[ PRO BASEBALL ]
Montreal ships Punahou graduate Justin Wayne was traded to the Florida Marlins yesterday, part of a three-team deal involving the Montreal Expos and the Cincinnati Reds.
Justin Wayne to Florida
The Punahou graduate
is part of a 7-player dealBy Al Chase
achase@starbulletin.comThe Marlins sent outfielder Cliff Floyd, infielder Wilton Guerrero and pitcher Claudio Vargas to the Expos for pitchers Graeme Lloyd and Carl Pavano, infielder Mike Mordecai and Wayne.
The Marlins also sent pitcher Ryan Dempster to Cincinnati for outfielder Juan Encarnacion, minor-league pitcher Ryan Snare and Guerrero, who was immediately shipped off to Montreal with Floyd.
Wayne had just arrived in Reading, Pa., from the Double-A All-Star game in Norwich, Conn., to rejoin his Harrisburg (Pa.) Senator teammates when he got word of the trade.
"I was within an hour of saying hi to my teammates and now I'm just going to try and hitch a ride back to Harrisburg with some of our fans who came down here so I can clean out my apartment," Wayne said.
"They (Marlins officials) said I'd be assigned to Portland, Maine, but I'm going to meet up with the team in New Haven, Conn., and I'm scheduled to pitch Monday. That's all they told me except welcome back. All the Florida administrators were with Montreal last year.
"It's been an interesting week. My family is here but I've hardly seen them because of the all-star game. It's a different feeling to know I'm leaving all these guys I've been playing with, guys I wanted to make the majors with. I really don't know how I'm feeling right now."
Wayne remains in the Class AA Eastern League, but moves from the South Division to the North.
Wayne was in the stands watching his former teammates play, but had so much going through his mind, he wasn't even sure who was winning. The trade wasn't expected, but he wasn't completely surprised.
"There were hints all over, but I guess didn't pick any of them up," said Wayne who had a standout career for the Stanford Cardinal before turning pro. "My name was kind of in the back seat and I never really thought about it."
The Montreal Expos made him their first-round pick, fifth overall, in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft.
Harrisburg just played a series in Portland a couple of weeks ago, so Wayne is familiar with the Sea Dogs park.
"I don't think it makes any difference. Any park is a good park if you are going to go out and pitch well," Wayne said.
Wayne started 17 games for the Senators this year. He has a 5-2 record with a 2.37 earned run average. In 98 2/3 innings he surrendered 74 hits, walked 32 and struck out 47.
In his third professional season, Wayne said this year has been good and bad. His walk-to-strikeout ratio is not as good as he would like.
"There are some things I have to work on," the 6-foot-3 right-hander said.