Padres Acquire Jason Vosler From Cubs For Rowan Wick

Image credit: Rowan Wick (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

The Padres made three trades on Tuesday in advance of the 40-man roster deadline, first sending reliever Colten Brewer to the Red Sox and righthander Walker Lockett to the Indians.

For their third deal, they traded righthanded reliever Rowan Wick to the Cubs in exchange for infielder Jason Vosler, a move that doesn’t actually have a 40-man effect.

Vosler needed to be added by the Cubs to avoid and becoming Rule 5 draft eligible, and the Padres promptly added him to their 40-man upon acquiring him.

Padres acquire:

Jason Vosler, 3B
Age: 24

Vosler ranked as the Cubs No. 25 prospect entering 2018 and put together his second straight 20-home run season, batting .251 with 23 homers, 93 RBIs and a .797 OPS between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa. The lefthanded-hitting Vosler is an aggressive player with feel to leverage the ball with a middle-to-pull approach. His aggressiveness results in high strikeout totals, but he makes impact contact when he connects. Vosler is a solid defender with a good arm at third base, and he’s played a little bit of second and first base as well, although he’s not as comfortable there. Vosler provides the Padres some needed lefthanded power, and has a chance to get reps at third base with the Padres currently lacking a viable 2019 option there.

Cubs acquire:

Rowan Wick, RHP
Age: 26

Wick spent his first three pro seasons as a catcher/outfielder before converting to pitching in 2015 and becoming a hard-throwing reliever. He made his ML debut last season. Wick’s fastball sits 95 mph and touches 98, and he pairs it with a hard slider that ranges from 89-91 mph. He even has a curveball that comes in hot, reaching 85 mph although generally sitting in the high 70s. Wick doesn’t quite have command of his power arsenal, resulting in too many pitches out of the strike zone in the minors and too many pitches over the heart of the plate in the majors. If he can harness his power stuff, he has a chance to be a valuable bullpen piece.