Rumors have been swirling for weeks about Matt Garza and where he would be traded, and one team was always involved, the Texas Rangers.  Today, the Rangers, much like Chuck Norris did in every episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger”, got their man.  This trade is a big one for the future of the AL West.  The Rangers’ pitching staff has struggled with health in their starting rotation since the 2012 season, and they add a consistently good pitcher, who has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball over the last three weeks.

In the here and now, this trade makes the Rangers a better team.  You take out a solid, but young kid who is still learning to pitch in Justin Grimm, and add a pitcher with World Series experience.  In the future, though, this trade could really hurt the Rangers.  They give up Grimm, who could be a solid starting pitcher for the Cubs for years to come, but they also give up a guy who was once the top prospect in the franchise in Mike Olt.  The player that made the deal for the Cubs is a Single A pitcher named C.J. Edwards.  Edwards is a 21 year old kid who is 8-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 122 strikeouts in only 93.1 innings.  To the Cubs, Edwards is the cherry on top of the deal, and oh yeah, there is a player to be named later still coming their way.

As great as this trade looks for the Cubbies, the Rangers have to feel good about this trade as well.  Olt has fallen out of favor in the organization and had a huge roadblock in his way to the majors in the form of Adrian Beltre, and to a team with as good of a farm system as the Rangers have, losing two other minor leaguers will not hurt them much.  The big hit in the long run for the Rangers has to be losing Grimm.  Sure, Garza will take his spot in the rotation right now, but next season, when Garza goes somewhere else in free agency, they will be missing Grimm, a young kid who could’ve been around for a long time.

This trade looks like the Cubbies got a steal.  Garza was not going to be a Cub next season, and even though Garza was undefeated in his last six starts, they do not need him the rest of the year and they get Grimm to step right into his spot.  Looking at this trade, this is clearly a win for the Cubs, and the only way this trade is a win for the Rangers is if Garza helps them catch the A’s in the division, and then they make a deep run in the playoffs.