Dempster vs. Hamels vs. Greinke: Which SP Makes Most Sense for Desperate Teams?

As is usually the case, there are a lot of teams looking for starting pitching help as we approach MLB's July 31 trade deadline.

Fortunately for these teams, there are some pretty good options out there.

Among the names that have been bandied about most often in recent weeks, four stick out: Chicago Cubs righties Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza, Philadelphia Phillies lefty Cole Hamels and Milwaukee Brewers righty Zack Greinke.

Dempster and Garza have a longer list of suitors than Hamels and Greinke, but there's a chance that we're going to see all four of these pitchers moved in the next couple of weeks. They have talent, and the demand for their talent is definitely out there.

On Tuesday, Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports listed 11 different teams that are seeking starting pitching help. Not listed among them are the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, both of whom have been rumored in recent weeks to be looking for rotation help as well.

So we're looking at a core group of 13 teams that are on the lookout for starting pitching help at the moment, and you can rest assured that they've all taken their glances at Dempster, Garza, Hamels and Greinke.

The question is which of these four pitchers is the best fit for the 13 starting pitching-needy teams around MLB, and that's exactly what we're here to discuss.

Note: Any stats that you find within come from Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Best Option: Matt Garza

The Diamondbacks have lost young righty Daniel Hudson for the season due to Tommy John surgery and they currently have two rookies in their starting rotation in lefty Wade Miley and righty Trevor Bauer.

All told, their starters have posted a 4.33 ERA this season, which is one of the key reasons why the Diamondbacks are under .500 and looking up at the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

The D-Backs have the prospects to go out and land Hamels or Greinke, as their farm system is among the strongest in baseball. Specifically, they have some young arms they could offer the Phillies or Brewers. Bauer is probably off-limits, but Tyler Skaggs and Archie Bradley could be in play.

But, the D-Backs aren't about to part with their top prospects to get Hamels or Greinke. Both of them are due to become free agents at the end of the season, and the Diamondbacks would be fools to sell the farm for a rental pitcher. It would be one thing if a postseason berth was all but assured and they were trying to win the World Series, but the D-Backs are merely trying to climb back into the postseason picture at this point.

They're far more likely to focus their efforts on a pitcher who would be less costly, and that puts them in the Dempster/Garza discussion. 

The D-Backs could use Dempster's experience in their starting rotation, but he's yet another rental player that Kevin Towers should be shying away from. 

That leaves Garza, who is the best fit of the four pitchers in question for the Diamondbacks for several reasons.

The first and foremost is that he's under club control through next season, meaning he could help the Diamondbacks this year and be a key part of their rotation in 2013 while they wait for Hudson to get healthy.

Second, the D-Backs are one of relatively few teams that could use Garza as a No. 1. He'd be a No. 2 or No. 3 on most other teams.

Bruce Levine of ESPN.com has noted that the Cubs would love to get young pitching and a third base prospect in return for Garza. The D-Backs certainly have young pitching, and they also have a solid third base prospect to dangle in Matt Davidson.

Full disclosure, I don't anticipate the D-Backs making a move for any of the four pitchers in discussion. But, if they do, it will probably be for Garza.

Atlanta Braves

Best Option: Zack Greinke

Starting pitching has been Atlanta's biggest shortcoming this season. Braves starters have 4.16 ERA, but that figure would be even higher if it wasn't for Brandon Beachy. And Beachy, of course, has been lost for the rest of the season.

The Braves are sitting pretty in the NL postseason picture at the moment. They're only 2.5 games behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East, and they would nab the NL's first wild card spot if the season ended today.

What the Braves need in order to shore up their chances of making a deep postseason run is an ace pitcher. They don't have one at the moment. That doesn't bode well for them if they make the playoffs, where they will be forced to send their best against the opposition's best.

Hamels is out of the question. He'd be a good get for the Braves, but Frank Wren isn't about to ship a package of noteworthy prospects to a division rival just so he can get a rental player. That's not his style.

