Padres Acquire Matt Szczur

The Padres have acquired outfielder Matt Szczur from the Cubs, per club announcements. Chicago will acquire righty Justin Hancock in exchange for Szczur, who had been designated for assignment.

Since the Cubs were able to find some kind of return for the out-of-options Szczur, there must’ve been interest from other organizations. The 27-year-old had not been playing much this year in Chicago, recording just four hits in 23 trips to the plate, and has long been seen as a possible trade target for other organizations.

Last season, though, Szczur played a bigger role on the Cubs’ World Series-winning roster. He appeared in 107 games, in fact, though he took only 200 plate appearances. Szczur slashed a solid .259/.312/.400 with five home runs on the year while providing quality glovework. Szczur has typically performed much better against left-handed than right-handed pitching, so he’ll presumably function in some kind of platoon with San Diego.

In order to acquire Szczur, the Friars gave up Hancock, a 26-year-old hurler who has shown promise at times. But he has been hit hard in the early going at Double-A this year — where he has converted to a pen role after previously working almost exclusively as a starter. Hancock ranked as San Diego’s No. 25 prospect (per Baseball America) prior to the 2016 season, drawing praise for a 92-95 mph fastball and a changeup that flashes plus on occasion. BA notes that his slight frame and lack of a true out pitch make a future as a starter unlikely, however, and the Padres seemingly agreed by shifting him to relief work in 2017. Injuries may also have played a part in changing Hancock’s role, as he spent the majority of the 2016 season on the disabled list with Triple-A El Paso after an arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder.