"The Chicago Cubs acquired left-handed pitcher Clint Brannon on Monday, completing a deal that sent right-hander Jon Leicester to the Texas Rangers in November," reports the AP.

Brannon is 23 and was a 34th round Rangers draft pick in 2004 out of Arkansas. Last year at the Rangers' high-A club in Bakersfield, Brannon posted a 4.45 ERA in 111.1 innings. He had 81 strikeouts and walked 40.

The Cub Reporter picks up a November 2004 Baseball America article noting that Brannon had one of the best debuts of the 2004 draftees (a 0.59 ERA in 61 innings). But his debut was with the short-season A-ball team, so he was facing a bunch of high schoolers and college players who weren't good enough to go straight to the low-A team.

Brannon split time between the rotation and the bullpen last year. If he starts the year at double-A West Tenn, I predict the Cubs will make him a full-time reliever.