Cubs trade Chris Coghlan to A's to make room for Dexter Fowler

The Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs pulled off a trade on Thursday morning. 

Oakland acquired Chris Coghlan, the 2009 NL rookie of the year with the Marlins, in exchange for right-hander Aaron Brooks. 

The trade made a lot of sense a couple hours later when the Cubs announced they had reached a deal to bring back free-agent center fielder Dexter Fowler.

Coghlan, 30, played all over the field for the Cubs in 2015: He logged 99 games in left field, 21 in right, 15 at second base and had stints at first and third, too. 

Brooks, meanwhile, came to the A's in the trade that sent Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals last summer. With the A's last season, Brooks made 11 appearances (nine starts). He went 3-4 with a 6.71 ERA in those outings and was considered to be one of the fringe options for the A's rotation in 2016. 

Oakland has now added Coghlan, Khris Davis, Jed Lowrie and Yonder Alonso this offseason as it (and a healthy Sean Doolittle) looks to erase the sour taste of a last-place finish in 2015.