Less than two weeks ago, the Chicago Cubs bolstered their starting rotation by pulling off a Matt Garza trade. However, that deal left them with something of a starter surplus, so on Monday, to clear some space, the Cubs have traded Tom Gorzelanny to the Washington Nationals.
Tom Gorzelanny Traded From Cubs To Nationals In Roster Crunch
The Nationals have been searching for rotation upgrades all offseason, so for them, Gorzelanny is a cheap, handy acquisition. And for the Cubs, moving Gorzelanny makes the rotation picture a little easier to sort out, as the team already had Garza, Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Andrew Cashner, Carlos Silva, Randy Wells, and James Russell as candidates. The Cubs will receive three prospects from the Nationals in the deal - two pitchers and an outfielder. Their identities are as yet unknown, but it's expected that at least one of them will be a pretty talented young player.
Gorzelanny is a 28-year-old lefty who works primarily off of a standard fastball/slider/changeup pitch mix. He owns a career 4.68 ERA and will struggle with pitch location, but he’s improved his ability to miss bats and has blossomed into a fine middle-of-the-rotation starter. He’s under team control for another three seasons to boot, and while he’s not going to pitch like an ace, decent innings are decent innings, and the Nationals have gotten a little bit better.
For more on the deal, check out Federal Baseball and Bleed Cubbie Blue.
See More:
