Scott Baker finally returned to the mound after two seasons. He pitched five scoreless innings for a bad Cubs team mired in the cellar of the NL Central. Baker "earned" approximately $1.4 million for that start.
Baker is not a bad person for taking the Ricketts money. The Cubs were dumb enough to give him $5.5 million to rehab from Tommy John surgery. The front office miscalculated how severe the injury was to Baker since he was never available to be flipped at the trade deadline.
Baker took his millions, rehabbed with the Cubs staff, and now will get 3 more starts before going back into the winter free agent market looking to command even more money.
This seems to be a bust transaction from the Cubs point of view. The gamble on picking up injured players, especially pitchers, and hoping for strong comebacks is a bad business plan. Take another example, Arodys Vizcaino, who has not thrown in the majors since 2011 and who is currently on the 60 day DL with setbacks from his Tommy John surgeries. Vizcaino is only 22, but he has been in the minors since he was 17. There are no guarantees that he will recover fully from his arm troubles.
