Cubs Trade for Steve Trachsel

The Cubs have acquired Steve Trachsel from Baltimore for reliever Rocky Cherry and minor-league third baseman Scott Moore. Nice haul for the Orioles - Cherry is just an arm and a great name, but Moore, the eighth pick in the 2002 draft, is a real prospect. He's had some trouble with strikeouts as he's moved up the chain, and they remain a problem, but this year he improved his K:BB ratio to around 2:1 while moving up to Class AAA. He also has a bit of trouble making contact. He does, however, have 19 homers and an .899 in AAA this year, and he's only 23. He's also really turned it on in the second half. Moore has question marks - big ones - but he also has potential.

Trachsel has 45 strikeouts and 69 walks this year, so you can forget about that 4.48 ERA he's got - he won't maintain it. I'd only go with Trachsel at this point if I were extremely desperate, and what's weird about this deal is that the Cubs aren't. They'll probably move Sean Marshall to the bullpen to make way for Trachsel, and at this point I'd say Marshall is much better. The Cubs do need an extra starter for a doubleheader against the Cardinals in mid-September, but in my opinion, they'd be far better off just starting someone like Carlos Marmol or Juan Mateo that day, and keeping their prospect.

Thanks to Bucdaddy for pointing this out in the comments.