That makes Greinke the better option for the Braves, and this suggestion should not come as news. They've been linked to Greinke for weeks, and Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweeted on Monday that the Braves are still very much interested in the former AL Cy Young Award winner:

"

Nothing has changed. Interest in Greinke is still there. If forced to guess, I'd say they'll end up w/ a different SP @tyler24_k

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 16, 2012"

The Braves have just enough talent left in the top levels of their system to entice the Brewers into trading Greinke, but ESPN's Buster Olney has reported that Wren isn't going to make a deal for Greinke unless they know they're going to be able to sign him to an extension.

That's always tricky when it comes to these situations, but Wren can find the money to do so by letting Michael Bourn walk as a free agent and refusing to pick up Tim Hudson's $9 million option for 2013.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Baltimore Orioles

Best Option: Matt Garza

The Orioles have one of the worst starting rotations in baseball, and it's not getting any better. With Jason Hammel on the disabled list with a knee injury, the O's are basically down to spare parts at this point.

Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun reported earlier in July that the Orioles were going to go hard after Greinke, but not much has happened since then. This is probably because Dan Duquette has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado—Baltimore's two best prospects. They are not for sale.

This effectively takes the O's out of the Greinke discussion entirely, not to mention the Hamels discussion.

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Orioles could use Dempster's experience in their rotation, which is severely lacking in experience. But, the fact that he would be a rental should scare Duquette away. His team needs starting pitching help for both this season and next season.

And this, of course, makes Garza their best bet.

ESPN's Jayson Stark wrote in late June that the Orioles were "right in the thick" of the Garza sweepstakes, though they were apparently making it quite clear to the Cubs that Bundy and Machado are not going anywhere. 

There hasn't been much noise about the Orioles and Garza in recent weeks. This may have something to do with the team's 4-8 record in July. At this rate, Duquette may be realizing that the team overachieved earlier in the year, and that the best idea is to sit tight and wait for 2013 to come around.

That doesn't take them out of the Garza discussion completely, but it does make them a long shot to deal for Garza or any of the other major pitchers on the block this season.

Boston Red Sox

Best Option: Ryan Dempster

Boston's starting pitching hasn't been much better than Baltimore's starting pitching this season. Sox starters have posted a 4.71 ERA in 2012—26th in the majors.

Nonetheless, the Red Sox can rest easy knowing that they have a strong trio of starters in Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz. It's the back end of their rotation that could use a boost, and a rental player would suffice.

That puts them in the Hamels and Greinke discussions, but both of them are unrealistic options because of how much they would cost the Red Sox both in the short- and long-term.

The Red Sox only have so many prospects to part with, and they're not going to have a ton of money to throw around this offseason. Their payroll is already bloated, and the club is weighed down by some bad contracts (i.e. John Lackey and Carl Crawford).

Ryan Dempster is a better fit for the Red Sox, and the word from Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com is that the Red Sox are interested in him to the point where they're already exchanging names with the Cubs.

This makes perfect sense. Rosenthal notes that the Red Sox are just as interested in Garza as they are in Dempster, but Dempster is the cheapest pitcher of the four pitchers in this discussion. He's also exactly the kind of quick fix the Red Sox are looking for.

While there are complaints to be made about Dempster's frailty and his inexperience pitching against American League clubs, his experience would play well in the back end of Boston's rotation.

Aaron Cook has logged some quality starts for the Red Sox recently, but also in the back end of Boston's rotation is rookie lefty Felix Doubront and temporary starter Franklin Morales.

Dempster would be an upgrade over both of them—not to mention Cook.

Chicago White Sox

Best Option: Ryan Dempster

The White Sox's starting pitching has been a pleasant surprise this season. Chris Sale and Jake Peavy are both legit AL Cy Young contenders, and the White Sox have gotten great work out of young lefty Jose Quintana recently.

The team's rotation ERA sits at 3.98. You'd think it would be lower, given the dominance of Sale and Peavy. The reason it's not is because the White Sox have had no shortage of trouble in their starting rotation beyond the two of them.

