Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Red Sox are rumored to be targeting Chicago Cubs RHP Matt Garza.
The Red Sox are in need of a big arm in the rotation and obviously Garza fits that, but the question that needs to be asked is this: will the Red Sox win a World Series because of Garza?
Seeing as they’re in first place and none of the teams (besides the Baltimore Orioles) offer much of a strict competition, the Sox will be in the postseason and they need a pitcher. Garza knows the AL East and he knows the postseason, so it makes sense right? Well, hold that thought for a minute.
The major question is what are the Red Sox willing to give up? We all know Xander Boegarts will be wanted by the Cubs in a deal for Garza, but are the Red Sox willing to give him up?
If they look at Garza as the final piece to winning a World Series, then yes, they should give him up. If they aren’t sure, no they shouldn’t.
The Cubs are doing the right thing by asking for top value for Garza due to his high upside and postseason experience. I think someone is definitely going to bite, but I’m not sure they’ll get the top value they’re searching for.
The Red Sox are a smart organization. They’re not going to make a bad trade here, but lets just say they view Garza as an end all be all piece, this is the trade I think they’ll be forced to make due to the Cubs’ perceived asking price:
SS Xander Boegarts
OF Bryce Brentz
RHP Allen Webster
LHP Henry Owens
For
RHP Matt Garza
OF Nate Schierholtz
It’s a heck of a deal for both squads and probably overpriced, but again — that’s where the Red Sox thinking of a World Series come into play. If they want to strike, they’re going to have to overpay on Garza or Cliff Lee.
If they don’t view Garza as the end-all, the kind of trade I see the Cubs potentially making is:
LHP Henry Owens
RHP Allen Webster
RHP Anthony Ranaudo
3B (OF) Garin Cecchini
The Cubs would be adding three young talented arms to a system that lacks them, and Cecchini is just a hitter that I could see winning a job in the OF one day for the Cubs. It might be selling on the low a little bit for Garza, but at the same time … they want to move him, so they might have to bite the bullet a bit.
We’ll see what happens but I anticipate the trade for Matt Garza, to anyone, will be a pretty big one.
