Report: Cubs Trade Tom Gorzelanny to Nationals for Prospects

The dominoes set in play by the Matt Garza trade are still falling. The Cubs have reportedly dealt Tom Gorzelanny to the Washington Nationals for three prospects, according to ESPNChicago.com.

One of the prospects is expected to be power-hitting outfield prospect Michael Burgess, according to FOXSports.com.

The move should clear some payroll now that Garza and his $5 million or so contract (he made $3.35 million last year and is due a raise in arbitration) are on the club's books. Gorzelanny's salary is expected to be in the $1 million neighborhood in 2011.

Gorzelanny was the Cubs' only left-handed starter last season and he's coming off of a strong 2010 campaign. After two rough years with the Pirates and Cubs in 2008 and 2009, Gorzelanny posted a 4.09 ERA in 136 1/3 innings with 7.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 last year.

Those numbers were fairly similar to his breakout 2007 season with the Pirates (a higher strikeout rate, but also a few more walks). Without Gorzelanny, Randy Wells and Carlos Silva should both compete for rotation spots. The ESPN report also says that lefty James Russell will get a shot.

For the Nationals, Gorzelanny should provide some rotation depth for a club that can use it while they wait on Stephen Strasburg's return from Tommy John surgery. Behind Livan Hernandez, Jason Marquis, and Jordan Zimmermann, there's a lot of uncertainty in Washington's rotation and Gorzelanny should at the very least help stabilize things a bit.

That's if he can stay healthy, of course. After throwing 201 2/3 innings in 2007, he's had some injury problems and hasn't topped 150 combined innings (between the majors and minors) since then.