Chicago Cubs trade reliever Scott Effross to the New York Yankees for pitching prospect Hayden Wesneski

Scott Effross appeared poised to take on a bigger bullpen role during the final two months of the season.

With the Chicago Cubs positioned to move as many of their veteran pitchers as possible before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. trade deadline, Effross appeared the obvious choice to take on more late-inning, high-leverage opportunities and perhaps even become the closer.

However, the Cubs’ sell-off surprisingly includes Effross, who was traded Monday to the New York Yankees. The Cubs acquired right-hander Hayden Wesneski in the deal.

The 24-year-old Wesneski is rated the Yankees’ No. 4 prospect by Baseball America and No. 7 by MLB.com. Wesneski has a 3.81 ERA in 19 starts at Triple A this season with a 1.149 WHIP and 2.96 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Notably, Cubs assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos was Wesneski’s pitching coach at the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate in 2021.

Effross, 28, had been the Cubs’ most called on reliever, tied for second in the majors in appearances while posting a 2.66 ERA. The organization is clearly confident in its ability to develop relievers by trading Effross while he is still pre-arbitration and has five years of team control.

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