Tigers send pitcher Marcelo Carreno and cash to Cubs to finalize Jeff Baker deal

To put the finishing touches on their mid-season trade that landed utilityman Jeff Baker, the Detroit Tigers officially sent right-handed pitching prospect Marcelo Carreno and cash considerations to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday according to the team's official Twitter account.

The 31-year-old Baker hit a mere .200 over 15 appearances with the Tigers this summer, and was quickly jettisoned to Atlanta after completely failing to work his way into Jim Leyland's outfield rotation. Detroit was allowed to wait until Oct. 31 to choose two players to send to the Cubs for Baker's part-time services, but the inclusion of a top prospect like Carreno clearly was enough to sweeten the deal on its own.

Though the Tigers also chucked in an undisclosed sum of cash to make things work, the 21-year-old Carreno is definitely a notable loss for Detroit's organization. The young hurler walked only 28 batters through 139 and 1/3 innings this season with the West Michigan Whitecaps, in addition to posting a stellar 3.23 ERA and 9-8 record over 27 starts. Carreno was also starting to make legitimate strides developing both his change-up and curveball as he gained confidence on the mound, and likely would have started the 2012-13 season in either Single-A Lakeland or Double-A Erie.

Carreno's impressive campaign was also good enough to land him at No. 11 on MLB.com's 2012 Detroit prospect watch list, effectively making him the seventh-best pitcher in the organization before the trade. Considering how Baker's time in Detroit end after a 26-game stint where he produced an extremely poor -0.4 WAR rating, this is a frustrating conclusion for the Tigers on a deal that completely and unequivocally flopped on its head.