For the 2nd consecutive trade deadline, the Yankees enhanced their lineup with an undiscovered arm from NL Central. On Monday, the Yankees announced the trade of Scott Effross to the Cubs in exchange for Hayden Wesneski.
Effross, 28, has been outstanding since being promoted to the Major Leagues by the Cubs in 2021. He has pitched 58 2/3 innings in the leagues and has a 28.8 percent strikeout rate with 2.91 ERA , 5.1 percent walk rate, and 46 percent ground-ball rate.
In his major league career, he’s been more effective against left-handed batters than right-handed batters, which must have appealed to the Yankees. That’s not to say Effross is ineffective against righties, but he’s held lefties to a low standard.
In his 85 plate appearances, he has a batting line of 160/.250/.253.
Effross is in his second big league season and has less than a full year of Major League service time; he’s controllable for the next 5 years. He’ll be arbitration-eligible after the 2024 season and won’t be able to sign a new contract until 2027-28.
Effross’ addition is critical for a Yankees team. The Yankees have recently lost Michael King for injury, Chad Green for Tommy John surgery, and Aroldis Chapman struggled in his return from IL. Also Clay Holmes has struggled in the past 2 weeks following a great start to the 2022 season. If Effoss can maintain his impressive emergence, he will help solidify the group in 2022 and beyond.
Wesneski, 24, was selected in the sixth round by the Yankees in 2019 and has emerged top pitching prospects, ranking 4th among Yankees. The 6’3″ 210-pound right hander was promoted to Triple-A late in the 2021 and play entire 2022 season.
Scouting reports on Wesneski place him in the mid-90s on two-seam and four-seam heaters, with the latter reaching 99 mph. He also uses changeup, a slider, and cutter. Baseball America sees him as a potential 4th starter. MLB.com has already updated its list of the Cubs’ top prospects, with Wesneski ranking 8th, just behind fellow pitchers Jordan Wicks and Caleb Kilian.
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