Angels Trade Davis for Pitcher Gubicza

The Angels traded designated hitter Chili Davis to the Kansas City Royals on Monday for right-handed pitcher Mark Gubicza and minor league prospect Mike Bovee.

Davis, 36, batted .292 with 28 home runs and 95 runs batted in last season. He has a career batting average of .274 with 298 home runs and 1,195 RBI in 2,115 games with the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins and Angels since 1981. He’s a three-time All-Star and has had 20 or more home runs in seven of the past nine seasons.

Gubicza, 34, was 4-12 with a 5.13 earned-run average in 19 games last season before he suffered a broken left shin on July 5 after being hit by a ball batted by Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins.

Gubicza, who hasn’t won more than 12 games in a season since 1989, has a career record of 132-135 with a 3.91 ERA in 382 games with the Royals since 1984. He won 84 games in his first six seasons, yet has had only one healthy season since.

Gubicza will join an Angel staff that was 13th in the American League with a 5.31 ERA. Davis is expected to bolster an offense that was last in the league in runs with 746.

“It was a tough decision for me to make,� said Gubicza, who could have vetoed the trade. “I told [Kansas City General Manager Herk Robinson) that if he could improve the ballclub by trading me, I wouldn’t stop that.�

The trade also could ensure a spot in the Angel lineup for outfielder Darin Erstad, the team’s top draft pick a year ago who hit .284, with four home runs, 20 runs batted in, and three stolen bases in 208 at-bats. The Angels already have three solid outfielders in Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds and Garret Anderson.

Gubicza’s best season was in 1988, when he was 20-8 with a 2.70 ERA and finished third in voting for the Cy Young Award.