Bay Area Baseball

The day after Rich Harden’s first start for his new team, the Cubs, both teams seem pleased with what they got out of the deal. The two keys to the trade were Harden, and new A’s SP Sean Gallagher. Gallagher went 7 innings and allowed only 2 hits and 2 runs in his first start, an Oakland win. Harden received a tough luck no decision after Cubs setup man Carlos Marmol forgot how to pitch and gave up a five run ninth inning lead. The Cubs would go on to win, so the day was not lost, as they were able to score in the 11^th off Giants closer Brian Wilson.

 While it’s certainly too early to declare a winner or loser in this trade, it will most certainly boil down to the careers of these two pitchers as to which team came out on top. While Matt Murton and Eric Patterson could develop into regulars, they are not the type of difference makers that Harden and Gallagher have shown they can be.

 Should this trade work out advantageously for both teams, it would be the second trade in a year in which a trade involving star players has worked out for both teams. In the off-season Josh Hamilton and Edinson Volquez were traded for each other, and each is going to be in New York Tuesday for the All Star Game. What trades like this show is that general managers and scouts for major league franchises are really getting a good look at the players they are considering making moves for. This includes prospects, as teams are no longer willing to part with their promising young players for mediocre rentals.

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