Dodgers Acquire Darwin Barney From Cubs

SB Nation's Chris Cotillo confirms a previous report from Chicago Tribune Cubs beat writer Mark Gonzales:

Source: #Dodgers acquire Darwin Barney from #Cubs. Done deal. @MDGonzales said it was close.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 28, 2014

There's no word yet on who the Cubs have received in return, and, in fact, there won't be word for a while, according to this:

Cubs get PTBNL for Barney

— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) July 28, 2014

These kinds of PTBNL usually wind up being an A-ball level lottery-ticket pitcher, and if the Cubs are lucky, he'll have the potential of an Ivan Pineyro, who the Cubs acquired for Scott Hairston a year ago.

Barney is an elite defensive second baseman who simply can't hit at all. If he'd hit at his 2012 level -- .254/.299/.354, a 76 OPS+ -- he'd have been able to keep a starting job due to his defense. That year, he produced a 4.6 bWAR season, but has been in negative WAR territory since due to his horrendous hitting over the last two years.

I'm happy for Barney, who by all accounts is a good guy and a good teammate. He'll likely be a backup infielder with the Dodgers and now has a chance to go to the postseason.