Yankees' Irabu Traded To Expos

When he left Japan, Hideki Irabu said he want to play only for the New York Yankees. After 2 1/2 years with them, he had enough.

Irabu waived his no-trade clause and was dealt from the World Series champions to the Montreal Expos on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old right-hander, called a "fat toad" by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner last spring, had worn out the patience of Yankees officials. While pitching well in stretches, he was wildly inconsistent and appeared in just one postseason game in the last two years, a mopup effort at Fenway Park.

"Hideki came in with a lot of fanfare," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "He wanted us as badly as we wanted him. There were some good times and some tough times as well. We saw those flashes of brilliance that attracted us when he was a free agent coming out of Japan."

Irabu had one season at $2 million left on his $12.8 million, four-year contract.

To get him to agree to the deal, the Expos took his $4 million option for 2001 and guaranteed it at $2.5 million. It would rise to $3 million if he pitches 150 innings next year, $3.5 million if he pitches 165 innings and $4 million if he pitches 180 innings.

"We thought Hideki could be someone special for us," new Expos owner Jeffrey Loria said. "My read on Hideki was that he was a power pitcher with a terrific arm and probably one of the nastiest split-fingered fastballs I have seen."

The Yankees received right-hander Jake Westbrook and two players to be named. They must pick the pair from an agreed-to list within six months.

"One of our main goals here is to place Eddie Yarnall in a position to be our fifth starter," Cashman said. "Yarnall is a guy we believe highly in."

Yarnall, acquired in a trade with the Florida Marlins before last season, went 13-4 with a 3.71 ERA for Triple-A Columbus and 1-0 with a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings for New York.

Irabu was 11-7 with a 4.84 ERA in 27 starts and five relief appearances this year. He went 5-4 with a 7.09 ERA during his first season with New York and started his second year 9-3 before tailing off to finish 13-9 with a 4.06 ERA.

With manager Joe Torre losing confidence late in the season in both 1998 and 1999, Irabu was a postseason nonentity. In his only appearance, he allowed seven earned runs in 4 2-3 innings in Game 3 of this year's AL championship series against Boston.

"We were able to acquire a quality starting pitcher, which is difficult to do in this day and age without spending a lot of money," Expos general manager Jim Beattie said. "We had to give up some good young players, but we were able to make it work for us.

On Monday, the Expos agreed to a $9 million, three-year contract with former Yankees reliever Graeme Lloyd.

"This makes us even deeper going into this season," Beattie said. "He is excited about being an integral part of our team. He will come here and be one of our top three starters. That was not the situation in New York."

Westbrook, 22, went 11-5 with a 3.92 ERA at Double-A Harrisburg last season, winning nine of his final 10 decisions, and was rated the fourth-best prospect in the Expos' organization by Baseball America.

Colorado took him on the first round of the 1996 amateur draft and traded him to Montreal with two others in 1997 for Mike Lansing.

He is a durable, ground-ball pitcher who has never missed a start during four seasons in the minors. He is 41-25 with a 3.67 ERA as a professional.

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