The Chicago Cubs bullpen was set to become crowded with the imminent elevation of the Esmailin Caridads, Blake Parkers, Jon Gaubs, and Jeff Stevens of the Cubs’ system. Thus, that they’ve started the dumping party is unsurprising. And in this case, welcomed.
Today, the Cubs sent reliever Aaron Heilman – arbitration eligible – to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a couple of prospects.
Heilman went 4-4 with a 4.11 ERA in 70 appearances for the Cubs last season. He was acquired from Seattle for left-handed pitcher Garrett Olson and infielder Ronny Cedeno on January 28, 2009.
Maine, 24, combined to go 4-5 with seven saves and a 2.90 ERA in 48 relief appearances with Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno in 2009. The sixth-round pick of the 2007 draft reached the Triple-A level in just his third pro season.
White, 23, hit .266 with six home runs for Single-A Visalia last season. ESPN Chicago.
So, if you’re keeping score at home, that means Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno (essentially) netted the Cubs an ok-looking reliever prospect and a borderline non-prospect. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether that was a mistake. Oh, and I’ll link Felix Pie’s stats. Because I’m a douche.
As for Heilman, the numbers belie his actual performance. He was consistently a disappointment – pitching well when it didn’t matter, and disappearing when it did. Given his previous time as a reliever, last season was probably an outlier. But given my antipathy for paying middle relievers any kind of meaningful cash when you’ve got youngsters who can throw the ball, Heilman’s departure is just fine with me.