Minor League Baseball In , Trachsel began his professional career with the short-season
Geneva Cubs and the Class-A Advanced
Winston-Salem Spirits. He went a combined 5–4 with a 3.27
ERA in 14 starts. Trachsel was promoted to the Double-A
Charlotte Knights of the
Southern League in . He was 13–8 with a 3.06 ERA and 135
strikeouts in 29 starts. Trachsel would play most of the season with Chicago, pitching just two games in Iowa and going 0–2 with a 10.00 ERA. He also had one
complete game and struck out 108 total over the season. He also made two starts with the Double-A
Orlando Cubs, where he went 0–1 with a 2.77 ERA. In , Trachsel started a career-high 34 games with the Cubs, a record he has tied twice. He went 8–12 with a 4.51 ERA and 160 strikeouts. In , Trachsel went 15–8 with an ERA of 4.46, 149 strikeouts and one complete game in 33 starts. McGwire hit the pitch 341 feet over the left field wall, his shortest of the year. Additionally, Trachsel was the starting and winning pitcher in the Cubs' 5–3
Wild Card tie-breaker game victory over the
San Francisco Giants, giving up just one hit through six-plus innings. In , Trachsel's
ERA rose to a career-worst 5.56; his 18 losses were two worse than any pitcher that season. He became a free agent after the season.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays On January 14, 2000, Trachsel signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He began the season going 6–10 with a 4.58 ERA in 23 starts. In 11 starts with Toronto, Trachsel was 2–5 with a 5.29 ERA. He got off to a poor start in (including becoming the only pitcher in Mets history to allow four
home runs in one inning), and he was sent to the
minor leagues on May 19. At the time, he had a 1–6 record and a 8.24 ERA. His success continued as he finished 16–10 with a 3.78 ERA in 33 starts in . Trachsel was even named the
National League Player of the Week on August 25, 2003, following a 16.1 inning span in which he allowed no walks, no runs and only six hits. However, after starting well in , he suffered a herniated disc in his back, the first major injury of his career, which also cost him most of the season. He underwent a
discectomy in March 2005, and returned for the final six starts of the season, posting a league-average 4.14 ERA and going 1–4. He also started the clincher of the
NLDS, but was shaky and removed in the fourth inning. In Game 3 of the
NLCS, he gave up five runs in just one inning before being hit by a hard ground ball. The Mets lost the game 5–0.
Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs Trachsel was signed by the
Baltimore Orioles as a free agent on February 12, 2007, after Orioles starter and fellow former Mets right-hander
Kris Benson was diagnosed with a torn
rotator cuff that kept him sidelined for the 2007 season. On February 11, 2008, he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to
spring training with the Baltimore Orioles. On March 27, he was added to the 40-man roster. He was designated for assignment on June 10, 2008. He was released on June 13, 2008. ==References==