Orioles trade Tommy Hunter to Cubs for Junior Lake

In a late move, the Chicago Cubs have acquired reliever Tommy Hunter from the Baltimore Orioles, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. Outfielder Junior Lake is heading to Baltimore, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

Hunter has appeared in 39 games for the Orioles this year, with a 3.63 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 44⅔ innings with 11 walks and 32 strikeouts. That comes after he had back-to-back seasons of an ERA below 3.00 in 2013 and 2014.

The Cubs will add Hunter to an already talented group of right-handers in their bullpen that includes Pedro Strop, Jason Motte, Justin Grimm and the newly-acquired Rafael Soriano. All but Soriano, who has pitched just 5⅔ innings, have sub-4.00 ERAs.

Lake, 25, has played just 21 games for the Cubs this year, spending most of the season at Triple-A Iowa, where he has hit .315/.404/.472 with seven home runs. However, he has hit just .224/.274/.345 with one home run in 58 at bats at the major league level this season.

What Lake does bring is versatility in the outfield with the ability to play all three outfield positions. Aside from Adam Jones being a fixture in center field, Baltimore's outfield has been patchwork this season, Lately, the Orioles have used Chris Davis, a first baseman by trade, in right field and David Lough, Nolan Reimold and Travis Snider sharing the duties in left field. If nothing else, Lake will be an upgrade defensively on Davis and Snider and is not much a drop off at the plate from Lough and Reimold.