The Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs kicked off the July trading season Tuesday with the Cubs sending right-hander Scott Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger to the Orioles for righties Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop, as well as some money from their international spending pool.
The Orioles add a much-needed starting pitcher in Feldman, who has remade himself this year into a ground ball pitcher who rarely walks anyone, alleviating the problem of his modest strikeout rate. Playing in front of a strong defense in Baltimore, especially on the left side of the infield, should help him; his BABIP in Chicago of .255 was unsustainably low, but the regression shouldn't be so severe with J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado behind him.