and Rich Rundles (7-6, 2.43 at Class-A Augusta).

* The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Jason Christiansen (1-1, three saves, 4.66) to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Kevin Joseph (2-2, four saves, 3.44 with three minor league teams) and a player to be named or cash.