Like any General Manager, Jim Hendry has had hits and misses. The Derrek Lee for Hee-Seop Choi trade and the acquisitions of Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton for the stretch run of 2003 are probably his two biggest successes. Of course, Hendry has also made signings and trades that Cubs fans would like to forget. The signing of Alfonso Soriano has financially hamstrung the Cubs for years to come and the Ricky Nolasco for Juan Pierre trade robbed the Cubs of a promising young arm. This past offseason, Hendry traded a boatload of prospects for Matt Garza. Thus far, the results have been mixed.
Garza, a 27 year old hyperactive right hander, notched his first win at Wrigley Field last evening against the Cardinals. While Garza boasts a pedestrian 44-48 career record, his 3.98 career ERA in the American League is pretty solid. Fans were hoping that Garza would make a seamless transition into the National League and feast on the weaker lineups.
Garza has been inconsistent in the early going, but has shown the propensity to rack up strikeouts at an impressive rate. His 64 strikeouts are the third highest in baseball while pitching fewer innings than league leaders Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. Opposing hitters are having a difficult time catching up to his fastball and Garza can put them away with a disappearing changeup.
In order to acquire Matt Garza, Jim Hendry dealt highly touted prospects including Chris Archer and Hak-Ju-Lee while also surrendering big league ready talent in Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer. Whether this trade is closer to the Derrek Lee heist or the Juan Pierre fiasco remains to be seen.
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