LaTroy Hawkins’ stormy Cubs career ended Saturday when he was traded to San Francisco for young pitchers Jerome Williams and David Aardsma.
The Cubs picked up all but $900,000 of Hawkins’ $4.35 million salary for 2005, plus a prorated portion of incentives he receives for games finished. The Giants are on the hook for $4.35 million in 2006 if, as expected, Hawkins exercises the option on the three-year, $11 million deal he signed after the ’03 season.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry believes Hawkins will benefit in a different environment because the controversial right-hander had become the primary target of disgruntled Cubs fans over the last year at Wrigley Field. Like Sammy Sosa before him, Hawkins simply wore out his welcome in Chicago.
“It just didn’t work,” Hendry said. “I think he’ll go somewhere and do well. He’s still throwing hard. Sometimes a change of scenery is the best.”
In a teleconference call with reporters Saturday, Hawkins said he was “very excited” about going to the Giants and denied the booing at Wrigley had affected him.
“It was never difficult for me,” Hawkins said. “I blocked it out. People are going to boo. Not everybody is going to like me. That’s understandable. It was not any big deal at all.”
San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean said he would use Hawkins in a late-inning setup role and that Hawkins would not challenge current closer Tyler Walker.
Cubs second baseman Todd Walker, who also played with Hawkins in the Minnesota organization, said he was sorry to see him go.
“It’s sad most of Chicago didn’t get to see the good side of him, but at the same time you understand why they had to make the move,” he said.
Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Hawkins, 32, took the news well.
“Hawk’s a man,” Baker said. “No excuses. He said we gave him every opportunity. I’m sure he was not thrilled about leaving the way he has performed here. I think he’s going to go [to the Giants] and do well. It’s just a matter of getting it all together. He has the stuff.”
In Williams and Aardsma, the Cubs get two 23-year-old right-handers with high potential.
Williams, the 39th selection overall in the 1999 draft as a sandwich pick, was 10-7 with a 4.24 earned-run average for the Giants last year. Though he has struggled to gain consistency in Triple A, the Cubs will start him at Triple-A Iowa. His spring training was curtailed because he spent a lot of time in Hawaii with his father, who recently received liver and kidney transplants.
“He had a very short spring training with his father’s illness,” Hendry said. “He’s behind a little bit. He really needs to get a little better before we bring him up. But we feel at 23, he’s very, very talented and was well on his way in ’03 and ’04 to being an outstanding rotation presence.”
Aardsma, a first-round pick in 2003 who was a closer at Rice, has been starting recently at Double-A Norwich, going 6-2 with a 2.93 ERA. He was up and down as a middle reliever for the Giants in 2004, and most believe he was rushed to the majors before he was ready. Hendry said Aardsma would continue to start at Iowa before the Cubs decide what role they foresee for him.
Injuries and subpar performances have left the Cubs without much starting pitching at the Triple-A level.
“We’ll let [Aardsma] pitch a while, then decide whether he’s better in the pen where he came from or whether the rotation is conducive for him,” Hendry said. “He’s a very high-profile and successful reliever.”
Hawkins’ stay in Chicago was short but memorable. He was 1-4 with four blown saves in eight chances this year and is 18 of 24 in one-run save situations in ninth innings over his career. When he blew saves in key games against the New York and Cincinnati in the final-week collapse of ’04, many saw him as a symbol of the Cubs’ season.
Despite struggling in the closer’s role in ’04, Hawkins was used there in spring training when Joe Borowski broke a bone in his wrist. After Hawkins failed to improve in that role, Chad Fox took over, but he blew out his elbow two days later.
Hawkins’ last blown save came May 6 against Philadelphia, when his throw in an attempt to complete a game-ending double play ricocheted off Jose Offerman’s helmet into the stands, costing the Cubs another ninth-inning lead.
Baker finally turned to Ryan Dempster as his closer, and Hawkins became expendable because of the way Michael Wuertz has responded as a setup man.
Hawkins had little to say about leaving Chicago.
“I don’t have any reaction,” he said. “I’ll miss each and every player, coach and Jim Hendry, all the people at the ballpark and all the people in the front office. I played for those 24 guys in clubhouse and the Cubs organization, and that’s it.”
Apparently upset with the tone of the questioning, a Giants representative cut off the conference call while Hawkins was speaking. With one click, the Hawkins era was over.
To San Francisco
LaTroy Hawkins
(Minnesota 1995-2003; Cubs 2004-05)
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YR W L ERA G SV IP BB SO
1995 2 3 8.67 6 0 27.0 12 9
1996 1 1 8.20 7 0 26.1 9 24
1997 6 12 5.84 20 0 103.1 47 58
1998 7 14 5.25 33 0 190.1 61 105
1999 10 14 6.66 33 0 174.1 60 103
2000 2 5 3.39 66 14 87.2 32 59
2001 1 5 5.96 62 28 51.1 39 36
2002 6 0 2.13 65 0 80.1 15 63
2003 9 3 1.86 74 2 77.1 15 75
2004 5 4 2.63 77 25 82.0 14 69
2005 1 4 3.32 21 4 19.0 7 13
TOT 50 65 4.80 464 73 919.0 311 614
To Cubs
Jerome Williams
(All statistics with San Francisco)
YEAR W L ERA G IP BB SO
2003 7 5 3.30 21 131.0 49 88
2004 10 7 4.24 22 129.1 44 80
2005 0 2 6.48 4 16.2 4 11
TOT 17 14 3.93 47 277.0 97 179
Williams’ 2005 stats at Triple-A Fresno
YEAR W L ERA G IP BB SO
2005 1 4 9.39 6 30.2 17 15
David Aardsma
(2004 with San Francisco; 2005 with Double-A Norwich)
YEAR W L ERA G IP BB SO
2004 1 0 6.75 11 10.2 10 5
2005 6 2 2.79 10 46.0 13 30
Source: MLB.com
Through Saturday
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