If you thought the Texas Rangers are going to stand pat and be content with a rotation of Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland and Roy Oswalt, well, you thought wrong. Jon Daniels' team has been linked to both Cole Hamels and Zack Greinle, and now it appears that the Rangers have interest in Matt Garza.
Per USA Today:
Outside of Philadelphia, the Cubs have two of the top pitching prizes on the market in Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza.
Dempster, whose contract is up after the season has a 33-inning scoreless skein and could be gone by the end of the week. Garza, under team control through 2013, is coming off a seven-inning scoreless performance .
The Dodgers are the leaders for Dempster, according to a high-ranking Cubs official, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing. The Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers would love to have Garza.
Though he's not as good a pitcher as Greinke or Hamels, Garza would likely cost more in a trade because he is under team control through 2013. Not only would the Rangers get an extra year of Garza, but should Garza walk after the 2013 season, the Rangers would receive draft compensation, whereas they would not if they acquired Greinke or Hamels, and either left after this year.
Again, it's unknown who the Cubs would be interested in, but once again, Mike Olt's name would be a prime candidate to surface -- at least from Chicago's side.
For more on the Rangers, head over to Lone Star Ball.