If Harden can help the A's get past the 1st round and pitch brilliantly for the next month than maybe his value will go up in the eyes of the Yankees. At this point, Crosby is nothing more than a salary dump for the Yankees. Seriously, if A-Rod couldn't move Jeter from SS what chance does Crosby have? Right now Crosby is an injury prone glove with the potential to hit better than average. The Yank's already have Cano at 2B and while they would probably improve their infield defense by moving Crosby into his spot, they wouldn't have to acknowledge that in any negotiations.

Cashman could simply say, "Well, we've got Jeter and Cano in the MI and we're happy with that combo. We made the playoffs with those two. What we're wondering is how Crosby could replace Alex at 3rd base." So Crosby offers Beane no leverage, he's a throw in and at 2 million dollars he's not exactly cheap. Including Crosby at this point probablt does more to hurt Oakland's cause than help.

(This could change if the deal goes down in ST and Crosby could have spent some time in the Winter Leagues being healthy and productive.)

But back to the original scenario.

The Yankees will need to replace Posada soon and their system isn't exactly flush with options. That's where Suzuki comes in. But even now, you've got to remember that the Yankees sent a 27 year old Alfonso Soriano and their #4 prospect in exchange for A-Rod. I'd say in terms of talent the gap has closed considerably. Harden + Suzuki for A-Rod isn't laugh out loud unreasonable. But Harden's injury history is going to demand more from Oakland. Maybe if the A's were really lucky they could get away with sending Duke or Calero over as well, but it's more likely Cashman would dig in his heals for Street.

Harden, Street and Suzuki for A-Rod and cash. It gets Oakland into the game but it wouldn't gaurantee anything.