Cubs acquire RHP Rowan Wick from Padres for INF Jason Vosler

The moves are coming fast and furious today as the Cubs traded infielder Jason Vosler to the San Diego Padres in exchange for right-handed pitcher Rowan Wick. Wick will get a spot of the 40-man roster.

Wick had been a 9th-round pick of the Cardinals as a catcher/outfielder in 2012. After his bat stalled out in High-A in 2015, the Cardinals decided to take advantage of his plus arm and convert him to pitching for the 2016 season. In Spring Training of this year, the Cardinals placed him on waivers where he was claimed by the Padres. Wick pitched most of the year for in relief for Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso, but he also made his major league debut at the end of August. Wick pitched 8.1 innings in the majors over ten appearances. He finished the season with an ERA of 6.48. However, it should be mentioned that five of the six runs he allowed in the majors were in just one game against the Reds at the Great American Ballpark. In the majors, Wick struck out seven and walked just one.

Between San Antonio and El Paso in 2018, Wick made 49 relief appearances and went 4-4 with a 2.67 ERA and 14 saves in 16 attempts. He struck out 64 and walked 31 over 52 innings. Wick, who turned 26 earlier this month, obviously has a lot fewer innings on his arm than most pitchers his age. In his entire professional career, Wick has only thrown 161 innings.

Vosler was the Cubs’ 16th-round pick out of Northeastern in 2014 and he showed terrific power over the past two season and was named the Cubs’ 25th-best prospect by Baseball America before the 2018 season. Vosler hit 21 home runs for the Double-A Tennessee Smokies in 2017 and 23 home runs between the Smokies and the Triple-A Iowa Cubs this past season. The rest of his game is not as polished. As a defender, he can play a passable third base, but his best position is first. His career batting average is .247, which is right in line with the .251 that he hit between the two levels in 2018. Vosler did sport a .330 OBP in 2018, which isn’t bad, but he also whiffed an eye-opening 149 times in 471 at-bats.

The Cubs had to make a decision about Vosler to add him to the 40-man roster or risk losing him to the Rule 5 draft. Instead, they decided to ship him out to San Diego where the Padres got a three-true-outcome lottery ticket.

As far as I can tell, the Cubs 40-man roster is now full. Someone will have to be removed to protect some other players, but there is one fewer potential Rule 5 pick with Vosler heading to San Diego.