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Nationals Acquire Scott Hairston
The Nationals have acquired outfielder Scott Hairston in a trade with the Cubs, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes. The Cubs received minor league righty Ivan Pineyro in return, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Both teams will also receive a player to be named later, but Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told reporters today that component will "not affect the balance of the deal." Signed by the Cubs to a two-year, $5MM deal in February, the Cubs will chip in less than $500K toward Hairston's $2.5MM salary for 2014, tweets Heyman.
Hairston, 33, has played sparingly this year, hitting .172/.232/.434 in 112 plate appearances, the overwhelming majority of them against lefties. As Amanda Comak of the Washington Times notes, the Nats are about to begin a series against the Phillies in which they'll face three straight lefty starters: John Lannan, Cole Hamels, and Cliff Lee. That means Hairston could get a fair amoung of playing time right away, but generally, the Nationals will likely use him primarily off the bench, just as the Cubs did. Hairston's opportunities will probably come at the expense of fellow righty Tyler Moore, who has hit .151/.195/.283 this season. Hairston has a .244/.299/.447 line over ten seasons with the Diamondbacks, Padres, Athletics, Mets and Cubs. He was drafted by the D'Backs in the third round in 2001, at which point current Nationals GM Mike Rizzo was their director of scouting. Even after acquiring Hairston, the Nationals are looking for a second right-handed hitter to add more depth off the bench, notes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
Pineyro, 21, was promoted to High-A in mid-June after making the South Atlantic League All-Star team. In 15 starts overall this year, he has a 3.24 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.58 HR/9 in 77 2/3 innings. Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Pineyro 27th among Nationals prospects, noting that the Dominican held his own against older competition, and "his quick arm is intriguing." According to BA, Pineyro throws 90-94 with an average to plus changeup and a curveball that needs work. "If he continues to pitch the way he has been, I think he will be a big league pitcher," Hagerstown Suns pitching coach Franklin Bravo told Ashley Marshall of MLB.com in late April.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
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