The latest word from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com is that Sox general manager Kenny Williams is interested in swinging a deal for Greinke.

White Sox fans shouldn't get their hopes up for that deal to be made, though. It's going to take a king's ransom to pry Greinke from Milwaukee, and the White Sox have one of the thinnest farm systems in all of baseball.

This takes them out of the Hamels discussion as well. No doubt Williams would love to land either one of them, but he just doesn't have the assets to get it done.

The cheapest option is the best option for the White Sox, and that means Dempster.

Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com has reported that the White Sox are interested in Dempster, and that makes sense. He's the only pitcher of the four pitchers in question that the White Sox can afford, and he's just the kind of pitcher the White Sox are looking for to slate behind Sale and Peavy in their starting rotation.

As long as we're being honest with one another, I'll say that I'll be surprised if the White Sox land Dempster. Or anybody else, for that matter.

Teams are going to be able to get better offers from other teams, and Williams doesn't need to do anything brash with John Danks and Gavin Floyd sitting around on the disabled list waiting to return in a few weeks.

Plus, his team is already in first place. The White Sox barely qualify as a "desperate" team.

Detroit Tigers

Best Option: Matt Garza

Tigers starters have posted a 4.18 ERA this season, but that number would be a lot higher if it wasn't for Justin Verlander.

The big question facing the Tigers at the moment is who their No. 2 starter would be if they do end up qualifying for the postseason this year. Doug Fister has underachieved when he's been healthy, and nobody can ever relax when Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello are on the mound.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com wrote this weekend that the Tigers are a legitimate suitor for Hamels or Greinke because the organization is committed to winning big this year. One of those two could help. 

The problem is that the Tigers are in pretty much the same boat as the White Sox. Detroit's farm system isn't as bad as Chicago's is, but it's certainly not among the more loaded systems in baseball. David Dombrowski would no doubt love to land Hamels or Greinke, but he doesn't have the goods to make a competitive offer.

The Rosenthal report referenced in the Red Sox slide notes that the Tigers are another team that is exchanging names with the Cubs in hopes of landing Dempster, but the word from Levine is that the Tigers are interested in Garza as well.

Garza would cost the Tigers more prospects than Dempster would, but one thing Dombrowski could do to make sure he gets his money's worth is demand that Darwin Barney be included in the trade. Levine noted that the Tigers have asked about Barney, and that comes as no surprise given the team's issues at second base this season.

In Garza, the Tigers would be getting a perfect No. 2 to line up behind Verlander. He'd be around in 2013 too, a year in which the Tigers will still be in a position to contend for a World Series title.

Los Angeles Angels

Best Option: Cole Hamels

Angels starters currently boast a 3.86 ERA, which ranks eighth out of 30 major league teams.

But, things are not as rosy as they seem. Jered Weaver is excellent and C.J. Wilson has been great, but Ervin Santana has struggled all season and Dan Haren is currently on the disabled list with a bad back. The Angels need rotation help.

At this point, they shouldn't be worried about making the playoffs. They're only 5.5 games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West, and the top wild card spot in the American League is theirs to lose.

But it's always been championship or bust with these Angels, and they're going to need more pitching if they want to put themselves in a position to make it to the World Series.

Heyman noted in his recent article that the Angels are serious contenders to land Hamels or Greinke, both of whom have been scouted by the Angels recently.

Rosenthal wrote in his report that rival executives think the Angels have what it takes to swing a deal for Greinke, even despite the fact their farm system is one of the weaker systems in MLB.

But, Hamels is a more realistic option for them because the Phillies would supposedly gladly accept Peter Bourjos in a trade. He could also go to the Brewers in a package for Greinke, but the Phillies have more incentive to trade for Bourjos because of the Shane Victorino dilemma.

Besides which, the Angels should prefer Hamels because he's used to pitching in a big market and in the playoffs. Greinke has pitched in the playoffs once, and has only pitched in small markets. 

In addition, Hamels is a Southern California native who would probably be open to re-signing with the Angels after the season.

