Mitchell Goes to Reds in Deal : Baseball: Dodgers get veteran second baseman Reed from Colorado Rockies for oft-injured pitcher Seanez.

NEW YORK —  The moritorium preventing announcing trades until the major league expansion draft is over was broken quickly Tuesday, and not by the Florida Marlins or Colorado Rockies.

Kevin Mitchell, a disappointment for Seattle last season, was traded from the Mariners to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Norm Charlton.

Hot on the heels of the deal were those of the two expansion teams, including the Rockies’ trade of second baseman Jody Reed, drafted in the first round from the Boston Red Sox, to the Dodgers for pitcher Rudy Seanez, who spent all of last season on the disabled list.

Mitchell, 31 in January, led the major leagues with 109 home runs from 1989-91 with the San Francisco Giants. He was traded with pitcher Mike Remlinger to Seattle last winter for pitchers Dave Burba, Mike Jackson and Bill Swift, and the Mariners hoped Mitchell would break loose at the Kingdome.

Instead, nagged by injuries and overweight, he hit only nine home runs. He batted .286 with 67 runs batted in. The Mariners had expected something like 40 homers and 100 RBIs.

Mitchell apologized, sort of, after the season to Mariners fans and promised to do better next year. Now, he’ll have to do it for the Reds, back in the National League.

“While we did not want to give up the bat of Kevin Mitchell, we felt we had to strengthen our pitching,” Woody Woodward, Mariner general manager, said. “It also makes it attractive to other pitchers, knowing we have a stopper in Charlton.”

Mitchell was the NL’s Most Valuable Player in 1989, when he hit 47 homers with 125 RBIs for the Giants.

The Reds, under owner Marge Schott, have been cost conscious in recent years. Still, with the opportunity to get a slugger, they will spend $7 million for two years on Mitchell.

Charlton, 30 in January, had 26 saves for the Reds last season. He was 4-2 with a 2.99 earned-run average.

Charlton was part of the Nasty Boys trio of Randy Myers and Rob Dibble that helped pitch Cincinnati to the 1990 World Series championship. Dibble is the only one of the three left with the Reds.

“Charlton and Dibble had gotten to a point where they couldn’t both co-exist on the same team as relief pitchers,” Reds General Manager Jim Bowden said.

It was expected that the Mariners and Rockies would draft players with the intention of trading them, and that was quickly born out.

Florida created one of the biggest stirs, sending catcher Eric Helfand, whom they drafted from Oakland, back to the Athletics with a player to be named for shortstop Walt Weis.

The Marlins also sent left-handed pitcher Danny Jackson, whom they had drafted from the Pittsburgh Pirates, to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitchers Joel Adamson and Matt Whisenant. Pitcher Tom Edens was sent to the Houston Astros for pitchers Brian Griffiths and Hector Carasco.

The Marlins also picked up shortstop Alex Arias and third baseman Gary Scott from the Chicago Cubs for left-handed pitcher Greg Hibbard, whom Florida had drafted from the White Sox.

Though there was thought that Colorado would hold on to Kevin Reimer for his home-run potential in mile-high Denver, the Rockies sent him to Milwaukee for outfielder Dante Bichette, a former Angel.