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The Cubs made a trade!
Well, it’s nothing huge, but the Cubs acquired right-handed pitcher Jharel Cotton for cash from the A’s. The 27-year-old was DFA’d earlier this week when teams were making 40-man roster moves. The Cubs still have a few spots open on their 40-man to make some additions and Cotton is the first.
The right-hander was drafted in 2012 and used to be a top-prospect in the Dodgers’ minor league system. Cotton was traded to the A’s in 2016, making his MLB debut with Oakland later that season.
Cotton made five starts for the A’s when he first was called up and pitched great, striking out 23, walking only 4 in 29.1 innings on his way to a 2.15 ERA. However, his first full season in MLB didn’t go so great, as Cotton posted a 5.58 ERA over 24 starts in 2017 and was demoted to Triple-A.
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Since then things have been bumpy for the righty, undergoing Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss all of 2018. He returned to action in May 2019, but after three pitching appearances a hamstring injury led to surgery to fix the problem, making him miss a little more than a month.
Cotton pitched in 18 games this past year coming back from Tommy John surgery. Obviously, he’s still trying to get back his stuff following the elbow surgery, but this is simply another case of the Cubs taking a shot at a reclamation project.
It should be noted, Dan Kantrovitz, the Cubs new scouting director, was the assistant GM for the A’s for the last five years. So, you have to imagine he had some input on this pickup and gave it a thumbs up.
The Cubs 40-man roster now stands at 37.
