Washington Nationals Starter Options
By Ryan Ritchey
Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Garza– Garza is a free agent so it wouldn’t be costing the Nats any prospects and he also wasn’t offered a qualifying offer so he won’t require any draft picks sent back either. He can be picked up with just the money in Mike Rizzo’s pockets. Is he willing to spend the money on Garza to come in and be the number four starter? I would. He did have a poor second half of the season in 2013 but put him on a team that is leading a division and he could be a pretty good option. He won’t have much pressure on him being the number four either.
He strikes out about eight batters per nine innings, while he usually gives up about seven hits per nine. In the first half of last season with the Cubs he allowed just over three runs per nine innings, which with the Nationals offense should be good enough to get a W in the left column. He is a low risk, high reward if they can get him cheap. He can only help the rotation, as long as his emotions stay in check.