Harden and Gaudin for Peanuts. Sports as a rigged game.
by jrfelix
on Jul 8, 2008 11:38 PM EDT
So we just witnessed Rich Harden, the player with the most strikeouts per nine innings in the major leagues, and another quality starting pitcher, Chad Gaudin, get traded to Chicago for "Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson and minor leaguer Josh Donaldson."
Harden's pitching was beautifully described by Buck Showalter on ESPN, who said his "stuff is wipe-out filthy."
Here are some fun facts about the players Harden and Gaudin were traded for.
Murton was a former top prospect for the Cubs, but he's shuttled between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago the past two seasons. He's hitting .250 in 40 at-bats.
Gallagher is 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 12 games.
Patterson was hitting .237 with a homer and seven RBIs in 38 at-bats with the Cubs.
Donaldson, a catcher for Class A Peoria, was hitting .217 with six homers.
Where is the prize prospect a team should be required to give up for a young ace like Harden? Gallagher is the best player in the deal for the A's, and his numbers are much worse than Gaudin's!
So here's my question.
0 recs |
3
comments
Email
PrintComments
Not peanuts
First off, Harden is a tremendous injury risk, so Beane is glad to have that off the books. If he only pitches for a month, it’s tremendously lopsided to Oakland.
Also, let me start by saying that quoting batting average and win-loss record as representatives of player performance is pretty worthless.
Murton’s minor league career line: .312/.382/.467. In 235 AB last year for the Cubs, hit .281/.352/.438. His 40 AB this year means absolutely nothing due to sample size. Also, batting average means relatively little when you can get on base.
Likewise, Patterson has a MiL line of .298/.362/.455. In 203 AB this year in AAA, he was hitting .320/.358/.517. Plus, even though his 38 AB with the Cubs this year means nothing, despite his .237 BA, he had a .318 OBP. Batting average means nothing.
Donaldson was a sandwich pick in 2007 (#48 overall) who’s been rushed up to A ball. Struggling a bit this season, but Beane wouldn’t have targeted him unless he had some blue-chip caliber. Plus he’s a college guy, which we know Beane likes. His last year at Auburn he hit .349/.444/.591 and led the team with 54 RBI in 215 AB.
Gallagher likewise has great minor league numbers, with a sub-3 ERA and a K/9 somewhere in the 8-9 range. Just hasn’t put it together in the majors yet.
In my estimation, Beane sold high on Harden and will come out on top in the transaction. He got two solid, young, cheap hitters, a solid, young, cheap pitcher, and a solid catching prospect.
Chicago is taking on a big salary in Harden, plus his injury risk, and they got Gaudin, a decent bullpen guy who becomes a FA in a year or two. Not exactly a long-term strategy.
Good trade both ways, when you look beyond batting average and small sample sizes of the current season.
by Matt Wilson on Jul 9, 2008 11:57 AM EDT 0 recs
Harden
coming into 2008, Harden had pitched a combined 72.1 innings over 06-07
he’s having a wonderful year this year, but you know the DL is looming
Beane got some very solid players back including a top 100 spect in Sean Gallagher, a guy that can hit the ball in Murton (man what does it take for him to get a look?), a possible stopgap at 2b (Patterson) while the A’s wait for Jemile Weeks and a very promising catcher
it’s alot to give up for a guy who might be on the DL by the end of this posting
edit: good post Matt
by Future Fish on Jul 9, 2008 12:01 PM EDT 0 recs
Update
Harden to DL….
Not really but not quite a stretch….
Here’s another reason this was a good trade for Beane: Reportedly the Cubs were the only team in talks to acquire Harden. Most teams, including Philly, wouldn’t touch him because of his history.
by Matt Wilson on
Jul 9, 2008 12:56 PM EDT
up
0 recs
New FanPost