Its sad to see my boy Rich Harden get traded to the cubbies. But i suppose he was going to sooner or later. I think this trade is definitely Billy Beane selling high. Harden is having a great season, and has actually been mostly healthy. I guess Beane figured it was best to unload him before he inevitably hits the DL again, dropping his value. Harden wasnt going to be around much longer anyway, as he's a FA after 2009.

Cubs fans, you guys got almost another Mark Prior. He's one of the top pitchers in baseball when's he's healthy, but he can never seem to stay healthy. Its been tough to count on harden for anything more than 15-20 starts the past 3-4 seasons. You guys got any insight on Murton, Gallagher, Patterson, and the catcher we got? Looks like Murton shoudl step in as an everyday OF for my A's, and i'm guessing gallagher will be plugged into the rotation.

Not a Cubs fan, but to me, it looks like Patterson definitely projects as the most explosive prospect. He's a younger brother to Corey Patterson, who looked like he had the potential to be in the Granderson/Sizemore category of young leadoff CF's, but he injured his knee and hasn't quite made star billing. Eric Patterson has not looked intimidated by major league pitching and could develop nicely. He hasn't hit great, but has gone up there swinging and several of his 7 RBI's have come in big moments.

Gallagher started out well, but lost his spot in the rotation and probably doesn't project any higher than an average #3. He's only made it past the 6th inning once, but he's only 22, so he could surprise.

Murton seems to be a good fit for the A's, average ballplayer when he's been healthy and in the lineup. He's far from specatacular but should hit around .280 if he plays every day.

As for the catcher, Donaldson, I think he's playing AA ball right now, and the Cubs obviously feel it's an expendable position at the moment, because they are thrilled with the production of their rookie All Star catcher Geo Soto.

I love the move by the Cubs. Not only do they match Milwaukee's signing...They are clearly going for broke this season, and if they have the best record in the NL at the end of the season, they will be able to go Zambrano game 1, probably Dempster game 2 (it will be at Wrigley and Dempster is 10-0 there this season) and then you have Harden starting game 3 on the road, following with lefties Lilly or Marshall? Wow, that's something else throwing behind that lineup.

It is good for all these players to be traded away from such a loser organization.

I have to laugh that the Cardinals have added the best pitcher in the division and the Brewers and Cubs had to make big trades to get guys that aren't quite as good. Meanwhile the Cards organization is intact. This may be a good race considering the Cards are behind and probably won't get Carpenter back, but after these teams just mortgaged their future, it appears the Cards are locks in the division from 2009 through 2012.

After 100 years of failure, the last thing the Cubs organization is worried about is the future. Wait till next year doesn't fly at Wrigley anymore.

An in Milwaukee, they likely won't be able to afford pending free agent Ben Sheets after this season, so why not make a run this year by adding Sabathia?

The future is now for both of those franchises.


Also, I never understood why St. Louis fans have such a hatred for the Cubs? Can you provide some enlightenment? I fully understand the rivalry, and I know the fairly close proximity of the two cities and battling within the division is the root of it all...But Cards fans seem legitimately ANGERED by the Cubs...Maybe I'm off base, but I would've thought you'd treat the Cubs with the kids gloves, laugh them off as losers, etc. Is the extensive media coverage they receive the issue? Or that they have (IMO) the best stadium in baseball? Or the Cubs fans that fill up Busch Stadium when Chicago plays at the Cards?

I don't know...With an organization who's right up there behind the Yanks in terms of sustained success, I can't imagine the lowly Cubs being any more than a blip on the radar for Cards fans...But maybe you can fill me in? This is a serious question...I don't recall such anger from the Yanks towards Boston fans pre-2004...The Yanks were just the big brother, and the little brother never stopped them from doing anything...The Sox were simply laughed at for their incredible choking ability. I sense that Cards fans are legitimately offended by any notion that the Cubs might actually be decent.

Hate the Cubs? That's like saying I hate Canadians. I just pity them both. I am never angered at the Cubs as they just take up a spot in the division and make it easy on the Cards. I do sometimes get angry at people that think the Cubs have any chance at all. How many years of losing do they need to prove the Cubs can never win?

The Cubs may have the oldest stadium and it is pretty cool, but the best?

As for the comment I bolded, you may want to retract it as the Cardinals have the best fan base in sports and do not need help filling their stadium.

With regard to the stadium, I have been to plenty, Wrigley was the best I've been to. I was at a day game and a night game. It just felt "right." (Obviously, if you are a fan of luxury boxes and ample parking, you wouldn't rank Wrigley the best.) Of course Fenway is similar in the historical regard, and Camden Yards and PNC Park in Pittsburgh are 2-4 in my "best" rankings. I was never at Old Busch and haven't made it to the new one either.

Didn't mean to imply that the Cards don't draw, I know St. Louis is a great baseball city...I was just wondering if part of the equation was the 15,000 Cubs fans who seem to find tickets to those games.

It's obviously much different now, but in the past, the Yanks fans never even seemed worried about Boston. Cards fans always seem to be worried about the Cubs and will go out of their way to put them down. The Yanks fans had "1918" and that was the end of it. I feel like the Cards have been successful enough that "1908" would suffice, but the fans seem to be geniunely worried and nervous any time the Cubs put a good lineup together. Like I said I could be wrong, that's just been my limited experience.

I do not really watch the A's all that much, but one thing I did read about Harden that has some of the scouts concerned was that his last few starts he has been only topping off the radar gun @ 88-91 instead of his prior performances where he was hitting 92-95. My only guess on why Beane did this is he truly believes that Harden is going to be back on the dl within the near future. That is the only reason this trade makes sense from the A's standpoint. They are having a good year & he was signed at a reasonable price for next year. Why not wait to trade him next year? To tradeoff your best pitcher when your team is right in the middle of a pennant race does not make any sense. If Harden stays healthy, the cubs just became(if they were not before) the team to beat in the National League. As a diehard Mets fan, for some reason Iam not concerned though, knowing given the history of the Cubs, no matter how much the odds are stacked in their favor, I am pretty confident they will find a way to f*ck it up once October rolls around.