The Cubs have inquired about John Lannan this week, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Cubs have talked to the Nationals about Lannan and another left-hander: pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. Marlon Byrd came up in discussions between the two teams, Wittenmyer reports.
Lannan requested a trade after being optioned to the minor leagues earlier this week. GM Mike Rizzo said there's "mild" interest in the 27-year-old, but manager Davey Johnson said the Nationals are "not trading him."
John Lannan is a good guy and has been with the Nationals for the REALLY bad times. He was the Opening Day pitcher for 2 years but let's be honest, he's not a great pitcher. Lannan posted a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year. He's a good number 5 pitcher in an organization that doesn't have much pitching. The Nationals have a rotation with Strausburg, Gonzalez, Zimmerman, and Jackson. Those are 4 really good pitchers and Lannan doesn't fit the bill for the 5th man in the rotation. Wang is expected to be back in late April and he's a Cy Young runner up pitcher (he was a runner up in 2007 and 2008, losing by a few points) Lannan just doesn't fit with the Nationals anymore and until the team has an injury, Lannan will only pitch in Triple A. He’ll earn $5MM in 2012 and will remain under team control in 2013, so the Nationals don't have to trade him. The Nats will trade him if they can get something good in return and personally any trade that involves Gorzelanny going to another team is supported fully by me
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