On July 2, 2013, the Cubs acquired pitchers Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop from the Orioles in exchange for pitcher Scott Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger. While the trade was a historically amazing win for the Cubs, they were actually the sellers in the deal.
At the time of the trade, Arrieta had a 7.23 ERA in five starts with the Orioles in 2013, and had a 5.46 ERA and 0.3 WAR with Baltimore in 358 innings pitched over four seasons. The former top prospect was always very talented with exceptional raw stuff, but he was just unable to put it together in Baltimore and it seemed likely that it would never happen with him no longer being a “young” player then at 27 years old.