BALTIMORE, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The Baltimore Orioles Saturday dealt pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine to the New York Mets for starter Kris Benson.
The 31-year-old Benson was 10-8 with a 4.13 ERA in 174 1/3 innings for the Mets in 2005. He allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of those outings.
On the team's Web site, Jim Duquette, Baltimore's vice president of baseball operations, said the Orioles had been after Benson the entire off-season.
"The holdup, I'd say, was the second piece of the deal," said Duquette, a former Mets executive. "We exchanged what I'd categorize as several names."
In six major seasons, Benson is 57-61 with a 4.25 ERA in 165 starts for the Mets and Pittsburgh.
Julio, who was 3-5 with a 5.90 ERA in 67 relief appearances last year, lost his closer's job in Baltimore to B.J. Ryan.
