Before the deadline, Washington swapped relievers with Chicago, sending
young starter/long man Brian Bevil to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's
1996 closer, Eric Plunk.
Washington GM Aaron Weiner had high praise for the new arrival.
"Plunk is one of the few consistent pitchers in baseball," Weiner said.
"What we're hoping right now is for him to take over for Hank Gill as our
primary long man so that he can get another year's worth of development."
The GM went on to say that if Plunk didn't make the grade as the long man,
he'd most likely be dealt midway through the season.
"Well, the guy did have over 20 saves last year," Weiner said, "and while
we have a closer in Nigel Fernandez, Plunk is the rare reliever that
can pitch in any situation and do it well. It's nice to know that in the
case that anything happens to Nigel or Ayala or one of our other
relievers, Plunk could step right in and do the job."
Washington also announced that the lineups that were sent in, other than
the Plunk swap, were final.
"We're just hoping Johnny Damon and Bill Mueller have improved enough
during the offseason that they'll be effective in front of our sluggers,"
Weiner said. "We're still scouting around for a decent contact-hitting
outfielder in case there's a problem."
