Dodgers Get Houston in a Trade

The Dodgers added some power and versatility to their bench and a potential motivational tool for their underachieving third baseman when they acquired utility player Tyler Houston from the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday for minor league pitchers Ben Diggins and Shane Nance.

Houston, who his batting .302 with seven homers and 33 runs batted in, can play third base, first base and the outfield, has some experience as a catcher and should add some pop to a bench that is the weakest of the three teams--Arizona, San Francisco and Los Angeles--competing for the National League West title.

But the left-handed hitting Houston’s best position is third base, and with Adrian Beltre batting .238 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs before Tuesday’s game against San Diego, it’s very possible Houston could platoon with Beltre, providing more balance to a predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup that has averaged 2.5 runs since the All-Star break.

“We need another left-handed hitter, but I’m not going to suggest this is the outs for Adrian Beltre,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “[Houston] creates all sorts of options for us.”

Some in the organization, however, believe Beltre, 23, would benefit from a little competition, because he has never really been pushed in five seasons. And with the Dodgers in a three-team race for the division title, they can’t afford to be too patient while Beltre struggles to find a consistent stroke.

“Obviously, we’re in a situation at this time of the year where the object is to win games,” Tracy said. “You have to use the people you need to win games, and right now, offensively, we’re not really driving the ball.”

Beltre said the trade should help the Dodgers.

“I’m cool with anything here,” said Beltre, who homered in the fourth inning Tuesday night. “I’m not the one making the decision. I know I’m not playing good, so I can’t tell them anything. I can’t be mad or disagree with it because I’m not playing the way I should be playing right now.”

Houston, who has a .347 on-base percentage, 15 doubles and two triples, was ecstatic about going from a team with the second-worst record (34-67) in the major leagues to a team in playoff contention. He will join the Dodgers on Friday in San Francisco.

“I’m totally excited about being a Dodger,” Houston, 31, said by telephone from Houston, where the Brewers lost to the Astros on Tuesday. “Being in contention will bring more spark, more fun to the game, because it’s been hard going to the park for a while.”

Houston, who grew up in Long Beach and was a huge Dodger fan as a kid, said he’d be very interested in re-signing with the Dodgers after this season.

The Dodgers, who will receive a player to be named from Milwaukee as part of the deal, will be responsible for about $600,000 of Houston’s $1.625-million contract. Houston will be a free agent after this season.

To make room for Houston on the 25-man roster, the Dodgers probably will designate reserve outfielder Hiram Bocachica for assignment. To make room on the 40-man roster for Houston, the Dodgers designated triple-A pitcher Craig House for assignment.

“He’s a good player, a good utility guy,” Dodger right fielder Shawn Green said of Houston, whose pinch-hit, three-run home sparked an eight-run, seventh-inning rally that gave the Brewers an 8-6 victory over the Dodgers on May 21.

“He has a little pop in his bat. It’s a good pickup.”

Diggins was a first-round pick in 2000, a right-hander who signed for $1.5 million out of the University of Arizona, but he had only progressed to Class-A Vero Beach, where he was 6-10 with a 3.63 earned-run average and 101 strikeouts in 114 innings.

Nance, an 11th-round pick in 2000, was 11-3 with a 4.17 ERA for triple-A Las Vegas. The left-hander earned the victory at the triple-A All-Star game.