Pair of Aces: Cubs Acquire Harden Days After Brewers Snag Sabathia

Ladies and gentlemen here we go. We are not even to the All-Star game yet and the top two available pitchers have already been traded within days of each other. The Cubs trade today for Oakland pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin shows that Jim Henry and the boys in blue mean business.  I don’t believe that it was unintentional that the trade was announced roughly an hour before CC (no longer uses the period) Sabathia took the mound to make his Brewers debut. The Cubs gave up relatively little for what they received in return only parting ways with young pitcher Sean Gallagher (3-4 4.45 ERA), outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, who have spilt the season between the bigs and AAA, as well as a minor league catcher Josh Donaldson. 

                What does this all mean though? Well for one those who were so sure the Brewer’s had the division locked up after acquiring Sabathia may want to rethink those thoughts. Now trust me like my previous article, in which I argued that the Brewers didn’t become automatic favorites just because they added Sabathia, I also don’t believe that you can say the Cubs have wrapped it up just because they added Rich Harden. Do I think this makes them a better team? Absolutely. But Harden has had a tough run of injuries and Cub fans, more than anyone, have prevalent memories of remarkable pitchers who can’t seem to stay healthy. What this trade does do is send Milwaukee and the rest of NL a message and that message is “THIS IS OUR YEAR.”  The Cubs mean business and showed that they will not sit still and watch other teams try to overtake them. 

With that said I am sure Cub fans would have rather added Sabathia. Despite the fact that Harden statistically has had a better season, Sabathia is the defending Cy Young winner and when it comes down to it can be the more dominating pitcher. Yet praise has to be given to Jim Hendry who pulled this trade out faster than Brewer’s GM Doug Melvin could mispronounce Sabathia’s name. According to several reports, as of yesterday no team was even close to making a deal for Harden and one member of A’s management even said that he suspected that Harden wouldn’t be dealt. Therefore it's clear that Milwaukee’s move sparked a fire under Hendry’s seat and it’s remarkable that he got a deal together so fast, fast enough to steal Milwaukee’s thunder.  It’s even more impressive that he did the deal without having to give up much. Murton never developed into the prospect everyone thought he was and he is getting up there in age to still be considered a prospect. Patterson who has played well at times this year really has no true position and showed that he isn’t very reliable in the outfield. Donaldson is a double A prospect who is only hitting .217 and probably will never be a contributor at the Major League level.  Gaudin alone is more valuable than those three. The one lost is Gallagher who has shown flashes of greatness this year but at other times has looked like a Triple-A pitcher in a Major League uniform. But with a rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Harden, Ted Lilly, and Sean Marshall/Jason Marquis/Gaudin  (as well as Rich Hill getting his head together in the Arizona desert) Gallagher won’t be missed that much and I am sure a World Series ring could help ease the pain as well.

                But let’s not get to ahead of ourselves. Right now this division is a three-team race (let’s not forget St. Louis), three very good teams who I am sure will make a few more moves to help their chances. When all is said and done I still give the edge to the Cubs. Now that both Milwaukee and Chicago have added another ace to their roster, the moves kind of cancel each other out so we have to look at the teams as a whole. The Cub’s probably now have a slightly better (and deeper) rotation, since Dempster is having a remarkable season. But the biggest difference is the Cubs lineup has been much stronger and has more depth than the Brew Crew. Also, and this cannot be overlooked, the Cub’s bullpen is much better and that is going to be key for the rest of the season.  Now that both have their ace both teams will probably be looking for another piece. Look for the Brewers to go after a relief pitcher, perhaps Fuentes, while the Cubs will probably look for another left-handed bat to come off the bench. For now though baseball fans in both cities have to be enjoying this drama and with the trade deadline approaching and 9 more meetings between these two teams fans are guaranteed to have some more.