The Kansas City Royals are one of six teams rumored to be involved in potentially trading for Matt Garza from the Chicago Cubs, and that's good news for a team in need of starting pitching. Now that Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino are both lost for 2012 due to Tommy John surgery, the Royals need an infusion of talent in the rotation if they are to stay alive in the AL Central.
But what would that cost? ESPN's Buster Olney recently expressed what he believed to be the asking price in a recent column.
Olney writes, "It would take one B+/A- prospect, plus a couple of other above-average guys to get him. The Cubs will wait closer to the deadline to deal Garza, unless they're overwhelmed now, because they longer the wait, the more likely it is that teams will be aggressive to plug a hole in the rotation. A bidding process will begin. Garza's price is higher than Dempster's because Garza is under control next year, so you have more moving parts involved."
The Cubs have both starters available, but Garza is the definitely prize who could anchor the rotation for yet another year. That would buy time for prospects to continue to develop and for Duffy and Paulino to fully return from the long rehab. In any event, Royals fans can be pleased that they are finally mentioned alongside other teams buying at the MLB trade deadline for once.