More on the Cubs/Pirates Trade and More

Yesterday, the Cubs made a big trade that sent Kevin Hart, Jose Ascaino, and Josh Harrison to the Pirates. In return, the Cubs received SP Tom Gorzelanny and left handed reliever John Grabow. Hart pitched a great game in the Cubs 12-3 win and got his 3rd win of the year before being traded. More on everyone involved in the trade:

Tom Gorzelanny

• LHP
• Was drafted by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2003 draft.
• Pitched 9 big league games (all out of the pen) for the Bucs this season and went 3-1 with a 5.19 ERA.
• Went 4-3 with a 2.48 ERA in 15 starts at AAA Indianapolis this year.
• Has a career 4.79 ERA in the big leagues.
• Made his big league debut in 2005.
• Went to Marist High School in Chicago.

John Grabow

• LHP
• Drafted by Pittsburgh in the 3rd Round of the 1997 MLB Draft.
• Big league debut in 2003.
• Has appear in 45 games with the Pirates this year, all in relief. He has a 3-0 record with a 3.42 ERA.
• Career 4.09 ERA

Kevin Hart

• RHP
• Selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 2004 draft.
• Acquired by the Cubs as the PTBNL in 2006, part of the deal that sent Freddie Bynum to the O's.
• Was 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 22 games (6 starts) at AAA Iowa this year.
• So far in 2009 with the big league Cubs: 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 7 games (3 starts).

Jose Ascanio

• RHP
• Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Braves in 2001.
• Traded to the Cubs from Atlanta in the deal that sent Will Ohman and Omar Infante to the Braves in December of 2007.
• Made his big league debut with the Braves in July of '07.
• 2-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts with AAA Iowa so far in 2009
• 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 14 relief appearances with the Chicago Cubs this season.

Josh Harrison

• Second Base prospect, also plays some OF
• Drafted by the Cubs in the 6th round of the 2008 draft
• Hit .286 with 9 RBIs in 18 games at High Class A Daytona this year.
• Was hitting .337 with 4 HRs and 33 RBIs in 79 games at Class A Peoria in 2009.

I'm not a big fan of this trade. I think Hart will pitch better the rest of this year than Gorzelanny. Harrison was a good prospect, but I was OK with giving up him and Ascaino but not Kevin Hart as well. Let's hope this trade ends up paying off!

Tom Gorzelanny has officially been sent to AAA Iowa for now, but it sounds like he will be joining the team in Miami. Grabow will be in uniform tonight and available out of the pen. He has taken Hart's spot on the roster.

There were rumors yesterday that the Cubs could add an outfielder before today's 3pm CT Trade Deadline, but Sam Fuld is with the team and is expected to be called up before today's game to take Mitch Atkins spot on the roster. Atkins was sent to AAA after yesterday's game.

Carrie Muskat says that there is no word yet as to who will replace Hart in the rotation until Lilly come of the DL. It could be Marshall or Gorzelanny.

Check out Wittenmyer's article about the Cubs missing Jim Edmonds left handed bat.

MLB Network talked about the trade the Cubs made yesterday on their show today:

• Tom Verducci and John Hart agree that the trade was good for both teams.
• Tom wonders how Lou will use Grabow.
• Hart says that Grabow can be a guy who pitches the 7th to get the ball to Marmol and Gregg.

More Notes

• Geovany Soto may be back in the Cubs lineup by Wednesday. Soto will start a minor league rehab assignment this weekend and the Cubs are hoping he's back in the lineup no later than Friday in Colorado.
• Koyie Hill has started each of the last 20 games behind the dish, the Cubs are 13-7 during that stretch.
• The Cubs are hoping to get Reed Johnson back in as little time as 2 weeks.
• Former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield is now a special assistant to Hendry. He had been scouting Gorzelanny at AAA.
• ESPN has ordered a documentary on the Cubs scapegoat Steve Bartman.
• B.J. Ryan pitched for the I-Cubs for the second time last night. All went well again, Ryan tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless ball, giving up no hits and just 1 walk. He has not allowed a run yet at AAA. He could join the Cubs' bullpen soon.
• Reed Johnson blogged about being on the DL again.

David Kaplan talked with the newest Cub Tom Gorzelanny on Sports Central last night:

• Tom is supposed to go down to Florida soon.
• He got a call from the Pirates GM and the minute he got off the phone he called his wife and told her. Gorzelanny says it's an exciting time for him.
• Tom grew up a White Sox Fan :(!!! At least he was honest!
• Last year was "a trying year" for him. He had some health issues and says he couldn't get over that bump. His shoulder wasn't strong enough, he was throwing 86-87 then started trying to do too much. Next, it trickled over into a mental thing.
• Gorzelanny feels confident, strong, and capable to win games.
• He feels most comfortable in the rotation because he's been there his whole career, but he'll do anything to keep himself in the big leagues.
• Tom is 100% healthy, ready to start or come out of the bullpen.

In other NL Central news, the Brewers have just made a trade to add RHP Claudio Vargas from the Dodgers.

Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune joined Mully & Hanley on 670 the Score today:

• Dave says that this trade is a hard one to break down.
• Van Dyck didn't think anyone of the big league roster would be traded in this deal, but Hart was.
• Grabow is better against right handed hitters than lefties. He goes an inning or 2 at a time.
• Gorzelanny was a pretty good pitcher in 2007, and is the key to this deal.
• Dave thinks it's a strange trade.
• In his opinion the Cubs should go after Brian Anderson
• The Cubs don't want someone like Teahen who will get in Johnson's way when he comes back.

Will the Cubs make another move in the next 2 and a half hours? I'll keep you posted on all rumors/moves that I hear about as always! More posts to come before tonight's game! Look for updates at the top or bottom of this post as well.