The Chicago Cubs immediately answered the Brewers pick up of C.C. Sabathia by aquiring Oakland A’s ace Rich Harden. Harden comes to Chicago along righty reliever Chad Gaudin who will add some depth to the bullpen. Gaudin is also capable of starting. The Cubs gave up Matt Murton, Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, and catching prospect Josh Donaldson.
Harden, when healthy, is one of the best pitchers in baseball. He has 92 strikeouts over his 77 innings to go with a 2.34 E.R.A. The problem for Harden has been staying healthy. He spent a month on the DL this year and pitched only 72.3 innings from 2006-2007. Harden brings a 3-0 record with a 0.63 against the National League this season and if he stays healthy will give the Cubs one of the deepest staffs in baseball. Carlos Zambrano (9-3, 2.96) and Ryan Dempster (10-3, 3.24) are All-Stars this season and Ted Lilly (9-5, 105 K) becomes the best fourth starter in the NL if not all of baseball.
The other player aquired in the trade however could be just as important in putting and end to the 100 year drought. Gaudin who has pitched in 26 games on the year (including 6 starts) can be a valuabe swing man. He has an ERA of 3.59 and has only 3.38 ERA as a reliever giving up only 2 homers over his 20 relief appearences.
The Cubs significantly improved their team with this deal. Harden is a much better pitcher than Gallagher, and the other players they gave up were not going to be in the teams short or long term plans. Murton is solely a corner outfielder and with Alfonso Soriano in the second year of a seven year deal and Kosuke Fukudome in the first of four. Eric Patterson would be stuck behind Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa, and Mike Fontenot, and with Geovany Soto looking like the rookie of the year behind the plate it is unlikely that Donaldson would have been able to beat him out for playing time.
Posted by Kenneth Oda 
