Atlanta, GA (My Sportsbook) - The trade between the
Florida Marlins and
Atlanta Braves involving pitcher Mike Hampton has been made official. The Braves got Hampton and minor league pitcher Ryan Baker in exchange for pitcher Tim Spooneybarger.
The deal was agreed to on Saturday, but the clubs waited for commissioner Bud Selig's approval before making the official announcement. The Braves will only be paying $35.5 million of the $85.5 million still owed to Hampton. The Rockies and Marlins will pick up the rest of his salary.
"We are extremely happy to acquire a quality starting pitcher like Mike Hampton," Braves' general manager John Schuerholz said. "Much of our success over these past 12 seasons is tied to our superb starting pitching and we believe the addition of Mike will help us continue going forward with that strong starting pitching."
Hampton, who had been shipped from Colorado to Florida in a trade earlier in the week, went 22-4 with the Astros in 1999 and finished second in that year's NL Cy Young Award balloting. He followed that up with a successful 2000 during which he helped the Mets reach the World Series with an Most Valuable Player performance in the National League Championship Series.
But since signing an eight-year, $121 million-dollar, free-agent deal with the Rockies before the start of the 2001 season, the southpaw has seen his success significantly diminish.
Hampton won nine of his first 11 decisions with the Rockies and was named to the 2001 NL All-Star team. But his performance quickly evaporated and he won just 12 of his next 38 decisions over the next season-and-a-half with the Rockies. He went 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA this past season.
The original deal that sent Hampton to Florida went through after Charles Johnson waived his no-trade clause. That deal sent Johnson, outfielder Preston Wilson, reliever Vic Darensbourg and infielder Pablo Ozuna to Colorado, with Hampton and outfielder Juan Pierre going to the Marlins.
The 23-year-old Spooneybarger went 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 51 appearances last season.
