So much for "building from within".
According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago, the Cubs and Tampa Rays have agreed to an 8 player deal that nets the Cubs Matt Garza.
The Cubs trade prospects Christ Archer, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee and Sam Fuld to the Rays for Garza, minor league outfielder Fernando Perez and a minor league pitcher. For those of you scoring at home, those are the Cubs #2 (Archer), #4 (Lee) and #8 (Guyer) prospects on my Cubs Composite Top 10 Prospect list, including the Cubs Minor League Player (Guyer) and Pitcher (Archer) of the Year. Add in Chirinos, who was among the prospects also receiving votes in the composite list, and Fuld, a valuable 4th or 5th outfielder, and that is a VERY steep price to pay for a pitcher not named Roy Halladay.
My reaction to the trade: I HATE IT!!!!
After all this talk about doing things the right way, spending more money on scouting and player development and building from within, this move proves that Jim Hendry and the Cubs are still in "win now" mode. After a losing season that saw attendance drop, this move stinks of desperation-- an effort to try to make the on-field product look better and put fannies in the seats.
Don't get me wrong, Garza is a good pitcher, but his addition is not going to win the Cubs any division titles (let alone World Series titles). Three of the Cubs division rivals (the Brewers, Reds and Cardinals) have all made moves to improve their team, while the Cubs have been basically treading water and waiting for their overblown contracts to come off the books.
It is this short-term focus, that generally prevails with Cubs management, that is keeping them from achieving the ultimate goal--the World Series--and until their mindset changes or a certain GM is fired, the Cubs will continue to fail to reach that goal.
agreed
ReplyDeletebut i also think that garza coming to the nl will boost his stats to the point that he ends up our best starter
ReplyDeletewho cares what you think.hendry is the gm,not you. hes paid to do what they need as a team.if we didn't get garza everyone would gripe why didn't trade for one when we had the chance.pitching wins games.
ReplyDeleteYes, pitching wins games and when Archer is pitching better than Garza in the not-too-distant future, Cubs fans will be wondering why we gave up a low-cost top pitching prospect for an expensive (arbitration eligible) Garza(look at the Dan Haren for Mark Mulder trade and maybe you'll understand).
ReplyDeletehey anonymous, did we not have a full rotation before the garza trade? im not against trading prospects, but we could have gotten adrian gonzalez for this price
ReplyDeletehey kyle, did we not have a questionable full rotation before the garza trade? the guy had a 3.91 ERA in the hardest division in baseball last season. Imagine what he can do in the NL Central. You really think the Cubs could have competed with the Cardinals, Reds, and the Brewers with the rotation they had?
ReplyDeleteyeah i really do think they could have competed. the rotation had plenty of depth. we are obviously better off now as a team, but the team is clearly in "win now" mode, which is fine, but it means that we gave up more for Garza than the Brewers did for Greinke. Not exactly what Rickett's has been selling to us.
ReplyDeleteand Taylor, I did mention at the top that I think Garza will end up being the Cubs best starter next year, I just don't like the price.
ReplyDeleteWell, even though I wanted a rebuild, management showed right away that a rebuild wasn't happening. So, I'm pleased with this trade. Archer has really improved, but is he a sure thing like Garza? Maybe...but likely not. Hak Ju Lee...please name me a successful Asian middle infielder in the majors. HJ Lee is a punch-and-judy hitter in the minors...I don't see how that will translate well in the majors.
ReplyDeleteWith Garza, he's only 27, has been successful in the toughest division, and he's controlled for 3 more years. All in all...Hendry has done WAAAAAY worse than this trade!! And we still have McNutt, Cashner, and Jackson. Peaceyo...Justin
Just an awful trade from the Cubs standpoint, for a guy who will probably go 12-10 w/ an ERA of 4.50 this yr. Four top kids for an avg. MLB pitcher. Garza loves his 93 MPH fastball, I'll bet he gives up 25 HRs this year. We got raped!!!! Just awful, I see an 80-82 season this year, and then Henry will be shown the door. Garza will have to win 100 games in 5 years to make this work. Henry is so desperate to win and save his job that he would sell his mother.
ReplyDelete