Matt Garza rips actress Jessica Chastain over birth control tweet

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Matt Garza decided to shared some of his thoughts about birth control on social media, and he did it by unloading on an actress who had just done the same.

Jessica Chastain, who is known for her roles in popular films like “The Martian” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” tweeted on Thursday about birth control no longer needing to be covered by health insurance companies.

#BirthControl is no longer covered by health insurance. Congrats USA, you're doing your part to keep women out of the work force. #smfh

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) January 13, 2017

Garza couldn’t resist making his opinion known.

It's called abstinence, a word that has been forgotten amongst this generation… it's the best contraceptive… #juatsaying https://t.co/OgKg1qQmln

— Matt garza (@Gdeuceswild) January 13, 2017

We’re not going to get into a moral or political debate here, because that’s not what we do. One thing I will say is that women use birth control for reasons other than avoiding pregnancy. I’m not going to elaborate on that. You can Google it if you’re curious.

In any event, Garza, who has six children, is free to express his opinion just as Chastain expressed hers. We know one famous athlete who would almost certainly agree with the pitcher, and he has been blasted for his beliefs on Twitter just like Garza was. Welcome to the 21st century.

Matt Garza blasts Brewers, refuses to move to bullpen

The Milwaukee Brewers recently decided to remove Matt Garza from their starting rotation for the remainder of the season, and the veteran right-hander is furious about it.

After Garza allowed four earned runs and seven hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work on Saturday (a no-decision that the Brewers won 8-6), manager Craig Counsell revealed that the start would be the 31-year-old’s last of the season.

“I think it’s important that we get Matt ready for 2016,” Counsell said, via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s going to be a member of the rotation in 2016, and we’re going to just push the stop button right now.”

Garza is 6-14 this season with a 5.63 ERA in 25 starts. Brewers GM Doug Melvin said the team offered to let Garza move to the bullpen, but he declined. That’s because Garza is furious he lost his spot in the rotation.

“It’s (expletive),” he said Saturday. “It’s not my decision. I didn’t get much say. It’s completely taken out of my hands. That’s it. I didn’t have any say at all. It is what it is. It’s just (expletive).

“I told them what I felt. Had my agent call up top and tell them how I felt, and that’s that. I’ve played with guys who have gone through similar-type situations, just a rough year, and never once have I seen a guy shut down. They do things differently here, I don’t know. But I’ll be here for the next two-three years, so it is what it is.”

There’s no guarantee that Garza will be in Milwaukee through the end of his contract, especially since Counsell said the team is looking to give some younger pitchers a chance to showcase their talents down the stretch. Although, trading a 31-year-old pitcher who is coming off his worst season in the majors would be next to impossible.

Remember what this GM said about trading Garza? I wonder if those sentiments still apply.

H/T Big League Stew
Photo: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Jon Daniels regrets Matt Garza trade

Jon Daniels is regarded as a pretty good baseball executive but, like anyone else, he’s made some bad trades to go along with his good ones. One such trade is his acquisition of Matt Garza from the Chicago Cubs last season, one that he now regrets.

In an interview with the Arizona Republic, Daniels shared his remorse over the trade.

“I thought way too short term with the Garza deal last year,” he said. “That one’s got a chance to haunt us and haunt me.”

Garza went 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 11 starts with the Cubs before the Rangers acquired him. He went 4-5 with a 4.38 ERA in 13 starts for the Rangers.

The Rangers gave up Mike Olt, C.J. Edwards, Justin Grimm and Neil Ramirez in the trade. Olt was once considered a strong power-hitting prospect, but he struggled in Triple-A last season. Grimm is 8-10 with a 6.35 ERA in 112 innings. Edwards is 22 and has gone 13-5 with a 1.72 ERA in 183 minor-league innings. Ramirez is a former first-round pick who spent the year at Double-A. He’s 36-35 with a 4.37 ERA in the minors.

I’m guessing off all the players they gave up, Daniels might be worried about Edwards haunting them. But, hey, you have to give something up to get something when it comes to trades, right?

H/T Dallas News

Matt Garza turned down more money from Angels because he was on vacation, dude

Matt Garza signed a four-year, $50 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers last month. That type of money is nothing for a 30-year-old pitcher with a 3.84 career ERA to scoff at, but it was not the best offer he received. The Los Angeles Angels reportedly offered Garza a four-year, $52 million deal in December. Why didn’t he accept it? He was on vacation.

Speaking from Brewers training camp on Monday, Garza said he was in Turks and Caicos and it was simply bad timing when the Angels made their offer.

“They offered, but it was more of a weird situation,” he said, via MLB.com’s Brew Beat. “I was on vacation with my wife and I didn’t want to be disturbed, and it was like, ‘Here it is, we’ll pull it in a certain amount of hours.’ I didn’t have a chance to respond, so I just said, ‘Whatever. It is what it is.’”

