Stillwell Goes to Royals in Four-Player Trade

The Cincinnati Reds traded promising infielder Kurt Stillwell to the Kansas City Royals for much-needed pitching help Friday. In a four-player deal, the Reds acquired left-hander Danny Jackson and shortstop Angel Salazar for Stillwell, a graduate of Thousand Oaks High School, and pitcher Ted Power.

The Reds, ninth in the National League in earned-run average at 4.24 last season, and last in the major leagues with seven complete games, now have three left-handed starters in Dennis Rasmussen, Tom Browning and the 25-year-old Jackson, who was a victim of inconsistent support last season when he was 9-18 with a 4.02 ERA. In 119 games with the Royals, he was 37-49 with a 3.69 ERA.

Stillwell, 22, was the Reds’ No. 1 pick in the 1983 June draft. He appeared in 131 games last season, batting .258 with 33 runs batted in.

Power, 32, spent five seasons with the Reds, compiling a career record of 44-42 with 41 saves.

Salazar, 26, spent most of the last two seasons as the Royals’ shortstop, with a .224 average.

The trade was the first for Murray Cook, who recently replaced Bill Bergesch as Cincinnati’s general manager.