The Washington Nationals have acquired outfielder Scott Hairston from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for right-hander Ivan Pineyro, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The teams announced that they each will receive a player to be named later in the deal.
The Cubs will chip in less than $500,000 for the remainder of Hairston's salary this season, reports Heyman. The Nationals will pay the entirety of the $2.5 million owed to him in 2014.
After signing a two-year, $5 million deal with the Cubs in February, the 33-year old has appeared in 52 games as the team's backup right fielder behind the hot-hitting Nate Schierholtz. Hairston is hitting only .172, but has provided some power off the bench for the North Siders, slugging eight home runs in just 99 at-bats. All of his homers have come off of lefties, so his role will likely be to start against southpaws and help out in pinch-hitting situations for the Nats.
As Rosenthal reports, Hairston will likely take over the role of Tyler Moore, who is hitting .157 in 43 games for the Nats this year. The veteran's power off the bench will prove valuable to a team that is currently four games behind the Braves in the NL East race.
Washington will be Hairston's sixth team since his debut in 2004, joining the Diamondbacks (2004-2007), Padres (2007-2009, 2010), Athletics (2009), Mets (2011-2012), and Cubs (2013). He is a lifetime .244 hitter with 102 HR and 297 RBI.
The Cubs received Pineyro, a 21-year old righty with a 6-3 record and 3.24 ERA in 15 starts between Single-A Hagerstown and High-A Potomac on the year. The 2013 South Atlantic League All-Star owns a career K/BB ratio of 3.42, and joins a Cubs' organization that is planning on stockpiling arms in exchange for veteran assets. He will report to High-A Daytona.
Chicago, known to be aggressive sellers in advance of the deadline, have already dealt Hairston, Scott Feldman, Steve Clevenger, Ronald Torreyes and Carlos Marmol since July 1st. They are expected to keep dealing, with Matt Garza, Kevin Gregg, Dioner Navarro and Schierholtz reported to be on the trading block.
