Today, Mark Johnson was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Travis Ezi. For those of you keeping score at home, that means Kade Johnson (I guess) moves up to 4th on the Brewers depth chart behind the plate. And Travis Ezi moves into the 6 hole, or so, on the CF depth chart.
As you might imagine from somebody who gets traded for a 29-year-old minor-league catcher, Ezi isn't exactly a prospect. But he's done a lot of traveling: he was selected by the Cubs in the minor league portion of the Rule V draft this winter, after only one year in the Marlins system. He was originally drafted by the Dodgers in 2000, and was the PTBNL in the Juan Encarnacion deal.
Here are his transaction history and career minor league stats, courtesy of TSN.ca.
Ezi hit .223 at age 23 in the FSL last year and struck out 76 times in 242 ABs. He stole 19 bases and, I'd imagine, is decent in centerfield (or else he'd be looking for a different line of work by now). Maybe we'll hear more about him once the season starts (I'd imagine he goes to Brevard County). He must have something going for him, if four different organizations have been sufficiently interested to acquire him.
I would write more, but researching these marginal prospects sure isn't ezi.