Their payroll is already bloated, but Torii Hunter's contract will be coming off the books after this season. That's a lot of money that's about to be freed up.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Best Option: Ryan Dempster

Dodgers starters have posted a 3.39 ERA this season, second only to the Washington Nationals in Major League Baseball.

The Dodgers don't need to worry about Clayton Kershaw. Chris Capuano has been great as well. Aaron Harang is solid.

However, Ted Lilly remains sidelined with a bad left shoulder and Chad Billingsley has come down with a sore elbow. The Dodgers need to make a move for a starting pitching now, lest they lose even more ground to the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

The Dodgers have been linked to Hamels for weeks, and Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com wrote on Monday that the Dodgers are indeed interested in him. The trouble is that the Dodgers don't have the prospects to swing a deal for him, and that pretty much takes them out of the Greinke discussion too.

Dempster is the best fit for the Dodgers. The fact that he's the cheapest of the four pitchers we're talking about should suit the Dodgers, who don't have a ton of talent they can part with. Rosenthal noted that the Dodgers could get Dempster for some of their Double-A pitchers, and it bodes well for them that that's one area where they're well stocked.

The Dodgers could use Dempster as a No. 2 behind Kershaw—if and when they get to the postseason—and the fact that he's a rental shouldn't bother general manager Ned Colletti in the slightest.

Colletti knows that he is backed by an ownership group that is willing to spend. He can look forward to the offseason knowing that he's going to be able to make a serious run at either Hamels or Greinke.

He could wave goodbye to Dempster and then set his sights on landing a very big fish for his rotation.

New York Yankees

Best Option: Matt Garza

It's possible that the Yankees won't get Andy Pettitte back until September, but CC Sabathia is set to come off the DL on Tuesday. Also, the rest of New York's rotation has been healthy and productive pretty much the entire season.

The Yankees don't need to go out and find a starting pitcher in order to secure a spot in the playoffs. They currently hold a nine-game lead in the AL East, and they can hold that lead with the pitchers they already have.

So it's no wonder that Brian Cashman said recently that he's not exactly dying to make a move.

“I’m not very optimistic that we’ll be needing to be active, or should be active, given the price tags associated with the players," he said, via the New York Post.

The Yankees, however, have been rumored to favor Garza. Jon Heyman reported that was the case way back on the first of June, and not much has changed over the last month and a half.

Garza would come at a price. The Cubs want young pitching in exchange for him, which could mean that the Yankees would have to part with Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances in order to pry Garza from the Cubs.

It's hard to see them doing that—seeing as how the Yankees aren't desperate for starting pitching help—but they're more likely to part with their top prospects to get Garza than they are to get Dempster. The kicker is that Garza would be around in 2013 and that he won't cost as much as free-agents-to-be like Hamels and Greinke.

Still, I'll be surprised if the Yankees actually make a move for a starting pitching. They're more likely to address their outfield woes at the deadline.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Best Option: Matt Garza

The Pirates haven't come out of the gates swinging to start the second half, but they have a chance to make a move in the NL Central with Joey Votto out for as long as a month with a knee injury.

The Pirates don't need to make a move to net a starting pitcher in order to do that. They can reclaim first place in the NL Central and hold with what they already have.

What general manager Neal Huntington has to figure out is whether his team has enough to make a deep postseason run. To that end, the one thing the Pirates are missing is a legit No. 2 or No. 3 starting pitcher that they can line up next to James McDonald and A.J. Burnett.

Hamels or Greinke would be nice, but the Pirates would be fools to target either one of them because they'd have to give up a ton to get one of them. Also, there would be no guarantee of either one of them re-signing.

The problem with doing business with the Cubs is that it's never a good idea to trade young talent within one's own division. If the Pirates are going to do that, though, it's better if they strike a deal for Garza because he'd be a perfect No. 3 to place behind McDonald and Burnett—and because the Pirates would have him for an extra year.

Huntington won't give up Jameson Taillon or Gerrit Cole to get Garza, but he has a lot more prospects to play with than just those two. A deal could be constructed around Starling Marte, who ESPN's Jayson Stark says can be had in a trade.

