Are Cardinals a stealth player for Matt Garza?

The Cubs are likely to trade Matt Garza before his next start and the Cardinals might have some interest.

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, Garza has been informed that he will be traded and the Cardinals appear to be a stealth player for him.  Heyman's colleague, Danny Knobler, confirmed that the Cards have talked to the Cubs, but are they truly interested or are they just testing the waters?

For one thing, Ken Rosenthal has said that it is unlikely that the Cardinals would part with any "elite talent" to make such a deal.  The asking price for Garza remains high, per Buster Olney.  Considering that there are only about 3 quality starting pitchers on the market in Garza, Bud Norris and Yovani Gallardo, it is definitely a sellers' market.

On the other hand, the Cardinals starting pitching has struggle. Lance Lynn had another rough outing on Saturday.  Shelby Miller has only last 6 innings once in his last 5 starts.  Jake Westbrook has been hot and cold since coming off the DL and Joe Kelly is the latest in a long line of 5th starters.

So, acquiring a guy like Garza makes some sense for the Cardinals, but are they willing to pony up the prospects to land him?

Its likely that the Cubs would want at least one or two of the Cardinals top prospects to deal Garza, especially within their own division.  The Cubs are in need of pitching and my guess is that the Cardinals would have to part with one of the top pitching prospects, such as Carlos Martinez for Garza.

I don't think the Cardinals will go that far to acquire Garza (or any other pitcher, for that matter).  More likely, they will monitor the trade market for Garza, in hopes that the asking price will come down and they can swoop in at the last minute to make a deal.

With the best farm system in the majors, the Cardinals have a lot of pieces to  offer up in a potential trade, but they also want to make sure that they don't mortgage their future in doing so.