Feelings on the Cubs-Bucs trade? I heard Dave Littlefield likes the trade for the Cubs.
It's trading mediocrity for [perhaps slightly-above] mediocrity, really. Hart has better stuff than I initially gave him credit for, but he was due for an implosion any start now - you can't let men on base like he does and hope to emerge unscathed against a competent team that isn't the Nats or the Reds or the Astros.
Ascanio was another right-handed reliever with a live arm and poor control; he had potential, but that archetype is a dime a dozen in any team's system.
Harrison, even I hadn't heard of, but the scouting reports say his ceiling is a Jamey Carroll-type player, who does nothing great but many things sort-of-okay and projects as a utilityman in the majors.
On the Cubs side, Grabow is what he is, a left-handed reliever who will ostensibly be used to neutralize key left-handed hitters and provide Lou with another such option in the pen, allowing him more freedom to use Sean Marshall as something more than a lefty specialist.
I like Gorzelanny's potential as a cheap, back-of-the-rotation left-handed starter and we'll see if he's figured anything out when he starts against the Reds next week.
For what it's worth, Littlefield has an excellent reputation as a scout, he simply can't be trusted in any actual decision-making capacities.
