KANSAS CITY -- Now, all three members of the ballyhooed back end of the Royals' 2006 bullpen are gone.
Left-hander Andrew Sisco was traded to the Chicago White for first-baseman/outfielder Ross Gload, the Royals announced on Saturday.

Gload, 30, is expected to be a backup at first base, behind Ryan Shealy, as well as in the outfield. He hit .327, a career high, in 77 games last season for the White Sox.

The departure of Sisco goes with the earlier trades of Ambiorix Burgos to the Mets and of Mike MacDougal to the White Sox. When last season began, Sisco and Burgos were the setup men for MacDougal, the closer at the time.

Sisco had a 7.10 ERA in 65 games in 2006, with a 1-3 record and one save. He was a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Cubs prior to the 2005 season, when he surprisingly appeared in 67 games and posted a 3.11 ERA.

After this past year's slump, though, Sisco was sent to the Mexican Winter League for work.

Burgos was traded to the Mets on Dec. 6 for right-hander Brian Bannister, while MacDougal was dealt to the White Sox on July 24 for Minor League pitchers Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes.

"Gload is a hard-nosed, tough-minded guy who battled his way through the Minors," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said on Saturday. "He fits with our team."

Gload, a left-handed hitter, has a .298 career average in parts of five seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and the White Sox.

"When you look at the balance of our team, we needed a left-handed hitter who can play first base and some other positions, too," Moore said.

Last season, Gload was 7-for-20 as a pinch-hitter, his .350 average tying for the American League lead. His 51 hits included three home runs and eight doubles, and he had 18 RBIs in 156 at-bats.



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Sisco, at 6-foot-10, matches fellow southpaw Randy Johnson in height if not results. In Mexico, Sisco went 2-3 with a 4.59 ERA in seven starts.

Sisco became expendable after the Royals signed closer Octavio Dotel and picked up relievers John Bale, also a left-hander, as well as Kenny Ray and Joakim Soria, both right-handers.

In two seasons with Kansas City, Sisco went 3-8 with a 4.85 ERA and one save in 132 games. His big downfall last season was allowing a league-high 27 inherited runners (of 63) to score.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Now who backs up paulie at first kenny ?

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Nice Guys Finish Last

Thank you,and have a nice day !

A reserve 1B/OF who's a nice backup for a 23 year old lefty with a chance to become pretty good.

I'll take my chance on this one.

Great trade by Kenny. I like Gload but the Sox need a 2nd lefty in the pen FAR more than a backup first baseman.

If Angelo needs another DT maybe he should I think about giving Kenny a call.

Jenks 6'3" 280+
Sisco 6'10" 270

Good move for both teams. I've always been a fan of Gload and now he can get regular at bats on KC. Glad Kenny is stocking up on arms again and this kid has some good upside. I like this move.

Just my thought here, but Sisco had a 7.10 ERA, walked 40 batters in 58 innings, thats not good. I dont want hear how "coop" can fix him, because he couldnt fix anyone last year.

Gload hit 327, yes in only 77 games, but a solid backup and KW trades him for a nobody, horrible trade and I would assume that since Sisco was only making 345,000, it was a trade to cut salary, not a huge cut.

If I was a White Sox fan, if the Sox had less payroll this upcoming year then they had last year, I would be pissed.

Matt Thornton.

Sisco was very good the year before. I would like to see him spend next year in AAA and return to being a starter. If he is successfull in doing this, the trade is a steal.

In my opinion the Sox still have a very big hole in the bullpen.

I agree dolphin.
I still think Kenny is looking for an upgrade of LF and bullpen help.
Alex Rios' name has been all over the place today as well as Baldeli.

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