Chicago Cubs: Could Scott Kazmir be an option?

Over the past few days there has been an interesting starting pitcher being rolled around the rumor mill, and maybe it is a name the Chicago Cubs should consider as well. Scott Kazmir of the Oakland A’s is being rumored to several teams throughout baseball.

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Chris Schubert from MLBDailyDish.com has said that the Kansas City Royals are being named as a possible landing spot for the left-handed pitcher. Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe has named the Boston Red Sox as possible suitors as well for Kazmir.

I’m sure as the weeks go by, teams like the Dodgers, Tigers, Yankees, and Padres could also being linked with Oakland on a possible trade. But I think the Cubs should call Oakland to see if maybe they’d like to do business again.

Granted the trade last year didn’t work out how Oakland wanted, but that is the risk you take when trading. The A’s now have to try to restock their farm system that they picked from when making trades for Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel, and Jon Lester last year when they went all in for a World Series and failed. So they will be looking at whoever can give the most and the best prospects.

Kazmir is a left-handed veteran arm that could replace Travis Wood in the rotation for the Cubs. The 31-year-old left-hander has had a solid career as middle to bottom of the rotation starter. With a career stat line of 93 wins and 80 losses, he has a career 4.03 ERA with 1359 strikeouts in his 11 year career.

In 2007 with Tampa Bay, he led the American League with 207 K’s. He also is a three-time all-star, twice with Tampa Bay and last year with Oakland.

This year he’s starting out with a 2-1 win/loss record, 2.75 ERA, and 40 strikeouts.

He has worked with Joe Maddon before so a reunion with his former manager could be a plus for the Cubs. He is in the final year of his 2 year $22 million contract and would be an improvement over Wood who has struggled in his last two starts.

It is starting to look more like that last year wasn’t just an off-year and maybe that 2013’s all-star year may have been the high point for Wood as a Chicago Cubs pitcher.

What would this cost the Cubs to gain the services of Kazmir? That may depend on how much of a rush they are to move him and if they will be in contention. Considering at this point Oakland is eight games out of first place and they are in a tough division with the Angels, Rangers, and the young Astros – Oakland may continue to be on the outside looking in at the AL West.

The Cubs won’t pay a ton for a one-year rental, but I could see them moving some lower level prospects if they feel they can challenge for the division or one of the two wild cards spots.

I think he’d be a very good addition for the rotation and would compliment Lester, Jake Arrieta, Hammel, and Kyle Hendricks very well, and if he enjoys his time with the Cubs this year, maybe he’d resign at a reasonable cost to stay with his former manager and with a young contending team.

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