The Chicago Cubs made an unsurprising move at today's trade deadline shipping starting pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Blake DeWitt and minor league pitchers Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit.
In Lilly, the Dodgers add a veteran arm that will fit nicely into the middle of their rotation behind Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.
This has been Lilly's worst year record-wise in his four seasons with the Cubs, posting a 3-8 record but boasts an ERA of 3.69 and 1.14 WHIP.
Lilly's numbers have not been as great as they have been in previous years, but his 3-8 record is quite misleading as he has gotten little run support from the terrible Cubs offense.
The Dodgers also receive Theriot in the deal with the Cubs who has had a solid season at the dish with a .284 batting average, but has been below average fielder especially since moving over to second base, where he would likely play with the Dodgers.
As for the Cubs side of this deal, I believe they did quite well considering Lilly will likely only be a rental for the Dodgers and that Theriot had really fallen out of favor with the Cubs because of his poor defensive play.
In the trade, the Cubs add an immediate replacement for Theriot in DeWitt, who is younger, with a good amount of upside and is under team control until 2014.
DeWitt has similar offensive stats as Theriot with a .270 batting average 30 RBI and only one home run, but DeWitt is slightly better than Theriot in the field, plus is five years younger than Theriot.
Of the two minor league players that the Cubs acquired in the trade, Wallach has the highest upside.
Wallach is the son of former Major League pitcher Tim Wallach and is rated 20th among Dodger prospects by Baseball America. Wallach figures to be a third spot in the rotation type of guy, but is still far off as he currently resides in Single-A.
The other minor leaguer that the Cubs received from the Dodgers is reliever Kyle Smit, who just recently jumped from Single-A to Double-A. This season in the minors Smit has posted a 5-3 record with an ERA of 2.35 in 53.2 innings pitched.
As for who wins this trade, it is difficult to say right now. If the Dodgers somehow catch the Padres in the West or capture the Wild Card I would give them the edge.
However, as it stands right now, I would have to give the edge to the Cubs as the Dodgers get a rental starting pitcher and an average middle infielder for two solid pitching prospects, and a young middle infielder who is similar to who they acquired.
As a Cubs fan I am very pleased with this trade, although it is tough to see fan favorite Lilly go, it is nice to see that the Cubs were able to get good value out of him. Plus, the Cubs also add DeWitt, who I have had my eye on since his rookie season.
All in all, I believe this is a good trade for the Dodgers in the here and now, but next year and beyond this trade only helps the Cubs and not the Dodgers.
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