Ishii Is Traded to Mets

No longer will the Dodgers fidget through Kazuhisa Ishii’s agonizingly long innings of walks and wild pitches. But no longer will they rejoice on the days the left-handed pitcher harnesses his electric stuff and shuts down the opposition.

The enigmatic Ishii was traded Sunday to the New York Mets for catcher Jason Phillips, who is expected to become the Dodger regular, with David Ross starting the season in triple-A.

The Dodgers get only a small amount of payroll relief in the deal because they agreed to pay the $2.05-million deferred portion of Ishii’s $3.2-million 2005 salary. Phillips will make $339,000 in his last year before becoming eligible for arbitration.

Ishii’s contract also includes a $2.2-million buyout in 2006, which the Dodgers must pay if the Mets do not pick up his option for $3.25 million.

Ishii also has a $4-million option for 2007; if the Mets decline to exercise it, that leaves the Dodgers on the hook for a $1.1-million buyout.

Trading a proven starting pitcher is risky -- despite chronic control problems Ishii was 36-25 in three seasons -- but the Dodgers need a catcher who can provide more offense than Ross, who batted .170 last season and is 0 for 17 this spring.

Phillips, 28, batted only .218 last season but hit .298 with a .373 on-base percentage, 11 home runs and 58 runs batted in as a rookie in 2003. He appears to have regained confidence this spring, batting .550.

“I think there are some subtle suggestions that can improve him in a couple of areas,” Manager Jim Tracy said.

General Manager Paul DePodesta had talks with the Mets about acquiring Phillips last August and during the off-season. This time, DePodesta took a call from his Met counterpart, Omar Minaya, and the deal was completed within days.

“This is a great opportunity,” said Phillips, who was reduced to being Tom Glavine’s personal catcher by the end of last season.

“I’m ready to come in and battle for a starting job.”

Acquiring Phillips enables the Dodgers to keep highly regarded catching prospects Dioner Navarro and Russell Martin in the minors rather than rush them. It also reduces the need for the Dodgers to carry three catchers.

Phillips and Paul Bako will share the job, with Navarro and Ross probably going to triple-A Las Vegas and Martin to double-A Jacksonville.

“This gives us the luxury to bring up Navarro and Martin when they are ready, not when we have a pressing need to that could hamper their development,” DePodesta said.

Ishii, who walked 305 in 473 Dodger innings, was made expendable in part because of the strong spring of veteran Scott Erickson, who has given up 13 hits in 20 innings. He gave up three earned runs in six innings of a 9-3 loss Sunday to the Washington Nationals.

Even though neither Brad Penny nor Odalis Perez has pitched in spring games because each is rehabilitating injuries, DePodesta says the Dodgers have enough starting pitching. Besides Erickson, Wilson Alvarez and Elmer Dessens could plug holes in the rotation.

“Probably the greatest strength of the club is pitching,” DePodesta said. “We have eight or nine guys who legitimately could step up and start a game.”

The Dodgers nearly traded Ishii in December. He would have gone to the New York Yankees as part of a three-team deal that also involved Shawn Green, Randy Johnson, Javier Vazquez and others. DePodesta nixed the trade at the last minute, but Ishii, 31, knew then he might not be a Dodger for long.

“My name was mentioned quite a bit in the media, and I was ready for it,” he said. “The Mets are a good team. The Dodgers were able to get a catcher, and that’s good for them.”

The Mets had been scrambling for a starting pitcher since Steve Trachsel injured his back last week.

“It’s a deal that should work out well for all the parties involved,” DePodesta said.

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First baseman Hee-Seop Choi batted second in a 10-9 split-squad loss to the Mets on Sunday. Tracy said he is toying with the idea of batting Choi in the spot thought to be reserved for left fielder Jayson Werth.

Choi is batting .250 but has an on-base percentage of .400, having walked six times in 30 plate appearances. Although Choi is slow, the Dodgers like the idea of him getting on base in front of power hitters J.D. Drew and Jeff Kent.

Werth would bat sixth behind Milton Bradley. Jose Valentin would bat seventh with Phillips or Bako eighth.

The broken bone in Werth’s left wrist must heal before he can bat anywhere, of course. He took dry swings Sunday, but Tracy said his progress was “tentative.”

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Tracy will miss today’s game against the Boston Red Sox to attend the funeral of his college coach, Don Schaly, who died of cancer at 67.... Injured minor league pitcher Orlando Rodriguez was removed from the 40-man roster, giving the Dodgers three openings.... Tracy wouldn’t say he was pleased that Barry Bonds will sit out the first three games of the season against the Dodgers because of a knee injury, but he did allude to the rubber chickens that fans hang at SBC Park every time Bonds is walked intentionally, saying, “The manufacturer of those chickens is going to be hurting.”