Mets Trade Benson For Julio

[BangTheBook]

Mets trade RHP Benson to Orioles for RHP Julio

January 21, 2006 FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - The New York Mets sent Kris Benson and his prominent wife packing Saturday. The Mets dealt Benson to the Baltimore Orioles, acquiring setup man Jorge Julio and righthander John Maine. The trade continued a busy offseason for the Mets. Although they signed free agent closer Billy Wagner and acquired setup man Duaner Sanchez from the Los Angeles Dodgers, general manager Omar Minaya needed another reliever when righthander Aaron Heilman insisted on moving from the bullpen to the rotation.

Benson was 10-8 with a 4.13 ERA for New York last season. However, his annual salary of $7 million and colorful wife, Anna, made him a trade possibility.


A model with her own web site, Anna Benson often publicized the couple's private lives in interviews and flaunted her sex appeal. She declared that if she caught her husband with another woman that she would get even by having sex with everyone within the organization.

Benson, 31, is 57-61 with a 4.25 ERA in seven seasons with Pittsburgh and New York. He won a combined career-high 12 games between the two clubs in 2004.

The top overall pick in 1996 by Pittsburgh, Benson joins a rotation that includes promising lefthander Erik Bedard, Rodrigo Lopez, Daniel Cabrera and Bruce Chen.

The hard-throwing Julio saved 83 games from 2002-04 but was 3-5 with a 5.90 ERA over 67 games in a setup role last season.

In parts of five seasons, the 26-year-old is 11-24 with a 4.20 ERA with 257 strikeouts in 291 2/3 innings.
Maine, 24, was 2-3 with a 6.30 ERA in 10 games, including eight starts, for the Orioles last season