The Chicago Cubs seen surprising results through the first two months of the 2013 season as Scott Feldman is one of their better starters. The Cubs are not in contention and as a result, he might become trade bate as rumors are swirling that Feldman might be moved by the deadline in July.
Feldman is posting a 2.84 ERA through 11 starts good for a 5-4 record so far in 2013. In these 11 starts, Feldman has only allowed four or more earned runs in two starts. He's allowed seven home runs and while Wrigley Field is a pitchers' ballpark, Feldman has done a great job limiting fly balls. He's striking out about seven hitters per game while walking almost three.
Currently playing in a super tough division, the Cubs are 25-35 and 14.5 games back from the first place St. Louis Cardinals who have the best record in baseball at 41-22. The Cubs don't expect any type of miracles to occur, instead, expect Theo Epstein to get a return for the great season Feldman has posted so far. The teams currently being mentioned as trade candidates are teams currently in contention: Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies.
The Indians truly need the help, but because of the high strikeout ratio in their lineup, they can't really be expected to compete for the division. Anyways, they would fail miserably in the playoffs against some of the best pitching in baseball. The true efficient team on this list has to be the Orioles. Their hitting has been absolutely nuts in 2013. They will possibly have three starters in the 2013 MLB All-Star game as Chris Davis leads baseball in home runs and J.J. Hardy had an amazing month of May which has leaked into June.
The Orioles have Wei-Yin Chen on the disabled list and he's a major part of their pitching rotation. Jason Hammel is their most successful pitcher having won seven games, but he's posting a 5.18 ERA. The Orioles are depending on second-year player in Miguel Gonzalez and Freddy Garcia who is 37 years old. They are currently in third place in the A.L. East, 3.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox.
The Rockies are still competing and the reason why Feldman makes sense for them is because he's a groundball pitcher, but of course, the Giants are the favorite to win the N.L. West, which will almost make it pointless for the Rockies to possibly give up too much talent for Feldman. The Giants pitching staff has been horrendous in 2013. They truly need a guy like Feldman and could be the lead runners in a possible trade. Madison Bumgarner is their best pitcher posting a 3.68 ERA, everybody else in their starting rotation, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum, has an ERA over 4.00.
Feldman is a veteran and he has playoff experience having played for the Texas Rangers in his first eight seasons as a pro. He was part of the Rangers team that lost back-to-back World Series. The Giants and Orioles are more probable to make the playoffs than the Indians and Rockies, which is why they should consider a move as Feldman will provide depth and help the starting pitching.
