NEWSLETTER
Though the Chicago Cubs are looking at a handful of reclamation project type pitchers, and a trade for Zack Greinke, it looks like it could be Matt Garza that they end up landing. According to a ML source, the two teams are exchanging names on a possible deal, and it’s now better than 50/50 that Garza ends up with the Cubs.
Garza, 27, is set to get a healthy bump in arbitration from the $3.35 million he made in 2010 (as a Super Two player), and the Rays have a surplus of starting pitchers. Garza had a slightly down 2010, so he was a logical choice to get dealt. The only fear with Garza? He’s got a pretty pronounced home/road split over the last three years (3.21 at his pitcher’s park home, and 4.53 on the road).
It’s still unclear whom the Cubs would send to the Rays, though the source suggests that at least one of the players (though not the main piece of the deal) would be one of Robinson Chirinos and Welington Castillo. If one of them is dealt, the proposed deal with the Rangers, involving Chris Davis and Darren O’Day, may fall through. It sounds like the Cubs have been close on that deal for a week now, but other possibilities keep popping up and putting it on hold.
Some external confirmation comes from Bruce Levine, who, while not going as far as to say that the Cubs and Rays are near a deal, did say last night that the two sides have met to discuss players.
