Jim Hendry has done it again. The Cubs needed an answer to the Brewers' big trade involving C.C. Sabathia over the weekend and on Tuesday, they got it when they brought Rich Harden over from Oakland for seemingly pennies on the dollar.
Harden will come in and solidify a starting rotation that was arguably the weakest point on this NL leading Cubs team. The starting five now includes Zambrano, Dempster, Harden, Lilly, and Marquis which is extremely formidable. Plus, you now have a three man playoff rotation of Zambrano, Dempster, and Harden which is quite a scary set of ERAs.
Let's look at the trade in-depth now though. The Cubs received Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin in exchange for Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and minor league catcher Josh Donaldson.
Who the Cubs Got:
Rich Harden: A young starter (26) with plenty of experience and potential. Also, he is having a wonderful season going 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in his 13 starts this season.
Harden also brings post season experience to the table, having pitched with the A's in the 2003 and 2006 playoffs. The only drawback has been that he is injury prone, but hopefully he can stay healthy now.
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Chad Gaudin: Another relatively young pitcher (25) that has been big out of the bullpen for the A's this year having not allowed an earned run in 15 of his 20 relief appearances this season. He is also a versatile pitcher than can start (he had 34 last year) or come out of the pen as he has shown during the rest of his career.
Look at who the Cubs Give Up:
Sean Gallagher: A young pitcher (22) that has had an alright season. In his 12 appearances (10 starts) he is 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA which isn't that bad for a number five starter. However, with the arrival of Harden, he no longer has a spot in the rotation, so he is worth giving up.
Eric Patterson: A relatively young player (25) who the Cubs have been waiting to come around now for a few years. If he follows like his brother, he'll be a career Four-A player, meaning he dominates in Triple-A but can't do squat in the majors.
Plus, with Theriot, Fontenot, DeRosa and Cedeno clogging up the middle infield and our current outfield situation with everyone healthy, he wasn't going to see consistent time in the majors any time soon.
Matt Murton: Again a relatively young player (26), who is going to get lost in the Cubs outfield log jam. In the one season he saw consistent time(2006), he played in 144 games (started 122), hit .297 with 13 home runs and 62 runs batted in.
If he is given a starting job, I don't think its that far off for him to his .300 with 25 to 30 home runs and 80 to 90 runs batted in, which would be very good production.
Josh Donaldson: A Single-A catcher that is obviously a young guy at only 22. But he is expendable because obviously we plan on having Geovany Soto for a while so Donaldson obviously doesn't fit into the plans for the Cubs obviously.
The Cubs didn't really give up any big time players nor did they have to give up anyone that was really in their future plans. In return they got one of the best young pitchers, when healthy, in the game. Hendry has pulled off his big deal magic once again, just as he did in 2003 when he brought Aramis Ramirez over from the Pirates.
It now appears that the Cubs are poised to make the big stretch run and hopefully the one that was have been waiting a hundred years for all the way to the Series. Although I think they may still make another move before the deadline, the Cubs are in great shape right now.
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2 months ago
A couple of things:
1. How is this one-upping Milwaukee? Sabathia won the Cy Young last year. Harden has 36 career wins and is about as injury-prone as Mark Prior. This move was a counter, not a one-up, to Milwaukee's move. Harden never was the prize of the market; it was Sabathia.
2. Hendry has pulled off two good "big-time" trades in his tenure (Ramirez from PIT and Lee from FLA). What about the Juan Pierre trade? What about the Jason Kendall trade? Those are two that come to mind that seem to have backfired on the Cubs. Hendry isn't a bad GM, but he's not the greatest GM in baseball.
3. Gallagher was a rookie this year. Personally, I really liked what I saw from him this year, and if his changeup continues to develop, he's going to be a very, very good starter. In fact, he may be a better bet than Harden as soon as next year unless unforeseen injury issues arise with Gallagher in the upcoming year.
If Harden stays healthy and the Cubs make/win the World Series, then I'd say it was a good trade. But, if you ask me, Billy Beane got the best of the Cubs on this one when you look at the big picture.
from 2 months ago
I don't totally disagree with you.
1) Yes Sabathia was the prize, but just to answer so quickly I think is the one upping, in my opinion
2) Hendry has made good deals at the break, and I'm not saying he is the be all end all of GMs, he just happens to make some good mid-year deals. His off-season deals are another matter and haven't even been close to what he does in-season. Plus at the time, the Kendall trade wasn't that bad of a move in-season, they got what they wanted out of him. Juan Pierre is another story.
3) Gallagher is good, but not that good. Especially with the Cubs having Marshall and Hill in the Minors I think he was expendable. The good thing is the Cubs have a very deep minor league system right now so giving up Gallagher and I'd love to see him have a great career isn't that big of a deal.
Anyway, thanks for the comments and look forward to discussing with you in the future.
2 months ago
Harden is a great acquisition if he's healthy. He's been on the DL twice this season.
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