Analysis of the Pirates, Cubs 5 player deal

The Pirates wanted the equivalent of two good prospects in order to give up left-handed reliever John Grabow.

Their rationale was that they could hang on to him for the rest of the season, offer him salary arbitration, let him walk as a free agent and collect two compensatory draft picks since Grabow will be classified a Type A free agent in the Elias Sports Bureau statistical rankings.

By throwing in Class AAA Indianapolis left-hander Tom Gorzelanny into a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, the Pirates feel they got three good prospects back in right-handers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio and infielder Josh Harrison.

Hart will move into the Pirates’ rotation while Ascanio will go to Indianapolis and Harrison will report to high Class A Lynchburg.

“It was yet another opportunity to add more quality players to our organization, both at the major-league and minor-league levels, and I felt it was a really good deal for us,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington.

What Huntington didn’t say but the Pirates felt is that Grabow wasn’t going to come back next season and they had also determined Gorzelanny was never going to regain his 14-win form of 2007 in a Pirates’ uniform.

Thus, the Pirates got three players back for two expendable ones.

Hart, 26, is the centerpiece of the deal as was rated as the Cubs’ sixth-best prospect by Baseball America coming into the season.

He was 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA in eight games, four starts, with the Cubs after starting the year at Class AAA Iowa and beat Houston on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Hart has a good sinking fastball in the low 90s along with a plus