MLB Rumors: Chicago Cubs Should Not Even Consider Moving Matt Garza

Recent rumors have the Chicago Cubs potentially looking at the San Diego Padres as potential trade partners for starting pitcher Matt Garza. If the Cubs have any intention of improving their pitching staff for the 2012 season and beyond, moving Garza should be the last move they make.

Garza came over to the Cubs last season after the Cubs traded away pretty much the entire farm for the Tampa Bay Rays' stud pitcher. In Garza's first season with the Cubs, he went 10-10 with a 3.32 ERA. He also struck out 197 batters in 198 innings. Last season was the his best year in terms of strikeouts, surpassing his 189 mark back in 2008.

Both his strikeouts and ERA were career highs in his six year career.

In just one less start this season, Garza had 47 more strikeouts compared to his last. His ERA was also 59 points less than it was last year with the Rays. The only place where Garza went in the wrong direction was the win-loss column.

After winning 15 games in 2010, Garza was only able to win 10 games in his first year with the Cubs. Still, that tied for a team high with Ryan Dempster who had an ERA of 4.82. Unfortunately for the Cubs, Dempster was their second-best pitcher.

If the Cubs were to move Garza, they would be losing out on a guy who could potentially win a lot of games for them. He proved last season that he can dominate the National League, and it will only take a little run production to get the win column raking in more wins. 

While the Cubs would likely get some nice prospects in return, moving a guy like Garza isn't worth the potential risk being that those prospects may never turn out to be anything special like Garza is now.

New team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer, who recently was the GM of the Padres, know what kind of talent they have with Garza. They likely are looking for something that is overwhelming anyways. That is why a deal with the Texas Rangers never really blossomed into anything.

Garza is only 28 years old and presents the Cubs with their best option on the mound going into each game. He had essentially his best season of his career, despite the overall record.

Garza is only going to continue to improve, and he has the ability to become the Cubs' ace for some time.

The Cubs definitely need to improve in many areas, but the departure of Garza will fill one hole while opening up a new void.

Jeff Chase is a Featured Columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State Football.