Tigers Complete Deal For Jeff Baker….WOW

The last time I was this excited about a trade by the Cubs I thought Randall Delgado was coming to the Cubs, which is why I waited to report this until it was confirmed by the Cubs.  Okay, maybe I’m not THAT excited but the fact that I’m excited at all about the return for a Jeff Baker should tell you something.  Back when the Cubs traded Jeff Baker the return was to be two PTBNL (Players to be named later), well that deal has been tweaked a bit and it’s for the better.  The Tigers completed the deal by sending Josue Carreno (Full name – Josue Marcelo Carreno) a 6’1″, 170 pound 21-year-old right-handed starting pitcher, who MLB.com has as the 11th best prospect in the Tigers system to the Cubs…. for JEFF BAKER.  Here is the full report from MLB.com…

Carreno made his full-season debut in 2011, and although his performance was up-and-down, he was much stronger in the second half, with a 3.48 ERA and one strikeout per inning. He cut down his overall walk rate while keeping his strikeout rate constant from the previous summer. Better command of his fastball, curve and changeup could help him become a solid middle-of-the-rotation type, though he had success in a relief role during winter ball in Venezuela last offseason.

Yeah, you read that correctly, the Cubs traded Jeff Baker to the Tigers for a 21-year-old starting pitcher that has the stuff to be a “solid middle of the rotation type” down the road.  On the surface this is an absolute win for Theo Epstein and the Cubs, nothing against Jeff Baker, but he doesn’t seem to be the type of player that would solicit this type of player in return.  Honestly I’m completely shocked at this return as Carreno now enters a Cubs system that is short on arms and could find himself as a top 10 pitching prospect in the organization.

Thanks for reading,
– George