As an A’s fan, waiting several years to see Rich Harden shine, I am deeply disappointed that they traded him and Gaudin away. But I am glad that of all the teams in baseball, the Cubs got them.

As a Cubs fan, I think it’s too early to tell who got the better end of the deal. Harden could be lights out and help lead the Cubs deep into the playoffs, but he could also land on the DL next week and miss the rest of the season.

The deal was a great risk/reward deal for the Cubs because they received a Cy Young talent who obviously could be done for the year tomorrow or could literally carry them into the playoffs if he stays healthy.

Conversely, the talent they gave up was really pretty marginal with Gallagher clearly at the top of the list only being a middle of the rotation type at his ceiling.

Yes, Harden is a huge injury risk, but the A’s should have gotten at least 1 blue chip prospect in the deal – especially with the Cubs in panic mode over the Sabathia deal.

As an A’s fan, I am more annoyed about losing Gaudin than Harden.

Harden for Gallagher seems like it could be a good investment…even if Gallagher ends up a solid 4 or 5 (I think he projects higher). You can always flip those for a decent low A hitting prospect(s) which can really help in a few years.

The real problem is that Gaudin was already that pitcher and the package they put together for him was a bit light.

I am predisposed to liking Matt Murton in a corner outfield position (I think he really has never gotten enough solid playing time to be effective) but the rest of package is uninspiring.

Gaudin’s value was significantly higher than that and it saddens me that he was traded for what amounts to an okay outfielder and a bunch of average prospects.

I’m an A’s fan. The trade is extremely disheartening because, even though we sit just 5 games in back of the Angels and 3 1/2 out of the wild-card, it’s an obvious move for the team to “sell” rather than “buy.” We’ve achieved a decent winning record thus far this year because of the remarkable ability of our league-best starting pitching to compensate for a mostly minor league hitting line-up. It’s been an amazing ride considering the lack of raw talent among our position players and the number of guys who have been sent to the infirmary. So for the ownership to trade away the guy with the best arm who generates the most excitement when he takes the mound (along with a quality reliever who would be a starter on many teams) is a huge blow.

I don’t care how many times Harden has been on the DL or his relative lack of velocity in the last 2 games. Right now, he can pitch the pants off of anybody who comes up against him. As every fan knows, the bottom-line reason we follow the game is to sustain hope. Hope for winning the next game, if not the pennant. WIth Harden on the mound, there was a great deal of hope that the team would win. And because our pitching always kept us competitive with the Angels, there was still a chance that we could catch them. Now, that’s gone.

It’s a great trade for the Cubs. Harden has the potential to lead them to a pennant. And Gaudin will help. In return, what did the Cubs give up? As Ray Ratto of the SF Chronicle aptly puts it, “warm bodies.” Not much hope there.

As a fan of Billy Beane, I am in favor of the Harden trade from the moneyball perspective. Harden was a volatile asset based on his health, and is managed on an option of under 100 pitches every 5 days. This option in effect lowered the value of the Oakland bullpen since Harden is a strike-out pitcher who throws a lot of pitches. It was only a matter of time before Beane exercises the option on Harden. Gaudin is a different situation. He made himself expendable when he publicly questioned the decision of going back to the bullpen.

I can’t really comment on the prospects Oakland received in return for Harden & Gaudin. This front office knows something others don’t. I have seen Justin Duchscherer pitch and knew he would be good if healthy. Leading AL in ERA is certainly unexpected. Given what Dan Haren did last year though I shouldn’t have been surprised.

as a cubs fan….

gallagher – it has been mentioned that beane was looking for a starting pitcher who could step in right away, and had a “zero-plus” arbitration status. so it was partially financially motivated. potential 3rd starter

murton – i was a big fan, but he seemed to have lost all his power this and last year. hasnt really shown enough for a corner outfielder.

patterson – athletic, utility player who is goign to be defensively subpar wherever he is played. actually reminds me a bit of jemile weeks……

donaldson – did well his rookie year, but hasnt done much this year. also, he isnt really needed with the emergence of soto. even though he could be a good trading chip.

at first, i thought we gave up too much for harden, considering his injury risk. but really, for this years team, derosa is better than murton right now, patterson is extraneous, and i think gallagher can be replaced by sean marshall.

with zambrano, harden, dempster, lilly, and marquis/marshall/lieber, the cubs rotation is potentially solid. maybe even hill can come back……

overall, i think this deal was excellent. the cubs got a high upside player, along with another solid reliever, for nothing really crucial to this years team. and hey, we’re the cubs. we gotta go for it when we can.

im excited.

Cubs fans should be very excited about this deal. Gaudin seems like a very good insurance policy when Harden goes down. They get two immediate impact guys that can put them over the top without giving up their top prospects.

Beane had to do this trade. We all know that Harden doesn’t have too many bullets left. Plus the A’s seemed very cautious with his pitch count and inning for his last 6 starts. He complained of a “dead arm” and his velocity was noticeably down. LAA hitters even speculated that he might be injured after the game. Then he walked 4 batters against CHW. While it doesn’t seem like Beane got nearly enough for his ace pitcher, Harden is a very injury prone and soon to be expensive player. So he had a choice of trying to catch LAA who has a 5 game lead while playing much worse than his team or selling Harden for whatever he can get before he went down again, risking getting nothing for him.

While it’s possible that Beane may or may not have made the correct decision, he made the best decision he could with the information that was available to him. It’s a fact that Rich Harden is utterly unpredictable, and with two questionable starts in recent memory, it’s likely that Gaudin was packaged with Harden to make the deal impossible for the Cubs to refuse.

The Cubs, meanwhile, mainly gave up Sean Gallhager, however this move allows them to replace Gallhager and possibly the horrific Jason Marquis. Even if Marquis stays in, one of their more marginal bullpen parts will be improved and Carlos Marmol will hopefully be given some time to let his dead arm regain its pulse.

With a healthy Soriano, Murton has no job, and he scarcely had a job with Soriano out. Patterson seems like a somewhat overrated prospect, and Soto seems to be entrenched at C.

I just really want to see Gio Gonzalez finally hit the show.