Chicago Cubs: Why the Cubs should trade for Matt Harvey

Despite the Chicago Cubs’ pitching needs, I know what you’re thinking. When was the last time Matt Harvey was a solution to a problem?

He’s nicknamed “The Dark Knight”, but hasn’t been anything close to a superhero for New York Mets fans recently.

While it’s true that Matt Harvey hasn’t exactly been the most popular guy around the Big Apple recently, we tend to forget that this guy was what some might consider a top-10 starter in the league not that long ago.

So why should the Chicago Cubs, or any other team, want him?  Well, for the Cubs, he could potentially be both a short-term and a long-term solution to their starting pitching problem.  It’s a gamble, but a bet the Cubs should be willing to make.

It’s a low-risk, high-reward move.

Since Harvey has been rather atrocious the past two seasons, his trade value is as low as it has ever been.  Last year seemed to be a fluke for Harvey when he pitched to a 4.86 ERA in just 17 starts.

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This year, however, seems to be more of the same, if not worse.  According to Baseball Reference, Harvey has career-lows in strikeouts per nine (6.8), strikeouts per walk (1.44) and ERA+ (76) just to name a few.  He also has career highs in WHIP (1.484), home runs per nine (1.9), walks per nine (4.7) and many other categories.

With these numbers, the Mets’ asking price is presumably something along the lines of a ham sandwich.  So if you’re the Cubs, you only have to give up one or maybe two top-25 prospects to land him.

Money isn’t really an issue either.  He is currently making $5.125 million, is arbitration-eligible next year, then becomes a free agent in 2019.

This means that the Cubs would give up basically nothing for him and get him for relatively cheap. If he doesn’t work out, no problem.  If he works out, though, the Cubs hit the lottery.

Matt Harvey has proven he can pitch at a high level and pitch effectively.

I know most of you remember Harvey begging to pitch the ninth in the deciding Game 5 of the 2015 World Series.  Up until then, Harvey had given up just one earned run, allowed five hits, and had nine strike outs.

Aside from the run he gave up in the ninth inning of that game – that is an epic clutch performance.   Harvey’s other postseason numbers in that 2015 campaign are pretty good, too.

In his four playoff starts, he has a 3.04 ERA, 27 strikeouts and has only given up eight walks.  These numbers are extremely important, especially to a presumptive playoff-bound team like the Cubs.

Matt Harvey might not be what you picture when you hear the word ‘athlete’.

According to his Baseball Reference page, he is listed at 6’4 and 215 lbs.

In 2014, Harvey missed the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.  While the words ‘Tommy John’ aren’t exactly what you want to hear when talking about a pitcher, it has definitely become more common in recent years.

Despite the fact that his numbers have been down significantly the past two years, he pitched masterfully in 2015, the year after the surgery.  In his 2015 campaign, in 29 starts Harvey had a 2.71 ERA, 1.019 WHIP, and gave up just 1.8 walks per 9.

Harvey is only 28 years old now – this should be his prime.  And while he has had two significantly down years, the Cubs would be wise to make this move.

Next: Cubs place Hendricks on DL, transfer Anderson