Sports Betting – Cubs Get Garza but Pay a Huge Price. The Chicago Cubs may have received a boost to their sports betting odds with the addition of pitcher Matt Garza who they got from Tampa Bay but they paid a steep price to get him. The Cubs traded away a lot of talent to get Garza but in the short term the trade might help Chicago in online sports betting. In the long run though, the deal is a disaster for the Cubs.
Eight Player Deal
Matt Garza is the only name gamblers at SBG are going to recognize in the eight-player deal that the Cubs made with Tampa Bay. The Cubs sent right-handed pitcher Chris Archer, outfielder Brandon Guyer, catcher Robinson Chirinos, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee and outfielder Sam Fuld to Tampa Bay for Garza, minor league outfielder Fernando Perez and left-handed pitcher Zachary Rosscup. Garza was 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA last season for the Rays. He averaged 6.6 strikeouts and 2.77 walks per nine innings. He did pitch a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers last year. Garza won two games in the ALCS in 2008. He will now join a Chicago rotation that already had Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster.
Tampa Gets a Ton of Talent
Many people are going to look at this trade and think the Cubs did great in getting Garza. The reality is far different. Tampa Bay destroyed the Cubs in this deal. Garza is an okay pitcher but he is not elite and Chicago gave up their best minor league players to get him. Archer was 15-3 with 2.34 in 28 games last season in A and Double A. He was Chicago’s minor league pitcher of the year. Guyer batted .344 with 13 home runs and 58 RBIs for Tennessee last season and was Chicago’s minor league player of the year.
Many people believe the Rays got more for Garza than Kansas City got when they traded Zack Grienke. Tampa got the two top players in Chicago’s minor league system plus they got Hak-Ju who people believe is the best player in the deal. He is just 19 years old and considered a future superstar at shortstop. Some people in sports betting had him as the number one prospect in the Cubs system. So Tampa gets Archer, Guyer and Hak-Ju, the three best players in Chicago’s system for Garza who is an above average Major League pitcher but not a superstar. And Tampa won’t miss Garza at all as they can plug in Jeremy Hellickson who may put up better numbers.