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In a swap of underachieving righthanders, the Detroit Tigers re-acquired shell-shocked Jose Lima from the Houston Astros for enigmatic Dave Mlicki.

Lima, 28, has been one of the game's most disappointing pitchers over the last two years. He was a key component of the Astros' division championship teams in 1998 and 1999 but is a combined 8-18 with a 6.79 ERA since.

"It hurts," Lima said. "I have a lot of memories here. I'm real dissapointed. Do I need a fresh start? Probably. I don't want to leave Houston. My family lives here and I have a lot of friends here."

Lima, who is expected to start for the Tigers on Wednesday, was 8-16 for the Tigers between 1994-96.

The 33-year-old Mlicki won 14 games for Detroit in 1999 but is just 10-19 since. He has shown flashes of breaking through numerous times in his career but has a lifetime record of 55-67.

"My hope is that the change of scenery will help both guys," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "We want to see Dave do well down there and obviously we're hoping this is a good place for Jose."

Lima is a fly-ball pitcher who was engulfed by hitter-friendly Enron Field. He set a National league record by allowing 48 homers last season in the cozy ballpark, whose dimensions are much smaller than the spacious Comerica Park.

"Hopefully, a change of scenery will benefit both pitchers," Tigers general manager Randy Smith said. "Lima has had success pitching in a big ballpark. He won 21 games and pitched in the All-Star Game in 1999.

"We hope changing leagues and pitching at Comerica Park will get Jose back to the level of success he achieved while pitching in the Astrodome."

Lima, who had been dropped from Houston's rotation in late May, waived his no-trade clause to start his second stint in Detroit.

"If I'm not pitching, why fight it?" he said. "Why make it hard on the Astros if they're not using me? I'm not helping, so I've got to take it like a man. I felt embarrassed, sitting in the bullpen hearing the phone ring and knowing they're not going to use me. At least somebody wants me. It'll be hard for a while, but I'll get over it."

The trade continues the ongoing relationship between the teams, who have completed four deals in the last five years.

"It happened very quickly, just in the last 24 hours, start to finish," Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "Anybody who follows our club knows that this has been a very difficult time for Jose."

Lima was 1-2 with a 7.30 ERA in 14 appearances this season. Originally signed by the Tigers in July 1989, the colorful pitcher never made the adjustment from the cavernous Astrodome to Enron Field.

After teaming with Mike Hampton to form one of baseball's best 1-2 punches in 1999, Lima was awful in 2000, losing 13 of his first 14 decisions. He promised a return to "Lima Time" this season but once again got off to an awful start, allowing at least four runs in seven of his first nine starts.

Mlicki is 4-8 with a 7.33 ERA in 15 starts this season. He was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 16, 1999 and went 24-36 with a 5.45 ERA in his stint with the Tigers.

Ironically, Mlicki leads the American League with 18 homers allowed.

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Remember when Lima was actually good?!

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