PRO BASEBALL / MIKE HISERMAN : Camarillo’s Willis Finds Relief in Trade From Chicago to Pittsburgh

Travis Willis is not a particularly hard thrower, but the Pittsburgh Pirates apparently think he will be a greater asset than a speedy Scott Bullett.

Bullett, a top outfield prospect who batted better than .300 and hit nine home runs in the Arizona Fall League, was shipped to the Chicago Cubs last week in exchange for Willis, a right-hander who starred at Camarillo High and Cal.

The deal made sense for both teams considering the Cubs are set in the bullpen with Randy Myers and the Pirates are short on pitching and well stocked in the outfield.

“We saw an opportunity to pick up a player who had done a good job pitching against us in Double-A,” said Chet Montgomery, the Pirates’ director of minor league operations. “Our scouts say he has three good pitches and we know he had those 24 saves (for Orlando). You don’t do that in a good Double-A league unless you have some good pitches.”

Willis was hitting fungoes before a spring training game in Mesa, Ariz., on Wednesday when he was called off the field and informed of the trade.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for me,” Willis said after arriving at the Pirates’ Bradenton, Fla., training base. “They traded a guy on their 40-man roster for me, so that makes me think they must have some interest in me pitching. In Chicago, I couldn’t figure out where I was going.”

With the Pirates, Willis’ first regular-season stop will be Buffalo, where he joins a triple-A staff that includes Danny Miceli, another apprentice closer.

Willis, who has 50 saves in his only two professional seasons as a closer, said he won’t mind sharing the load or even changing roles. “It doesn’t matter to me,” Willis said. “Anything would be fine with me as long as I get to pitch.”

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What on paper seems like a demotion in reality was a promotion. Craig Clayton, who in the off-season was placed on the Seattle Mariners’ 40-man protected list and assigned to triple-A Calgary, has been optioned to double-A Jacksonville.

Clayton, a third baseman the past 2 1/2 seasons, will be tried as a short-relief pitcher after impressing club officials as a pitcher during the fall and spring training.

Clayton was an All-American utility player for Cal State Northridge in 1991, batting .364 while also winning a school-record-tying 14 games as a pitcher.

After drafting him in the sixth round, the Mariners tried him as an infielder. “They made him a third baseman, for what reason I don’t know,” said Sammy Ellis, Seattle’s pitching coach. “After I saw that arm I questioned it, but it wasn’t my decision. I’m just happy we put him back on the mound.”

Clayton’s fastball topped out in the mid- to high-80s at Northridge, but Mariner scouts clocked a few of his pitches at more than 90 m.p.h. last summer during a pair of mop-up outings for Jacksonville.

“He’s a good-looking young pitcher, one of our most impressive pitchers in camp,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said. “With a little improvement and experience, he’s not far from pitching in Seattle.”

Clayton was placed in double-A because Jacksonville offered more of an opportunity to pitching regularly, club officials said.

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Rich Aude has re-established himself as the first baseman of the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The former Chatsworth High standout had a huge 1993 season, hitting 22 home runs and leading the Pirate organization with 89 runs batted in, 252 total bases and 83 runs scored while bouncing between double-A Carolina, triple-A Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

But in the Arizona Fall League, Aude batted less than .100 and struck out a lot. Aude rebounded with a strong spring, batting better than .300 overall and getting two hits in six at-bats against major league pitching.

“I think his problem in the fall was that he was dead tired,” said Montgomery, the Pirates’ director of minor league operations. “He’d never played that much before. It was a long season. Plus, we moved him back and forth a lot.”

Montgomery said Aude will be the first baseman at Buffalo.

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Scott Sharts, Northridge’s career home run leader, has retired from baseball after 2 1/2 seasons in the Indians’ organization. Sharts, a former Simi Valley High star, was a 10th-round draft choice as a first baseman and designated hitter in 1991. However, the past two seasons he was used primarily as a relief pitcher.

Sharts had a 3-3 record, a 3.99 earned-run average and six saves last season for the Indians’ Class-A affiliate in Columbus, Ga.

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Ty Van Burkleo, a longtime Angels farmhand who also played in Japan, has resurfaced on the triple-A roster of the Colorado Rockies.

Van Burkleo, 31, a first baseman out of Chatsworth High, was released by the Angels last season. He batted .296 in 27 at-bats for the Rockies this spring.

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Down on the farm: As major league teams pared their rosters during the past week, several former area standouts found themselves back in the minor leagues. Among them: Cincinnati Reds infielder Kurt Stillwell, a former first-round draft choice from Thousand Oaks High; Chicago White Sox pitcher Wally Ritchie, a left-hander from Glendale College; Seattle Mariners right-hander Roger Salkeld, a former first-round pick from Saugus High; and Chicago Cubs pitcher Chuck Crim, from Thousand Oaks High.