Braxton Garrett Trades Has Shades of Getting Jake Arrieta from Baltimore
Remember when the Cubs traded for Jake Arrieta back in 2013? The Orioles were a contending team that wanted to add a starter in early July, so they traded Arrieta and Pedro Strop to Chicago for No. 4 starter Scott Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger. That trade barely moved the needle at the time. The Cubs were a last-place team with no star power managed by Dale Sveum. Travis Wood led the North Siders in bWAR (5.1) that season, while the Orioles ultimately missed the playoffs.
Arrieta was a lucky 4-2 in nine starts for the Cubs in ’13, with a FIP more than a full run worse than his 3.66 ERA. He struck out 37 batters and issued 24 walks in 51.1 innings. Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer saw something they liked in Arrieta, however, even after Baltimore had completely given up on the then-27-year-old righty.
Arrieta had been drafted twice before he signed with the Orioles in 2007. He posted a 5.46 ERA over parts of four MLB seasons and struggled with command and consistency. The word out of Baltimore was that the organization and Arrieta clashed over differing philosophies. The Orioles restricted him from throwing his preferred cut fastball and wanted him to focus on his breaking ball. The Cubs gave Arrieta the freedom to pitch the way he wanted while focusing on his fitness and mechanics.
The rest is history.
Arrieta was 64-29 over the next four seasons, threw two no-hitters, won the 2015 NL Cy Young Award, and was one of many heroes in 2016. That’s the year the Cubs won the World Series with a rotation of Arrieta, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, John Lackey, and Jason Hammel. Arrieta was a once-in-a-lifetime change-of-scenery guy who often carried the Cubs. Chicago would probably still be chasing its elusive championship had they not made that trade.
On Monday, the Cubs and Marlins agreed on a trade that sent Braxton Garrett to the Cubs for Jonathon Long and Jace Beck. Chicago was close to acquiring lefty Reid Detmers and traded for Garrett after that pursuit failed. Garrett is a former first-round pick (7th overall) who has struggled with consistency and injuries while pitching for Miami. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound lefty is recovering from significant UCL revision surgery that forced him to miss part of 2024 and all of 2025, so he has spent most of this season at Triple-A Jacksonville.
Garrett and the Marlins have also clashed philosophically. Miami’s front office wanted him to find ways to increase his velocity and modify his arsenal. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Garrett was reluctant to make wholesale changes, believing major tweaks would do more harm than good. That’s understandable considering the extent of his injury.
Nevertheless, the Marlins stashed him at Jacksonville to protect his trade value. Garrett was bombed in two big league starts back in May, allowing seven runs with eight walks over 4.1 innings but he pitched to a 2.90 ERA across 15 starts at Triple-A. Though he yielded just 47 hits with 83 punchouts across 77 innings, Miami was dissatisfied with his 29 walks issued. He was also roughed up in his last two starts for Jacksonville after cruising earlier in the season.
Hoyer and the rest of the front office, specifically pitching VP Tyler Zombro, obviously see something in Garrett beyond the obvious numbers.
“He’s a guy we’ve always liked, “Hoyer said in his post-deadline presser. “He’s having a really good year in Triple-A for the Marlins and we control him going forward.
“We’re going to need depth. We’re going to need innings. He’s likely to provide that here, but it’s also a future play, as well. We’ve always thought highly of him, so it worked out. It lined up well.”
Garrett is a very 2026 Cubs pitcher. The big lefty has a heavy supination bias, meaning he cuts the ball at release more than most pitchers in the league. Hoyer isn’t looking at his results, per se, but rather what his pitch lab can do with a simple tweak or two.
You will not be surprised to find out that Braxton Garrett cuts the heck out of his fastball. https://t.co/HoZAEYTGyf
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) August 3, 2026
In his last full MLB season in 2023 Garrett — who turned 29 today — had an excellent 4.4% walk rate and a solid 3.66 ERA. That walk rate stood out, as it sat in the 97th percentile. He also commands the ball very well, and his location-plus numbers are really solid on each pitch. He has a very underrated changeup that the Cubs will tap into, plus he offers multiple fastballs with an effective sweeper/slider combination. That combo serves to mitigate hard contact and helps him get a healthy number of grounders, which is especially significant given the defense that will be playing behind him in Chicago. In short, Garrett has the kind of arm that Chicago’s pitching infrastructure feeds off of.
He’s also under team control until 2029, so there is a lot of value on the table. Hoyer sees it, and Baseball America does, too. Garrett made their top-20 list ($) of change-of-scenery candidates.
Garrett, however, is interesting after returning this season from the elbow surgery that sidelined him throughout 2025. [He’s] allowed just one earned run over his last six Triple-A outings (before his last two starts) and 31 innings. While he has iffy 91-92 mph fastball velocity and command, his secondary pitches have overmatched Triple-A hitters. At worst, Garrett already looks capable of helping a big league bullpen.
I’m not saying Garrett can be this decade’s version of last decade’s favorite son, as Arrieta was a unicorn. Hoyer gave up two prospects with no future in Chicago for a lottery ticket, and nobody is going to lament the whiff on Detmers if Braxton returns to his 2023 form. That wasn’t going to happen in Miami, but a real shot exists here in Chicago.
