Yesterday, Bruce Levine reported that the Cubs were still looking to trade options to add another starting pitcher.
The names mentioned in his article were Matt Garza and Fausto Carmona.
We have discussed Garza to death here; feel free to keep talking about him, but I doubt we'll come up with anything that hasn't already been mentioned. The only thing Levine said in his article about Garza that might be considered new information is this:
If the Cubs and Tampa are able to come to an agreement, minor league catcher Robinson Chirinos and shortstop Hak-Ju Lee would probably be in the deal.
That, I would probably do. Much as Lee has a high ceiling, he is at least two and probably three years away from contributing at the major league level. Garza is 27 and would undoubtedly benefit from a move from the AL East to the NL Central... but then, we've been down this discussion road before.
For Carmona, the price, according to Levine, would be higher:
Cleveland's Fausto Carmona has been mentioned in trade talks as well. The Cubs and Indians had talks at one time about Carmona. However, the Indians are said to be asking for teams' top two prospects just to get started in serious discussions.
That would likely mean Brett Jackson and Chris Archer, among others. Personally, I wouldn't do that. Carmona has talent, although he had two mediocre years in 2008 and 2009 before coming back to close to his 2007 level last year. Jackson and Archer is, in my opinion, too high a price for Carmona -- but if you could get him for a lower price (in players), it might be worth considering.
Garza is arbitration-eligible this winter and is likely to get a raise from his $3.35 million deal of 2010 to probably somewhere around $7-$8 million. Carmona is under contract for $6.1 million in 2011 and then has three years of club options: $7 million in 2012, $9 million in 2013 and $12 million in 2014 (wow -- talk about backloading!).
So, would you do either of these deals? Discuss amongst yourselves.