Matt Garza's $10M+ arbitration request complicates potentially acquiring him via trade, according to Buster Olney and rival executives with whom he's spoken.
Garza was the only Cub not to sign before the deadline and filed for $10.225 million while the Cubs are offering $7.95 million. Olney's argument is the difference, and a potentially $10M salary change the scope of what teams would be trading for:
- Twitter / @Buster_ESPN - "View of rival executives: Matt Garza's $10.225 million arbitration request greatly complicates any interest in him as a trade target."
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Six Cubs avoid arbitration; Matt Garza still unsigned - Chicago Sun-Times
"Garza, who went 10-10 with a 3.32 ERA last season, filed an arbitration figure of $10.225 million; the Cubs’ countered with $7.95 million. Whether Garza agrees to a deal before reaching a hearing next month, he remains a subject of trade speculation, despite team president Theo Epstein’s assertion that the club isn’t shopping him."
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Theo Epstein Says He's A Matt Garza Fan, Explains Carlos Zambrano Trade - SB Nation Chicago
Epstein: "The reality is that he has two years left on his contract, so at some point it's gonna make sense to try to turn that short-term asset that those two years represent into longer-term assets. That could very well be by reaching a contract extension, either now or next year or when his contract is up. It doesn't have to be through a trade necessarily." -
Tigers Notes: Garza Interest Exaggerated; Cespedes Market, Prospects, Ordonez - MLB Daily Dish
"The Detroit Tigers aren't nearly as interested in trading for Matt Garza as EVERYONE ELSE would have you believe, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. Nightengale suggests that they're unwilling to part with the prospects required to leverage Garza out of Chicago."