In the midst of all the Cliff Lee free agent rumors and Zack Greinke trade rumors, this past week another pitcher found himself possibly on the market as well when Matt Garza trade rumors emerged out of Tampa Bay. And now, according to Ed Price, one source says that Garza is “certain” to be traded by the Rays, with the Cubs standing out as favorites.
Matt Garza Trade ‘Certain’, According To One Source
The Rays currently have David Price, James Shields, Matt Garza, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, and Jeremy Hellickson as strong rotation candidates for 2011, and having six names makes one of them expendable. Garza makes for the best combination of expendability and talent, hence his being made available. He has front-of-the-rotation stuff and has been successful for four consecutive seasons in the bigs, but he is not so good that he can’t be replaced, and the Rays feel they can bring back a lot of talent in return.
The Cubs are talking about Garza as a guy they could plug in with Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster. Garza would cost them a lot of long-term value, but would fill an immediate need. The Rangers have also checked in on Garza, as have a few other teams as well.
Garza, 27, has a career 3.97 ERA, and last season made $3.35 million. He is under team control for three more seasons, although he will not be cheap.
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