The Chicago Cubs made a trade with the New York Yankees on Monday afternoon, with a little bit more than 24 hours remaining before the deadline.
They traded rookie reliever Scott Effross to the Bombers in exchange for pitching prospect Hayden Wesneski.
Effross had been having a terrific season so far, with a 2.66 ERA in 44 innings.
He also had 50 strikeouts against only 11 walks.
While Wesneski is a legitimate pitching prospect who could be a fixture in the Cubs’ rotation in early 2023 or perhaps even late 2022, not every analyst is convinced the Cubs did well by trading Effross.
“Scott Effross looked like an arm Cubs could count on in back of ‘pen next couple years or keep him as a versatile high-lev spots. Can’t say I envisioned him being part of Cubs’ sell off esp as pre-arb guy. Org must have confidence in ability to develop relievers & obv sold high,” Cubs beat writer at the Chicago Tribune Meghan Montemurro tweeted on Monday afternoon.
Scott Effross looked like an arm Cubs could count on in back of 'pen next couple years or keep him as a versatile high-lev spots.
Can't say I envisioned him being part of Cubs' sell off esp as pre-arb guy. Org must have confidence in ability to develop relievers & obv sold high.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) August 1, 2022
Cubs Just Gave Up An Important Bullpen Asset
Effross is 28 already, but team control in MLB is really important.
Yes, they are getting six full years of service with Wesneski, but he is not proven against MLB hitters: Effross is.
In any case, it’s a worthy gamble for both sides.
Wesneski has pitched 89.2 innings with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate and has a 3.51 ERA there.
He could be a nice middle-of-the-rotation piece for the Cubs.
The Yankees, in turn, are taking in a really solid reliever without top-end velocity, but with elite pitch movement and mound smarts.
All in all, it looks like a fair deal, but the Yankees are getting the proven reliever (albeit in only half a season) and the Cubs are receiving the lottery ticket.
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