Cubs Trade Ruggiano
The Cubs cleared some 40-man roster space and made room for a "clubhouse dude" by sending OF Justin Ruggiano to the Seattle Mariners for 25-year old relief pitcher Matt Brazis. Ruggiano was acquired from the Marlins last offseason for Brian Bogusevic and put up an 111 OPS+ with an .846 OPS versus lefties in limited, albeit effective action. He can also handle all 3 OF positions which is a nice added benefit. For whatever reasons that do not particularly interest me, the Cubs seem to want a veteran "clubhouse dude" as Maddon calls them and Johnny Gomes or someone similar seems to be the target. Eh, whatever.
As for Brazis, his career minor league numbers look like this: 2.89 ERA in 158.2 IP, 1.109 WHIP, 7.1 H/9, 2.8 BB/9, 10.9 K/9, 0.5 HR/9...so quite spectacular across the board, although he's probably been a bit old for his leagues. I can't seem to find any worthy scouting reports, but guessing by those K totals, he features a good fastball/slider combo. He touched AA last season, so it's not inconceivable that he'll see the majors this year.
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