IN BRIEF : Expos Trade Heaton to Pirates

Left-hander Neal Heaton, who was unimpressive in his spring training bid for a spot in the Montreal Expos’ starting rotation, was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates today for a player to be named later.

With Randy Johnson and Brian Holman securing the fourth and fifth spots on the pitching staff, Heaton became expendable. He did not help his cause with several mediocre outings during the exhibition season and had an 8.57 earned run average.

“They know what they’re doing when they don’t put spring training statistics on the backs of bubble gum cards,” Heaton said jokingly.

Heaton was obtained by Montreal on Feb. 3, 1987, as part of the deal in which the Minnesota Twins acquired relief ace Jeff Reardon. Heaton had a 16-16 record in two seasons with Montreal.