Lloyd hopes to avoid his former boss, appeals trade

MIAMI -- Reliever Graeme Lloyd, appalled by the prospect of pitching again for Florida owner Jeffrey Loria, has asked an arbitrator to reverse the eight-player trade that sent him to the Marlins from the Montreal Expos.

Lloyd says the deal July 11 violated a no-trade clause in his contract. It listed the Marlins as one of 12 teams he couldn't be traded to, but his agents apparently missed by one day a deadline to renew the clause last Nov. 1.

If Lloyd's appeal is upheld, he could be returned to the Expos. The appeal is unlikely to affect Montreal's acquisition of outfielder Cliff Floyd in the trade.

Loria owned the Expos when Lloyd pitched for them in 2000 and 2001, and at some point their relationship soured.

"Do I have a problem pitching for his team?" Lloyd said Friday. "Certainly that's why there's a grievance."

Lloyd argued his case in a 10-hour hearing in Atlanta on Wednesday. Montreal general manager Omar Minaya is optimistic arbitrator Shyam Das will uphold the deal.

"Our advice from major league baseball was that we have a strong case," Minaya said. "Before we made the trade, we checked with major league baseball, and they told us to move forward and make the trade."