Green Approves Trade to Arizona

By Steve Henson

Jan. 10, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Trade talks that began during Hanukkah, fizzled before Christmas and were resurrected by New Year’s Eve finally came to fruition Sunday night when Dodger slugger Shawn Green reached an agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers are expected to move quickly to spend the $6 million gained in the deal, signing free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe to a four-year, $36-million contract. Lowe will arrive in L.A. today for a physical.

Green agreed to waive his no-trade clause and will sign a three-year deal for $32 million, with a mutual option for a fourth year. He gets $10.5 million this year, $8 million in 2006, $9.5 million in 2007, a $2-million signing bonus deferred until the end of the contract and a $2-million team buyout in 2008. The option is for $8 million.

He had one year at $16 million left on his current contract, which is void. The Dodgers must send $10 million to the Diamondbacks along with Green and will receive coveted catching prospect Dioner Navarro and three minor league pitchers -- William Juarez, Danny Muegge and Beltran Perez.

Green’s new deal includes a no-trade clause and the same performance incentives he had with the Dodgers, even though such perks are contrary to Diamondback policy. He would get $250,000 for winning the most valuable player award, $150,000 for being named World Series MVP and $100,000 for accomplishments such as being selected an All-Star or winning the Gold Glove or Silver Slugger awards.

Details were worked out over the weekend in negotiations between Green’s agent, Greg Genske, and Southland lawyer Mark Rosenthal, who represented the Diamondbacks. Jeff Moorad, chief executive of the Diamondbacks, chose not to participate in the talks because he is Green’s former agent.

The two sides had until today at 9 a.m. to reach an agreement and talks were slowed because Genske was sick with flu.

The Dodgers made the key concession Friday, coughing up $2 million more than the $8 million they already had pledged to the Diamondbacks in an earlier version of the trade. The payout essentially means the Diamondbacks will pay Green $22 million for three years.

Still, Green would not agree until the Diamondbacks gave him a no-trade clause because he doesn’t want to be a short-timer in Arizona. He will play right field for his new team.

“Shawn was very content in playing out the last year of his contract with the Dodgers and going to free agency,” Genske said. “In order to forgo the opportunity, it required a no-trade clause.”

Green was a Dodger for five seasons, averaging 30 home runs and 102 runs batted in. He had a sensational two-season stretch in 2001-02, hitting 91 homers and driving in 239 runs. A shoulder injury hurt his production the last two seasons, but he finished strong last summer and hit three home runs against the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs.

Green, 32, will take a physical today in Arizona, presumably about the time Lowe does the same here.

Lowe, a World Series star with the Boston Red Sox, comes at a steep price. But the Dodgers were backed into a corner, desperately needing another starting pitcher with the free-agent market nearly tapped out. Lowe was 14-12 with a 5.42 earned-run average in 33 starts last season and was 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA during the postseason.

He will join a rotation that includes Brad Penny, Jeff Weaver and Odalis Perez, whose re-signing to a three-year, $24 million deal will be officially announced today.

The No. 5 spot could be filled by inconsistent left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii, young right-hander Edwin Jackson or veterans Wilson Alvarez and Elmer Dessens.

None of the pitchers the Dodgers obtained in the trade are ready for the major leagues, although all have had some success in the minors.

Juarez is 27-19 in five seasons, although only 3-7 with a 5.00 earned-run average in double A the second half of last year.

Muegge, a starter, was 14-4 with a 3.12 ERA in class A last season. Perez, who has pitched as a starter and reliever, had a 4.41 ERA in 37 games at double A. All three pitchers are 23.

Navarro is a player the Dodgers have sought the entire off-season. The Diamondbacks acquired him last week from the New York Yankees in the Randy Johnson trade expressly to deal him to the Dodgers. He split last season between triple A and double A and was three for seven with the Yankees in a late-season call-up.

He is expected to begin next season at triple-A Las Vegas, although the Dodger catching situation is tenuous. The team did not re-sign veteran Brent Mayne by a Saturday night deadline, and the current roster includes only light-hitting David Ross and career minor leaguer Mike Rose.

Navarro, 20, is scheduled to take two physicals today, one with the Diamondbacks at 8 a.m. to complete the Johnson trade and another with the Dodgers in the afternoon.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Changing Faces

A look at the Dodger lineup at the end of last season, and the lineup today:

END OF SEASON

Cesar Izturis...SS

Jayson Werth...LF

Steve Finley...CF

Adrian Beltre...3B

Shawn Green...1B

Milton Bradley...RF

Alex Cora...2B

Brent Mayne...C