The Cubs are quite familiar with Yovani Gallardo from his many years with the Milwaukee Brewers. He made 19 career starts against the Cubs while a Brewer and posted a 9-4 record, a 3.26 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 116 total innings. He's got a 3.44 ERA in 11 career starts at Wrigley Field.
He also had a solid year for the Texas Rangers, posting numbers along those lines: 3.42 ERA, 1.416 WHIP and just 15 home runs allowed in 184⅓ innings despite pitching in the launching pad that is Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Gallardo turns 30 in February, and could be in line for a decent-sized free-agent deal. So why don't we hear much about him?
Could be the K/9 ratio. It's dropped precipitously from 9.9 in 2009 to 5.9 last year. This would suggest a drop in velocity, and according to Fangraphs his fastball velocity has indeed dropped from 92.6 in 2011 to 90.5 in 2015, though that's not a huge dropoff and he seemed to be effective in 2015, largely by throwing more sliders.
He's made at least 30 starts in each of the last seven seasons and seems quite durable. We're not talking a No. 1 starter here, but he could certainly take the No. 3 slot behind Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, and he's pitched well in the postseason (2.32 ERA, 1.290 WHIP in six appearances and 31 total innings).
Would you take a chance on Gallardo? The price isn't likely to be that high, although he made $14 million in 2015 on the last year of a deal he signed with the Brewers in 2011 that bought out all his arb years and the first two years of free agency.
You'd think maybe something along the lines of 3/50 with a fourth-year option might do it. What do you think?