The Chicago Cubs made a pair of trades before the non-waiver trade deadline on Friday. Team President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer decided to upgrade the pitching staff and did not have to give up any of their top prospects.
The first trade was made with the Miami Marlins for starting pitcher Dan Haren. The Cubs gave up two minor leaguers: Ivan Pineyro and Elliot Soto, as first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Haren is 34 years old and his contract expires after this season, which makes him a rental for the Cubs. Another good part of this deal for Chicago is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are paying Haren’s entire salary ($10 million) the rest of the way.
Haren is putting together a nice season so far. He owns a record of 7-7 while his ERA is 3.42 in 21 starts for the Marlins. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is just 3.52 which is his lowest in 6 seasons. The only downfall is that he is known to give up home runs so it will be interesting to see how he does as Wrigley Field when the wind is blowing out.
The second trade of the day was made for the Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Tommy Hunter. The Cubs sent over Junior Lake who has played three seasons with the team, but always found himself going back and forth to triple A.
Hunter, 29, will help secure a middle relief spot that the Cubs desperately need an improvement in. He use to be a starting pitcher and this is his season in the big leagues. Hunter has played in 39 games this year and has a 2-2 record with 3.63 ERA.
The Cubs addressed some key needs at the trade deadline. Now can they put it all together and make a playoff run the rest of the way?
