Phillies acquire Eflin, Windle in Rollins trade

Pitchers Zach Eflin and Andrew Heaney have a pretty good icebreaker if they cross paths in baseball.

Like the now-Angels prospect, Eflin has been both traded for and traded by the Dodgers this offseason as he was included in a package along with fellow hurler Tom Windle that is headed to the Phillies in exchange for veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins and cash. The long-rumored deal was officially announced by both clubs on Friday.

Eflin was first acquired by Los Angeles from the Padres in the swap that sent Matt Kemp to San Diego. That trade only became official Thursday night, meaning Eflin wasn't technically a Dodger for even 24 hours before he was flipped to the Phillies. The right-hander becomes Philadelphia's No. 5 prospect while the left-handed Windle slides into the No. 6 slot. 

The 20-year-old hurler posted a 3.80 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with 93 strikeouts and only 31 walks across 128 innings at Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore last season. Since being taken with the 33rd overall pick out of a Florida high school back in 2012, he's shown impressive control in the lower levels of the Minors as he's averaged only 2.3 walks per nine innings across 253 2/3 career frames. 

So unbelievably proud and humbled on becoming apart of the Philadelphia @Phillies Organization. Excited to get started!!

- Zach Eflin (@zeflin12) December 19, 2014

Windle also spent the entire 2014 campaign in the hitter-friendly California League, where he posted a 4.26 ERA and 1.37 WHIP with 111 strikeouts and 44 walks in 139 1/3 innings for the Dodgers' Class A Advanced affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga. A 2013 second-rounder out of the University of Minnesota, the 6-foot-4 hurler was given above-average grades on his fastball (55) and slider (60) by MLB.com, which also noted that he has a ceiling of a front-end starter and a floor of a back-end reliever. 

As part of the deal, Rollins leaves the only organization he's ever known, and the one with which he won an NL MVP award in 2007 and a World Series title in 2008, to link up with new Dodgers double play partner Howie Kendrick (acquired from the Angels) in Los Angeles. The switch-hitting shortstop had a .243/.323/.394 line with 17 homers and 28 steals and was worth 3.6 fWAR in 2014. He will become a free agent at the end of the 2015 season.