CHICAGO – Matt Stairs, whose late-season hitting helped Oakland win the AL Western Division, was traded to the Chicago Cubs Monday for a minor-league pitcher claimed off waivers earlier in the day.

Ironically, Stairs was traded on the same day he bought a new house in Bangor, Maine.

Phil Cormier of ERA Dawson Bradford Inc. in Bangor confirmed Monday that Stairs was the professional baseball player who had been rumored to have been buying a house in Bangor.

The closing on the home was Monday.

Despite the fact that he was living on the West Coast, Stairs is very familiar with East Coast weather: he was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and was a member of the 1988 Canadian Olympic baseball team.

Stairs, 32, batted .227 in 143 games with 21 home runs and 81 RBIs for the Athletics last season, including a .286 average and 17 RBIs in the last 26 games.

Stairs topped the 100-RBI mark each of the previous two seasons, driving in 106 runs in 1998 and 102 in 1999. He also hit a career-high 38 home runs in 1999.

The Cubs sent right-hander Eric Ireland to the Athletics. Ireland, 23, was the Houston’s second-round selection in the 1995 draft but last year pitched for Double-A Round Rock, going 11-9 with two complete-game shutouts and a 3.41 ERA in 29 starts.

The Cubs claimed him off waivers from the Astros on Monday.

Stairs broke into the majors in 1992. He played with the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox before joining Oakland in 1996. In 690 major league games he has batted .267 with 123 home runs and 409 RBIs.