The price for starting pitching on the trade market has been set, and it's significant. Prior to the holidays, the Baltimore Orioles gave up a massive haul of talented prospects and a draft pick for the Tampa Bay Rays' controllable starter Shane Baz. Despite having three years of team control remaining, Baz is no sure thing, with injuries and inconsistency plaguing his four seasons in the major leagues.
Then, on Wednesday of this week, the Chicago Cubs sent their top prospect (and MLB Pipeline's No. 47-ranked prospect in all of baseball) Owen Caissie and two other talented prospects to the Miami Marlins in exchange for the electric right arm of Edward Cabrera.