One of the top priorities on the Chicago Cubs’ wish list this holiday season is starting pitching. The team returns a solid #1 in Matt Garza and fading talent in Ryan Dempster. That leaves Theo Epstein with the decision of what he wants to do with numbers 3-thru-5.
It certainly appears as though Andrew Cashner will have every opportunity to reclaim one of the spots he lost to an injury last season. The former first round pick has a 2.82 ERA and 161 strikeouts over 182 career minor league innings.
After that, it’s anyone’s guess. Does the club welcome back the cancer that is Carlos Zambrano? Is Randy Wells a major league starter? Does Casey Coleman get the shot at being the prospect everyone believes him to be? Or…does the club go out and sign a free agent, like Mark Buehrle?
Rumors have surfaced that the Northsiders are interested and appear to have the capital required after declining a $16 million option on Aramis Ramirez. Buehrle and the Cubs have also met multiple times and Epstein likes pitchers that pound the strike zone and remain injury free.
New reports indicate that as many as thirteen teams could be in the mix for the lefty before all is said and done, but would the Gold Glove winner cross enemy lines? Creature comforts of staying in the same city he’s been in since 2000 and a healthy pay raise can certainly sway a man’s way of thinking.
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