It's about time
Diamondbacks finally acquire Womack from Pirates
Posted: Friday February 26, 1999 06:03 PM
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Tony Womack will play right field for Arizona, a move that doesn’t appeal to the speedster. Jonathan Daniel/Allsport |
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Arizona
Diamondbacks finally traded for the leadoff man they wanted, getting NL
stolen base leader Tony Womack from
the Pittsburgh
Pirates on Friday for a minor league outfielder and a player to be
named.
The Diamondbacks had been trying for weeks to get Womack, the NL steals
leader the last two seasons.
But a deal that would have sent the second baseman and outfielder Al Martin to
Arizona for outfielder Bernard
Gilkey fell through Tuesday when Gilkey refused to re-work a contract
worth $11 million in base salary and deferred payments in the next two
years.
"I thought it was all over, and it felt like a great weight had been
lifted off my shoulders," Womack said. "It's disappointing to me. I like
Pittsburgh. I like playing for the Pirates. No disrespect intended to the
Arizona Diamondbacks, but I was happy where I was at."
Womack, 29, will be asked to play right field with Arizona, a prospect
that makes him apprehensive.
"I've played some outfield but it's been center field," he said. "I've
never played right field. It's going to be tough trying to learn a new
position and coming to a new team at the same time. I'm flattered Arizona
wants me, but it's going to be an adjustment on a couple of fronts."
Arizona used Tony Batista,
Andy Fox and Jay Bell at second
base last year as an expansion team.
In return for Womack, the Pirates received outfielder Paul Weichard, 19,
who hit .293 with 28 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 54 games with the
Diamondbacks' rookie team at Lethbridge, Alberta, last year. The native of
Australia is a switch-hitter and was signed by Arizona as a non-drafted
free agent in 1997.
The Diamondbacks went on a $119 million spending spree in the offseason,
adding free agents Randy Johnson,
Todd
Stottlemyre, Steve Finley
and Greg
Swindell, but lacked a leadoff hitter with speed.
"The addition of Tony Womack shifts us into a different gear," said
Arizona general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. "The speed he possesses brings
another dimension to our club and makes for a much more balanced offensive
attack."
Womack, who started five games in center field for the Pirates last
season, stole 60 bases in 1997 and 58 in 1998. The Diamondbacks, by
comparison, stole 73 bases in their inaugural season.
Womack was expendable because the Pirates are grooming Warren Morris as
their second baseman of the future. Veteran Mike Benjamin
is expected to start the season at second, but Morris, acquired from the
Texas organization last July in a trade for pitcher Esteban
Loaiza, could be in the big leagues by midseason.
Morris, who hit a combined .331 with 19 homers and 103 RBIs last season
in 139 games with Texas' Class AA Tulsa club and Pittsburgh's Class AA
Carolina affiliate, is also considered a better fielder than Womack.
"We made this trade for the future," Pirates General Manager Cam Bonifay
said. "We feel we have the opportunity to put the total package at second
base in the future [in Morris]. We could be as sound at second base as
we've ever been."
Womack batted .282 with three home runs and 45 RBIs in 159 games last
season. He made his debut with the Pirates in 1993 and has a career average
of .278 with nine homers, 103 RBIs and 122 stolen bases.
Womack made $290,000 last year. He has a $1.65 million, one-year contract
that covers this year.
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