Six different teams have been in constant contact with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein regarding pitcher Matt Garza, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. Garza is considered to be the Cubs' strongest possible piece for deadline trades unless they entertain offers for shortstop Starlin Castro.
According to Cafardo, the Braves, Tigers, Cardinals, Red Sox, Royals and Blue Jays have all called Epstein to discuss possible trades surrounding Garza. The 28-year-old has had some issues with home runs and simple defensive plays this season, but otherwise he's continued to be one of the better pitchers in the National League.
Over 13 starts this year, Garza has a 4.07 ERA with 72 strikeouts and 22 walks over 77.1 innings of work. He presumably has additional appeal to AL teams because of his past success pitching with the Tampa Bay Rays in the difficult AL East.
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