The Cubs pitching staff is in free fall. The trades of Dempster and Maholm with the injury of Garza puts the Cubs back floundering in recent seasons. We will now see a humbling turnstyle of AAA pitchers taking turns in the rotation to close out the year.
But the glaring pitching hole will have to be filled in the off season. The rebuilding solution will not be ready in time. The pitchers signed by the new front office are years away. So, that leaves the free agent market. The following is a list of FAs (age) (those without team options):
Erik Bedard (34)
Joe Blanton (32)
Bartolo Colon (40)
Aaron Cook (34)
Kevin Correia (32)
Doug Davis (37)
Ryan Dempster (36)
Zach Duke (30)
Jeff Francis (32)
Freddy Garcia (37)
Zack Greinke (28)
Jeremy Guthrie (34)
Rich Harden (31)
Livan Hernandez (38)
Edwin Jackson (29)
Hiroki Kuroda (38)
Colby Lewis (33)
Francisco Liriano (29)
Kyle Lohse (34)
Rodrigo Lopez (37)
Derek Lowe (40)
Shaun Marcum (31)
Jason Marquis (34)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (32)
Brandon McCarthy (29)
Kevin Millwood (38)
Jamie Moyer (50)
Ramon Ortiz (40)
Roy Oswalt (35)
Carl Pavano (37)
Brad Penny (35)
Joel Pineiro (34)
Anibal Sanchez (29)
Jonathan Sanchez (30)
Joe Saunders (32)
Chien-Ming Wang (33)
Kip Wells (36)
Chris Young (34)
Carlos Zambrano (32)
With Garza (29) now projected to be in the starting rotation in 2013 (his trade value at present is nil), and the Cubs management's philosophy of going "young," we can eliminate any free agent pitcher over age 32 for many reasons. First, older pitchers are more unreliable and injury prone. Second, a younger pitcher may get more trade value in July, 2013. Any free agent signings this off season are geared toward flipping the player for more prospects. So let us look at pitchers under age 33 for the Cub talent pool:
Joe Blanton (32)
Kevin Correia (32)
Zach Duke (30)
Zack Greinke (28)
Rich Harden (31)
Edwin Jackson (29)
Colby Lewis (33)
Francisco Liriano (29)
Shaun Marcum (31)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (32)
Brandon McCarthy (29)
Anibal Sanchez (29)
Jonathan Sanchez (30)
Joe Saunders (32)
Carlos Zambrano (32)
The top five pitchers on this list are probably outside the Cubs price range: Greinke, Jackson, A. Sanchez, Marcum and Harden. Other pitchers, like Lewis, have injuries that make them suspect picks.
What Hoyer will try to do is pick up another Maholm. The two ex-Pirates Correia or Duke could fit that bill. The other flyer could be a discounted Blanton, a risky McCarthy or J. Sanchez. The Cubs will need to sign two of these players in order to field a legitimate starting rotation with Garza, Samardzija and T. Wood. The only wild card in this blueprint is if someone comes out of nowhere in the last two months (Germano, Raley, Rusin) and has a Chris Sale like run.
