Ascanio sent to Cubs for Ohman, infielder Infante

Braves trade for reliever
Ascanio sent to Cubs for Ohman, infielder Infante

By DAVID O'BRIEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/04/07
Nashville, Tenn. - The Braves took care of two needs with one deal Tuesday
morning when they traded right-hander Jose Ascanio to the Chicago Cubs for
left-handed reliever Will Ohman and utility infielder Omar Infante.

Ohman is a cheaper bullpen replacement for veteran lefty Ron Mahay, who's
expected to sign a lucrative free-agent contract with another team. Infante,
who played six positions last season for Detroit, will have many duties
including backing up shortstop Yunel Escobar.

The clubs were expected to announce the trade at around 1 p.m. at the Winter
Meetings in Nashville.

The Braves were high on Ascanio, 22, a hard-throwing Venezuelan rookie who
totaled 84 strikeouts with 24 walks in 94 innings last season, including 13
strikeouts in 16 innings for Atlanta after a promotion from Class AA
Mississippi.

But they felt they had to pay the price to get one of the few available
lefties on the market, especially with a solid backup infielder included in
the deal. The Braves are still looking for a stopgap center fielder and a
backup catcher, but general manager Frank Wren has said he doesn't feel
compelled to make either move during the Winter Meetings that run through
Thursday.

Ohman, 30, is 6-8 with a 4.33 ERA in five seasons, all with the Cubs. The
Braves are getting him for his prowess against lefty hitters - he has a .196
career opponents' average by lefty batters.

He struggled last season with a 4.95 ERA in 56 appearances, but Ohman's .282
opponents' average included a still-respectable .236 by lefties. In 2006 he
had a .208 opponents' average that included a stingy .158 by lefties, who
were 16-for-101 with 42 strikeouts.

Ohman had a sore shoulder in August, and drew the ire of some Cubs by
suggesting the training staff knew he was hurt but didn't tell manager Lou
Piniella.

Infante, 25, hit .271 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 166 at-bats during his
sixth season with the Detroit Tigers, then was traded for Jacque Jones. He
had as many as 225 at-bats only twice in six seasons including 2004, when he
hit .264 with career-highs of 16 homers, nine triples, 55 RBIs and 503
at-bats.

Last season Infante played every infield position except first base and at
least one game at every outfield spot, including 12 games in center field.
Most of his experience has been in the middle infield.

He has a .253 career average with 32 homers, 154 RBIs and .298 on-base
percentage in 494 games.

On Dec 4, 1:07 pm, Colin William <colintwill... DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

> > Infante, 25, hit .271 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 166 at-bats during his
> > sixth season with the Detroit Tigers, then was traded for Jacque Jones. He
> > had as many as 225 at-bats only twice in six seasons including 2004, when he
> > hit .264 with career-highs of 16 homers, nine triples, 55 RBIs and 503
> > at-bats.
>
> A small improvement over Pete Orr, and can handle SS.

Better than Woodward or Orr, can sub at every position but 1B and the
battery, and can play SS in case Escobar is needed at 3B for any
extended amount of time.

s/