Texas Rangers acquire RHP Matt Garza from Chicago Cubs

Arlington, Texas - The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has acquired right-handed pitcher Matt Garza from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for right-handed pitchers C.J. Edwards and Justin Grimm, infielder Mike Olt, and a player to be named later. Additionally, the club has reinstated right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish from the 15-day disabled list.

The 29-year-old Garza is expected to join the Rangers tomorrow. He had been scheduled to start tonight at Arizona. The Rangers will make a corresponding move on its active roster when he reports.

Garza has gone 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA (25 ER/71.0 IP) in 11 games/starts for the Cubs this season, recording 62 strikeouts against 20 walks. His current ERA, WHIP (1.14), opponents average (.229) and walks-per-9-innings (2.54) figures would all be the lowest of his career. He has won each of his last 5 starts, the most consecutive winning starts and the longest single-season win streak of his career. In 6 starts since June 16, he has gone 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA (6 ER/43.2 IP), holding opponents to a .210 (34-162) average with 10 walks and 38 strikeouts. His 5 wins in that span are tied for the major league lead, while his 1.24 ERA is the lowest in the big leagues among pitchers with more than 31.0 innings.

Garza missed the beginning of this season after suffering a left lat strain on February 17, and did not make his first start with the Cubs until May 21. He was in his third season with Chicago-NL after three years with Tampa Bay. He has gone 63-62 with a 3.80 ERA in 181 games/178 starts with Minnesota (2006-07), Tampa Bay (2008-10), and Chicago-NL (2011-13). Garza is one of 21 active starters (minimum 1000.0 innings) with a career ERA of 3.80-or-less and a WHIP of 1.28-or-less. He has averaged 4.53 runs of support per 9 innings in his career, the 9th-lowest figure among active starters with at least 1000.0 innings. He made at least 30 starts in 4 consecutive seasons from 2008-11, and surpassed 200.0 innings in both 2009 and 2010 with Tampa Bay. 

He was a member of the 2008 and 2010 Tampa Bay postseason clubs, going 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA (12 ER/31.0 IP) in 5 playoff starts, and was named the 2008 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player after the Rays beat the Red Sox in 7 games to secure the A.L. pennant. Garza faced the minimum 27 batters in a no-hitter against the Tigers on July 26, 2010, when he issued a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch before erasing the free pass with an inning-ending double play. He then retired the final 22 batters he faced.

Darvish is scheduled to start tonight's series opener against the Yankees in Arlington. He has been on the disabled list since July 11 (retroactive to July 7) with a right trapezius strain. He has gone 8-4 with a 3.02 ERA (40 ER/119.1 IP) and 157 strikeouts in 18 games/starts this season. The 157 strikeouts figure is currently tied with New York-NL's Matt Harvey for the major league lead, and he leads all MLB pitchers with an average of 11.84 strikeouts per 9 innings. His American League-leading .190 opponents average is the 4th-lowest in the majors. He last pitched on July 7 vs. Houston, when he allowed a season-high 5 earned runs and took his 4th loss of the season. Darvish has 3 games of 14-or-more strikeouts in 2013, just the 10th A.L. pitcher to have 3 such games in a season, first since Pedro Martinez did it in both 1999 and 2000. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA (3 ER/13.2 IP), 4 BB, and 16 K's in 2 career starts against New York-AL.

Edwards is 8-2 with a 1.83 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 93.1 innings over 18 starts at Low-A Hickory in 2013. He was a 48th round draft pick of the Rangers in the 2011 1st Year Player Draft. Grimm is 7-7 with a 6.37 ERA (63 ER/89.0 IP) and 68 strikeouts in 89.0 innings over 17 starts with the Rangers this season. He started the season with Triple-A Round Rock, going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA (1 ER/5.2) in one start. Grimm has appeared in 22 games/19 starts at the major league level over the last 2 seasons after he was selected in the 5th round of the 2010 June draft out of the University of Georgia. The left-handed batter was signed as a non-drafted free agent in January 2011. Olt has a .213 average with 11 homers and 32 RBI in 65 games at Triple-A Round Rock and was 4-for-12 in three games at Double-A Frisco while seeing action mostly at third base. He was on the disabled list at Round Rock for several weeks in May with vision issues. Olt, who made his major league debut with the Rangers in 2012, was a supplemental 1st round pick in the 2010 1st Year Player Draft.

With today's trade, the Rangers now have 39 players on the club's 40-man roster.