Garza deal done: Cubs get mound prospect
Rangers send right-hander Ramirez to Chicago to complete July trade
Prospect acquired by Cubs
- Neil Ramirez, RHP: Ramirez has spent all of 2013 in the Double-A Texas League and was leading the circuit in strikeouts at the time of the trade. Still only 24, he has an intriguing combination of stuff and command, that if he can rediscover consistently, he has what it takes to be a mid-rotation starter. Ramirez can command his fastball well and throws a deceptive changeup with it. He throws both a slider and a curve, with the former the better of the two breaking pitches. Given his up-and-down career, it's hard to know exactly what Ramirez's ceiling is, but he is still young enough to figure it out and help out a big league rotation in the future.
-- Jonathan Mayo
The Cubs received Minor League pitcher Neil Ramirez from the Rangers on Friday, completing the clubs' July 22 trade that landed Matt Garza in Texas. Chicago has assigned Ramirez to Double-A Tennessee.
Ramirez, MLB.com's No. 14 Rangers prospect, was 9-3 with a 3.84 ERA over 21 starts for Double-A Frisco this season. The 24-year-old right-hander struck out a Texas League-best 127 and walked 42 in 103 innings, although he spent some time on Frisco's disabled list with a right shoulder injury.
Ramirez was a first-round pick of the Rangers (44th overall) in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft and spent six seasons in the organization, posting a 4.40 ERA, mostly as a starter.
Texas had acquired Garza for right-handed pitchers C.J. Edwards and Justin Grimm and infielder Mike Olt, plus one or two players to be named later.