With the Reds-Padres trade Saturday, there was some speculation San Diego's top first base prospect Anthony Rizzo could be on the trading block and that the Cubs could have interest.
Matt Garza's name has been involved in trade talks as well this offseason, most notably with the Rangers during the winter meetings in Dallas earlier this month.
Both of those talks are picking up more now as Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio tweeted out in the wee hours of Sunday morning:
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JIM BOWDENPadres have interest in a package deal with the primary trade pieces being Anthony Rizzo and Matt Garza...should be interesting in Cubs view
Dec 18 via webFavoriteRetweetReply
Hard to see the Cubs trading him, especially as Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein continue to express a desire to improve the team's run prevention, which obviously includes the starting rotation. It wouldn't fit with that strategy for the new Theo Trio to send away their best pitcher.
But then again, if the Cubs were to trade Garza for anybody, Rizzo may be one of the top guys.
Jason McLeod drafted Rizzo in Boston and then Theo sent the young first baseman to San Diego (where Hoyer was GM) in the package for superstar Adrian Gonzalez.
MLB
All three are familiar with the 22-year-old and they're all high on him. He could be a team cornerstone for years to come.
Rizzo struggled in the 49 games he appeared in with the Padres last season, but considering the 1.056 OPS he put up in Triple-A last year, he appears to be ready to take over a Major League position at the start of the season.
The Cubs do need a first baseman (especially if all this Prince Fielder talk really is a media smokescreen) but it would still be really hard to trade Garza. There would likely be other pieces to the puzzle and more players coming back to Chicago than just Rizzo.