As the MLB trade deadline approaches, teams out of the playoff hunt begin assessing their teams and selling off veteran talent to contenders for future pieces and trade chips.
As a rebuilding team, the Chicago Cubs have long been expected to trade starting pitcher Matt Garza to a pitching-hungry team, or a squad that has seen its arms fall to injury.
Some reports have surfaced, however, that the Cubs are considering a long-term extension for Garza and could see him as a foundational piece going forward. CBS reporter Jon Heyman recently wrote:
"Cubs officials recently have broached such a possibility, and while a trade still remains an option for Garza, for the first time in more than a year there are discussions about possibly signing Garza long-term. It had been presumed for weeks he would be traded for sure...The Cubs could also trade Garza, then try to re-engage him in the winter, another distinct possibility."
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal added to the speculation Garza may stay with a tweet that read, "Signing Garza has always been option for #Cubs. Keeping him and making him one-year qualifying offer at end of season also an option."
Chicago is clearly in sell mode, having traded away effective starter Scott Feldman to the Baltimore Orioles for Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop; also, Garza has been great since coming off the disabled list, going 5-1 with a 3.32 ERA 58 strikeouts and just 18 walks.
He is the type of asset that can fetch a huge haul near the trade deadline, as contenders are starving for the "missing piece."
Still, it is more likely that Garza will be traded thanks to a long list of suitors that includes the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals, according to Heyman.
With that many teams in play, the specter of playing them against one another and acquiring a goldmine of young talent will likely be too sweet a treat for Cubs general manager Theo Epstein to resist.
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