Garza must not have been desperate to play for the Angels, otherwise he would have found a way to make the deal happen while he was away. I understand not wanting to be bothered while you’re celebrating your anniversary, but Garza clearly didn’t consider the offer to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I had no worries,” he added. “God’s going to make things work out either way. It is what it is. I guess you didn’t want me that bad, I take it. I found a team that wants me and makes me feel at home. I was looking for a great fit and I believe I found it.”

At the same time, the Angels could not have been desperate to sign Garza. If they were, they could have waited until he got home. He knew it would work out and he’d be offered the same contract from another team, and he was right. There was no need to bother him while he was in Turks, dude.

H/T Hardball Talk

Matt Garza goes off on Eric Sogard, wife over Twitter

Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Garza went off on Oakland A’s shortstop Eric Sogard and the infielder’s wife via Twitter after taking the loss in a game between the teams earlier in the day.

When Garza pitched against the A’s on July 3 as a member of the Chicago Cubs, he mowed them down allowing just four hits and three walks in eight innings of 1-run ball for the win. This time around, the A’s decided to take an aggressive, small-ball approach with Garza, which is atypical of the team.

They got a bunt hit, sac bunt, single, home run and single in the span of Garza’s first 10 pitches. They scored three in the first and beat the Rangers 4-1, with Garza taking the loss.

So what’s Garza’s beef with Sogard?

Sogard sacrifice bunted in the first, and then he got an RBI after laying down a squeeze bunt in the seventh. Garza was pretty ticked that the small-ball methods worked, and he had words for Sogard after the bunt.

After the game, Garza would not share what he said to Sogard.

“I asked where’s a good place to eat in Oakland,” Garza told reporters after the game. “They showed me how they were going to play and how they were going to attack me, and that’s fine. Next time, I’ll be ready. That’s it.”

Sogard said after the game that the A’s went bunt-heavy because Garza does not field his position well.

“It’s kind of no secret that Garza has some trouble throwing to first sometimes,” Sogard said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Small ball is definitely a tool we have and can use. We scored, and anytime that happens he’s not going to be happy.”

The A’s bunted four times in the game, and Sogard wasn’t the only player who mentioned Garza’s weakness of fielding his position. A’s starter Jarrod Parker did too.

Even Sogard’s wife, Kaycee, tweeted about the bunting approach:

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Matt Garza to Johnny Cueto: ‘Grow the hell up’

The Reds held a comfortable 4-0 lead over the Cubs on Sunday when Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto threw a pitch over David DeJesus’ head. Since Matt Garza had hit Todd Frazier with a pitch two innings earlier, both benches were warned by the home plate umpire. The Cubs eventually won the game in extra innings.

Garza, who insists he did not hit Frazier intentionally, ripped Cueto after the game for retaliating and in turn motivating Chicago to come back and win the game.

“Hopefully he learns to grow the hell up,” Garza said, via CSNChicago.com. “Cueto should learn you don’t go after guys’ heads. Don’t wake a sleeping dog and I think that’s kind of immature on his part and totally uncalled for. He’s lucky that retaliation isn’t in our vocabulary here.

“That’s kind of BS on his part. Just totally immature. If he has something to say about it, he knows where to find my locker and definitely I’ll find his. You’re up 4-0, grow up. I hope he hears this, I really don’t care.”

Maybe Cueto wasn’t throwing over DeJesus intentionally. For all we know he might have eaten another bad batch of chicken wings before his start. But if it was intentional, you can understand why Garza would be upset. If you’re going to throw at someone on purpose, you never throw in the area of their head. Whether or not the exchange sparked a Cubs comeback is a different discussion altogether.

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Matt Garza reportedly rips Cubs fans on Twitter for their negativity

Matt Garza is one of very few athletes who keeps his Twitter account locked. With all the nasty stuff that fans can say while hiding behind a computer, keeping a private account likely helps with tuning out some of the critics. Apparently not all of them.

Following an incredibly disappointing season in 2012, the Chicago Cubs are off to a slow start this year. They are currently 9-15 and in last place in the NL Central. Last week, Garza announced on Twitter that he had a “minor setback” but is scheduled to make his first rehab start in the minors on May 1. According to the Chicago Tribune, he also took some time to rip into Cubs fans for being so negative.

But rehabbing Cubs starter Matt Garza had enough of such talk last week, and went on a Twitter rant against what he termed ‘fake’ fans ‘who do nothing but talk smack.’ In one tweet, Garza wrote he was ‘just tired of the so-called diehards being negative! Negativity breeds negativity! So break the cycle.'”

When you combine a rebuilding project with a team that has not won a championship since 1908, you get an extremely frustrated fan base. How can you blame them? The Cubs aren’t even in contention.

If Garza was responding to fans who were being critical of his rehab, that’s one thing. But no player on Chicago’s roster should expect the fans to put a smile on their faces and remain positive. If that’s what Garza and company are looking for, they better start winning some games.

H/T Hardball Talk