It’s hard to believe that one player can make the difference for a team’s fortune. Every baseball season when the trade deadline looms closer and closer there is always one name which pops to the top of the talent pool as the savior who will be able to make or break a team’s chances in the playoffs. Despite the fact that the deal went down a little bit earlier than expected, there’s little-to-no doubt that the deal which sent Matt Garza to the Texas Rangers will be at the forefront of the divisional race debate.

And who could blame the critics really? Prior to being traded to the Chicago Cubs from the Tampa Bay Rays on January 8, 2011, Garza was turning into one of the finer pitchers the American League had to offer. Just the previous season Garza went 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA, 150 strikeouts and a no-hitter on July 26th against the Detroit Tigers. All signs were pointing upward for Garza until the day he had to pack his bags for the National League. Garza’s time in Chicago was certainly wasted. In his first season on the North Side he went 10-10 with a career-high in strikeouts with 197. The next season he made it 18 games with a 5-7 record before being sidelined with an elbow injury.

This season Garza came off of the DL in late May and pitched with a ferocity that hadn’t been seen since his final season with the Rays. As much as he tried and failed to overpower batters with his fastball in his first few starts, Garza gelled nicely on June 21st against the Houston Astros. Prior to the game Garza had 1-1 record with four no decisions along with a 4.98 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Since his tussle with Astros he won six consecutive decisions including his first outing with the New York Yankees on July 24th. During this stretch Garza averaged one earned allowed per game along with 38 strikeouts, the most dominant of his games coming against the Astros and the Oakland Athletics. Rangers’ general manager Jon Daniels must have seen this quality about Garza which ultimately aided in his decision to pull the trigger for the 29-year-old right-hander.

After his outing against the Yankees everything appeared to be moving in favor of the Rangers, except for the fact that Garza was the only pitcher winning games. Over the next four games the Rangers forgot that they were in a playoff race with the Athletics. The Rangers went 0-4 and the Athletics strengthened their lead by taking three of four against the Los Angeles Angels, giving them a six-game lead for the top spot in the AL West. On Monday Garza took to the hill against those same pesky Angels at which they put him up against the ropes by scoring three runs on him; however, thanks to a shaky Ernesto Frieri, the Rangers still managed to win the game late with a pair of walk-off home runs by A.J. Pierzynski and Geovany Soto. The one thing that Daniels may have looked over in his research for Garza is that he was 0-1 lifetime against the Angels in five starts with a 5.45 ERA, not exactly the kind of numbers one would expect to run a division with, especially if he has to pitch against the same team three more times.

With all of these facts in place, it’s still hard to tell whether or not Garza will be the diamond in the rough that the Rangers needed. As it currently stands all signs are pointing toward no. Garza had two solid starts against the Astros and Athletics earlier in the year; however, his lifetime numbers in the AL West, against the Seattle Mariners as well, are not exactly favorable. Only against the Mariners does Garza have a winning record (3-1). Only against the Athletics does Garza have an ERA under three (2.70). Daniels had better hope that his job security isn’t contingent on Garza being the catalyst for getting the Rangers into the postseason, because any smart gambler would be betting the farm on Daniels getting the axe if that were the case.