Henry Rodriguez's tenure with the Nationals organization officially came to an end late Tuesday night when the the club dealt the erratic reliever to the Cubs for a 22-year-old right-hander with a 6.06 ERA in two seasons at Class A.
The Nationals announced they had traded Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment last week, to Chicago for Ian Dickson, a 31st-round pick in the 2011 draft who has struggled in two professional seasons. In 11 appearances (three starts) this year with high-Class A Kane County, Dickson owned a 6.88 ERA while putting 56 men on base in 35 1/3 innings.That, more than anything, revealed how low Rodriguez's stock had fallen. Acquired from the Athletics with outfielder Corey Brown in the 2010 deal that sent slugger Josh Willingham to Oakland, Rodriguez was once thought of as a potential big-league closer.
The right-hander did save nine games for the Nationals early last season after Drew Storen and Brad Lidge suffered injuries, but he never found any semblance of consistency during his 2 1/2 years
