Despite the newly minted Cubs brass duo of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer — or Hoystein (see what I did there?) — claiming that Matt Garza is the “type of player you want to build an organization around,” they may have been doing so to remind other teams just how good the 28-year-old spark plug actually is.
According to David Kaplan, an analyst on Comcast Sports Chicago, the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays are all interested. The Yankees and Red Sox had obvious pitching holes last season (say what you want about Beer and Chickengate 2k11, pitching really hurt the Red Sox). The Blue Jays are slowly adding the pieces to regularly compete in the AL East which we might need to rename the Showstopper Division if all teams are at their best.
Either way, the asking price for Garza is said to be “extremely high.” After huge trades involving Gio Gonzalez, Mat Latos and Trevor Cahill this offseason, the Cubs are looking to move Garza for a similar package of talent. For all of the North Side fans, a complete rebuild is in the works. It may not be pretty to watch, but instead of the rent-a-team theory Jim Hendry worked with, Hoystein is looking to build a long-term solution so the Cubs can succeed for a long time.
Should the Cubs hold onto Garza, he will be the ace of a rotation that will need a lot of craftiness and veteran leadership. Regardless of how it plays out, some team is going to have a very good pitcher who can light up the fastball, bend some knees with a slider and keep his teammates rolling on his off-days.