2011 MLB Trade Rumors: Blue Jays, Padres Targeting Cubs Matt Garza
By Editorial Staff
Now that the winner of the Yu Darvish bidding has been announced, the trade market for starting pitchers figures to heat up. Before yesterday’s announcement, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that the loser of the Darvish sweepstakes would likely “shift quickly into trade mode”. The Blue Jays are the team that ended up losing out to the Rangers in their bid for Darvish, and Rosenthal believes Toronto will now shift their attention to Cubs starting pitcher Matt Garza. Beyond the Blue Jays, the San Diego Padres have also shown interest in Garza.
With Darvish off the market, at least for this offseason, there are few free agent starting pitching options remaining. No one seems to be drawn to Edwin Jackson, regarded by most as the best starter still available.
This leaves teams with the bevy of young pitchers known to be available via trade. The A’s are shopping Gio Gonzalez, the White Sox are looking to expedite their rebuilding process by trading John Danks and Gavin Floyd, the Braves have been listening on Jair Jurrjens and the Rays have more starters than they know what to do with.
And then there’s Cubs ace Matt Garza.
The Cubs have seemingly gone back and forth on Garza. At first it looked like they would be willing to deal the right-hander, but Cubs president Theo Epstein has also indicated that he sees Garza as someone Chicago can build around.
While his avaibility is unknown, there is no denying there is interest in the 28-year-old.
Garza would be attractive to the Blue Jays, as well as the Red Sox and Yankees, because of his history of success pitching in the American League East. Now that they’ve missed out on Darvish, the Blue Jays could turn their attention to trade to acquire the top-of-the-rotation starter they are seeking.
The Padres have also shown interest in Garza, and the Cubs are known to covet San Diego’s young first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Now that the Padres have added Yonder Alonso, Rizzo could become available for the right player. Garza seems to be the right player, as it’s been rumored that the Padres would be willing to send a package built around Rizzo to the Cubs for the right-hander.