Thursday, July 30, 2009

Cubs Make a Deal With The Pirates

Today the Cubs made their trading deadline splash by sending Kevin Hart, Jose Ascaino, and minor league third baseman Josh Harrison to the Pirates in exchange for LHPs John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny.

Essentially we sent two of our mediocre right handed pitchers to the Pirates for two lefties. Hart actually pitched and got the win today for the Cubs, but he is nothing more than a "live arm" who really isn't that much of a loss in the big picture. Ascaino is a talented guy who probably has a decent future has a relief pitcher, but the Cubs have a number of those guys (Guzman, Marmol, Stevens) who are more talented. Losing Harrison really isn't that big a deal either, if he develops for them and becomes a solid player that's fine, but he wasn't helping the Cubs win this year.

Grabow comes in an is the LOOGY right away. He has solid numbers this season against righties and lefties, a his BABIP against left handed hitting is so high that he is due for some major good luck the rest of the season. He's also a type-A free agent at the end of the season meaning that if the Cubs offer him arbitration they can get two first round picks when another team signs him.

I have a feeling the trade will be judged in the future by how Tom Gorzelanny pitches for the Cubs. He has a solid 2007 season with a 14-10 record and a 3.88 ERA, but fell off last year. If he figures out how to pitch again (probably a 50-50 chance) then the Cubs will be big winners here. If not then Grabow better strikeout Carlos Pena in the World Series (obviously a joke) otherwise the Pirates won't really regret this deal.

Overall solid trade. Cubs dump nobody of significance and gain a LOOGY and a guy who may or may not be able to recapture his 2007 ability.

Keep tuned into our twitter and the site in case any other news breaks.

2 comments:

  1. this just makes me sick, Hart was going to be really go. he will come back and kick our butts now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No he won't. Like I said Hart is an arm. He's a guy. Nothing special about him. Gorzelanny has a lower WHIP and is the same age. We got about as much as we could out of Hart this season. Be happy we didn't give up any real prospects of note and still got the LOOGY Lou and Hendry wanted.

    ReplyDelete