Brewers trade David Weathers to Cubs for Ruben Quevedo

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<b><font size=4><font color=blue>Cubs get RHP Weathers from Brewers</font></font></b>

David Weathers had a pretty good idea that he was wearing a Milwaukee Brewers uniform for the last time.

"I took a look around on the mound and I said is this it?" said Weathers after his 1-2-3 ninth inning against the San Diego Padres in a 12-5 Brewers loss before a sellout crowd at Miller Park on Sunday. On Monday, he learned that his premonition was right.

Weathers, the 31-year-old right-handed set-up man in his 11th Major League season, was traded by the Brewers along with RHP Robert Miniel to the Chicago Cubs for right-handed pitcher Ruben Quevedo and minor league outfielder Peter Zoccolillo.

It was a move that he saw coming for some time. One of the team's most affable players, Weathers and the Brewers were struggling to come to terms on a contract extension to keep him in Milwaukee when his current deal expires at the end of this season. Weathers said his desire to include a no-trade clause in any future contract was the sticking point.

"It's not as much the money as the structure of the deal," Weathers said. "There are some things in there that I'm saying 'if I'm signing this deal I want to be a Milwaukee Brewer and I don't want a chance to be traded.' Not one time have I complained about it being under market value. That's fine -- if I'm gonna be here. But we know how the game of baseball is, [the Brewers] need starting pitching. They've said that. And who does everyone look to to get that? Our bullpen. So I have to cover myself and make sure if I sign this deal I'm here."

The Brewers National League-leading bullpen has clearly been the team's strength this season, and Weathers is a major contributor. After his perfect one-inning stint on Sunday, Weathers had a 2.03 earned run average, allowing just 13 earned runs in a team-high 52 appearances spanning 57 2/3 innings.

Now preparing to play for his seventh Major League team, Weathers has enjoyed the majority of his big league success since the Brewers claimed him off waivers from Cincinnati in June 1998. After posting a 4.91 ERA in 15 games during his rookie season with Toronto in 1991, Weathers never posted a sub-five ERA until he joined Milwaukee.

He finished the 1998 campaign with a career-best 3.21 ERA and a 4-1 record, and followed-up with a 7-4 mark and 4.65 ERA in 1999 and was 3-5 with a career-best 3.07 ERA in 2000. He is poised to set more personal bests this season.

"I think three and a half years ago there were some things that I needed to do better, and I started doing those things better [with the Brewers]," Weathers said. "It showed on the field. And sure, it was nice that it happened here. But I think wherever I go I'll be that same pitcher.

"The city of Milwaukee has been great to me. If we don't get a deal done there's nothing I can say bad about this place or about anybody, all the way from the clubhouse kids to the management. It's a good place, but I think if anyone else is in my shoes you've got to step back and say 'what is best for me and my family?'"

On Sunday, Weathers said nothing had changed since Thursday, when he and his agent rejected the Brewers' latest offer. With the July 31 trading deadline looming, the two sides were making last-ditch efforts to avoid a trade. After July 31, players must clear waivers before they are traded.

"I don't want to be rushed into it and I feel like right now a lot of things are being rushed," he said Sunday. "I think it's part of your career that you work so hard for you should enjoy it. I've earned it. I've come this far.

"I'm two months away from free agency and this is my 14th year playing [professional baseball]. You play a long time to be in that position. I think you just can't let that go for any deal that comes along. I think more important than being [in Milwaukee] is making sure not me but my family is taken care of, my wife and my kid. What's best for them?"

In the end, Weathers, who has a young son, Ryan, decided a change of scenery was best.

"There's a job. You have a job to do. Whether you're traded or you stay here for 10 years, that doesn't change the things on the baseball field," he said. "I'm comfortable here. But it took me while to get comfortable and who knows, I might have to get comfortable somewhere else. That's just the way it goes."

His Brewers teammates, who are a season-low 13 games under .500 at 45-58, have lost 13 of their last 15 games and 24 of their last 31. Their situation was not eased any by the rumors swirling around Weathers.

"Everyone is talking deadlines and we've got to worry about winning ball games," said fellow reliever Ray King. "I don't want to go through it because it's very distracting. You've got 25 guys trying to win a ball game and you've got a couple guys worrying about what's happening [off the field]. Sometimes it takes the focus off of what's happening on the field. Right now we've got a beautiful park and fans are coming out, we need to put some effort on the field and try to turn this thing around."

"It's probably hard on him [Weathers]," said slugging first baseman Richie Sexson, who came to Milwaukee in a multi-player trade immediately prior to the trading deadline last season. "It's tough, but he's been around the game long enough to be able to shun off any rumors. If David stays we'd love to have him, but if he moves on he could play for a contender and I guess that's the upside."

Now, Weathers could find himself pitching in the post-season for the second time in his career. In 1996 he was sent to the New York Yankees in a mid-season trade and had a 1.29 ERA (one earned run in 11 innings) in seven playoff appearances for the Bronx Bombers, including three appearances spanning three innings in the World Series. He lists his career highlight as pitching in the championship-clinching game for New York.

The possibility of returning to the Fall Classic was an enticing one.

"Who in their right mind wouldn't want to get to have an opportunity to pitch in the playoffs and possibly pitch in another World Series?" Weathers said. "That's huge. If I can do that it would be great."