Joe Kelly. (Getty Images)
Trade!
The Chicago Cubs send Scott Feldman and Pierce Johnson to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Kelly, Carson Kelly and Edmundo Sosa.
Joe Kelly is a 6-1, 185 pound right-handed hitter and thrower, born June 9, 1988. His key pitch is his fastball, clocked as high as 98-100 MPH when used in relief. It is a consistent 91-95 MPH pitch as a starter. The fastball has unusually strong sinking movement; sometimes it moves like a splitter. His secondary pitches are a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. These all have their moments, but none of them are dominant pitches and ultimately he lives and dies with the sinker.
He has excellent control but many see him as a reliever in the long run. I think he deserves a shot in the rotation. Kelly could be a very solid inning-eating ground ball machine, something that would be good for the Cubs to have.
Carson Kelly, on the other hand, is the Cardinals No. 10 prospect (Baseball America). He was born in 1994 and drafted out of Westview High School. Kelly has a sturdy frame that has started to add muscle with maturity. He has a calm, quiet approach at the plate with a furious, balanced swing. He gets the barrel to pitches in the zone and does not strike out often for a player with his latent power.
He's not excellent defensively, so the Cardinals tried to move him behind the plate. He has the arm for it so he could evolve into a catcher in the Cubs organization- a particularly weak spot.
Finally, Edmundo Sosa. The Cubs threw in Sosa late in the deal because he's intriguing. He's from Panama and is very, very young but is a talented shortstop.
Losing Feldman was a blow to Chicago's rotation, but he is 31 and losing steam. Adding Pierce Johnson wasn't ideal as BA has him as the second best pitcher in the MilB roster, but scouts saw some problems- mainly his injury-prone forearm and control issues.
All in all, this was a big trade to push through. It freed up cap space and bolstered the Cubs minor league system.