MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers were stymied in a bid to stash pitching prospect Dylan Baker in the Minor Leagues, but they did not come away completely empty-handed.
Baker, claimed by Milwaukee off waivers from Cleveland on Nov. 27, was traded to the Dodgers on Tuesday for a player to be named or cash. The Brewers had designated Baker for assignment just before Christmas to free a spot on a full 40-man roster after they signed veteran pitchers Jhoulys Chacin and Yovani Gallardo.
Often, trades like the one between the Brewers and Dodgers are settled for cash, typically covering the cost of the original waiver claim.
Baker, 25, ranked as high as No. 14 on MLBPipeline.com's list of Cleveland's top prospects in 2014, but has been limited to 21 2/3 innings since. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, missed all of 2016 and returned in 2017 with a 2.70 ERA and a 16-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16 2/3 innings between Rookie-level Arizona and Double-A Akron.
Baker's brief stint with the Brewers continued Milwaukee general manager David Stearns' strategy of making liberal use of the waiver wire to acquire talent, even if it means designating those players for assignment soon thereafter in an effort to get the player through waivers and into the Brewers' Minor League system. In November 2016 alone, the Brewers plucked outfielder Adam Walker and relievers Richard Parker and Steve Geltz off the waiver wire, but wound up losing all three players.
Now Baker is on the move again, too.