Balancing the Power in the Central.
A day after the Milwaukee Brewers acquired CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Cubs responded by acquiring Rich Harden from the Oakland Athletics.
Harden has been lights out throughout his career, when healthy. That is a very big when, however. Harden is slightly more durable than former Cub Mark Prior, but can easily bring back memories for Cubs fans.
Despite the injury history the Cubs gave a pretty decent haul for the righty, including Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson. Three of the four, all except Donaldson, have had significant time in the majors with the Cubs and can move in and give the A’s immediate impact. They’re not the top of the line guys anymore, but all are solid players.
Along with Harden the Cubs also received pitcher Chad Gaudin.
The trade really evens up the top of the rotation for the Cubs to match up with the Brewers and could lead to some fantastic match ups down the stretch. Zambrano vs Sheets or Harden vs Sabathia. Both teams now have two pitchers of Ace quality and one for each team is an injury risk.