You get the sense that the Pirates are going to do something big at the deadline. After years of wallowing in irrelevancy, they're ready to go big or go home this season.

St. Louis Cardinals

Best Option: Zack Greinke

The Cardinals' starting pitching has quietly been very good this season. St. Louis starters have posted a 3.66 ERA—fourth in all of baseball.

Things are far from perfect, though. Chris Carpenter is done for the rest of the year after opting to have surgery on his wounded shoulder. Jaime Garcia is on the disabled list and probably won't be back until August.

John Mozeliak has the luxury of sitting on one of baseball's strongest farm systems. Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier in July that this means Mozeliak can make a play for pretty much any pitcher he wants, including Hamels and Greinke.

Hamels would seem to be the easy choice because trading for him wouldn't require Mozeliak to ship his best prospects within the division. However, it's not like the Cardinals to rush into a rental trade without knowing they have a legit shot at re-signing the player in question, and this is what makes Greinke the better choice.

As Rosenthal noted in his column, Greinke started his career in Kansas City—just a stone's throw away from St. Louis. And though the Cardinals don't really qualify as a small-market team, they're not a big-market team either. St. Louis is a place where Greinke could be comfortable, which is always a big question where he's concerned.

It helps that he would still be pitching in the NL Central, a division that he has come to know well in the last two seasons. 

The Cardinals have more than enough prospects to sway the Brewers, and it's worth the risk for them to ship their prospects within the NL Central. They need an ace pitcher and Greinke is an ace pitcher that they can re-sign.

Texas Rangers

Best Option: Cole Hamels

The perception is that the Rangers have a weak starting pitching staff, but things aren't all that bad considering the circumstances. Their starters have been bitten by the injury bug, the healthy ones have struggled here and there and Roy Oswalt has been a bust. But, the Rangers still boast a solid 4.03 rotation ERA.

The Rangers have more than enough starting pitching to make the postseason. Their concern is whether or not they have enough starting pitching to win the World Series, and this is a concern that they're apparently willing to address aggressively.

The Rangers have been linked to both Hamels and Greinke. Most recently, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Rangers scouted Hamels on Sunday and then wrote in an article that they have scouted Greinke on "multiple occasions."

Apparently, they prefer Hamels.

As well they should. Hamels is exactly the kind of ace pitcher the top of their rotation needs, and the fact that he has experience pitching for both a big-market club and in the World Series should appeal to the Rangers.

The Rangers can go get Hamels if they want him. In addition to having a strong major league roster, they're also sitting on one of baseball's strongest farm systems. They have excellent young hitting prospects (i.e. Mike Olt), and that should appeal to a Phillies team that needs some young bats.

The Rangers won't part with any of their top prospects lightly, but don't expect them to stand pat one way or the other. It's just a matter of time before they make a splash.

Toronto Blue Jays

Best Option: Matt Garza

At the moment, the Blue Jays have Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison, Jesse Litch and Dustin McGowan on the disabled list. Drabek is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and there's no telling when McGowan will be ready to pitch again.

Of all the teams around baseball that need starting pitching, the Blue Jays need starting pitching the most. It's not even close.

The Jays have been linked to some of the bigger names out there, but that's par for the course. Alex Anthopoulos has a habit of checking in on big-name players, just to see what's what.

However, we know for sure that Anthopoulos is legitimately interested in Garza. Levine noted in his report that the Jays were one of six teams that scouted Garza's most recent start.

Garza makes perfect sense for the Blue Jays. They need his talent right now, and they're going to need it next season too. He'd come at a hefty price, but the Jays have a farm system that is widely considered among the five best in all of Major League Baseball.

The Jays could use their wealth of prospects to go get Hamels or Greinke, but that would be foolish because they're looking like a long shot to make the playoffs. To boot, the Jays don't have the cash to re-sign either one of them after the season is over.

Garza is the only pitcher in this discussion who isn't a rental, and that's yet another thing that makes him a perfect fit for the Jays.

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