In the first deal of the 2009 Baseball Winter Meetings, the Washington Nationals traded a player to be names later to the New York Yankees for RHRP Brian Bruney. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Nats unconditionally released veteran RHRP Saul Rivera.
Bruney, 28, went 5-0 in 44 appearances covering 39.0 innings for the Yankees last year. He had a 3.92 ERA and 1.513 WHIP, striking out 8.3 per nine innings. For his career, he has a 4.27 ERA in 221.3 innings.
Bruney immediately threw his hat into the ring for the available closer job, telling Nationals Journal:
"I love closing ballgames. There's nothing better than that in my opinion. I felt like New York was a good stepping stone with lots of pressure-filled situations. But to be honest, I had talked to my agent and I said, 'I can't wait to get to the place where I can try and close somewhere.' "
Bruney (6'3", 219) has 13 career saves in six major league seasons, 12 of which came in one season, 2005 with Arizona.
This past June, Bruney criticized New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriquez after a game and the two needed to be separated the following day during batting practice when "K-Rod" confronted Bruney prior to the game.
Rivera was a dependable part of the Nationals bullpen for parts of four seasons, but had a 6.10 ERA in 30 appearances last season and spent part of the year in the minors. Rivera turned 32 today.
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