Bay Area Baseball

The recent acquisitions of one James Richard Harden and one Carsten Charles Sabathia have shaken up the National League (NL) over the past couple of days. Harden, acquired by the Chicago Cubs, and Sabathia, acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers, are perhaps the top two pitchers who have been mentioned on the trading block, and both moved from the American League to the NL Central to two teams both in contention for both the division and wild card titles.

The Sabathia trade, in which the Indians sent Sabathia to the Brewers in exchange for stud OF prospect Matt LaPorta and three others, took place two days ago and quickly shifted the Brewers from possible contender to popular favorite to at least win the wild card and have a really good shot at the Cubs. This was a trade that worked out for both teams in that the Indians got one of the top ten hitting prospects in the game, and of course the Brewers got Sabathia. Some have said that the Brewers gave up too much for a possible rental of Sabathia, but even if the Brewers are unable to sign him, they add an ace that should be enough to get them into the playoffs, and they will get high draft picks as compensation if he signs with another team.

The Harden trade is a more surprising trade in that The Athletics were still in contention, only 6 games out in the AL West race and 3.5 games back in the wild card race. They received four players:

Sean Gallagher – A promising righthander who should be inserted into Harden’s spot in the rotation.

Eric Patterson – A young 2B/OF, the brother of Corey, who has been inconsistent and sometimes undermining, but who is also talented and could help the A’s immediately.

Matt Murton – A 26 year old OF with a career batting average of almost .300 will likely be put right into the A’s OF with a chance to start.

And Josh Donaldson, a minor league catcher.

While Harden has the ability to dominate like few in the majors, his injury history makes him a risk on the Cubs part, but if he stays healthy, his contract is a bargain and the Cubs win big. On the other hand, the A’s can win this trade if his injuries flare up, or if Patterson can develop into an everyday player who can replace Mark Ellis. He could potentially become the type of player who could hit in the .290’s with 15-20 hr and 30 sb, but has not shown the consistency to do so. He was hitting .320 in AAA this year.

The Cubs also received Chad Gaudin, a SP/RP who should help out their bullpen and their rotation as needed.

While it looks like in the short term Billy Beane may have gotten the raw end of this trade, we should remember that it looked bad when the A’s moved Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. Mulder, coming off a 17-8 season, was traded for Daric Barton, Kiko Calero and Dan Haren. Although Mulder had a strong year his first year in St. Louis, that trade has looked much better for the A’s with the development of Haren into one of the top pitchers in the game. Barton is the starting 1B on the A’s and Calero has been a consistent contributor. Haren of course was traded for prospects this past summer. So have hope A’s fans. Beane knows more than we do and he might have insights into Gallagher, Patterson, Murton and Donaldson that will make this deal look lopsided in a couple of seasons.

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