Well put Nico! I’m trying to be positive about it all! Bring on the Halos!

(still not a fan of it) is my belief that Beane acquired these guys while planning to flip them. I now think that the A’s really do like all 3 players from the trade and can see potential roles for them in the future.

Maybe Murton is Langerhans redux, but acquiring players you don’t value, even if you’ve got a deal lined up in the near future, strikes me as foolish. And that’s especially true for a team that deals with a small payroll.

I see the Cubs rationale on it now….

Harden is traded for the X-Factor when they hit the playoffs. He’s not durable for the whole season (hence inclusion of Guadin) , but if you can rest him just in time for the playoffs….watch out!

Wonder why Patterson isn’t on the MLB/AAA roster yet though? Is he being packaged else where?

He’s not on the Rivercats roster, but he’s listed on our 40 man roster. Just kind of in no man’s land right now. I suppose it could indicate that he might be a park of another deal sending him elsewhere, but it’s a little unusual that he hasn’t played anywhere since being traded.

But I also think Gallagher and Murton will be useful. I see no use for Patterson. Davis fills the fast guy who can’t play role. Murphy is a better infielder than Patterson and fills a right-handed bat role. Patterson just doesn’t have much going for him, and he’s already 25 and hasn’t been able to stick on a major league roster because he doesn’t do that much well. He only plays with Oakland if guys get hurt or Ellis is traded. I don’t think he’s in the organization in 2009.

That doesn’t make acquiring him bad. Like you said, Nico, he can be used as a piece to some other deal. That’s what I’m hoping.

“Mortimer” Murton

Given: we all presume the risk of Harden hitting the DL is pretty high, as is the chance that if he does, he could be done for the year

Given: Chicago, while not a mortal lock for the playoffs, is likely to get to the postseason with or without Rich (and Gaudin can be an asset in getting them there, in the rotation or the pen)

Given: Chicago’s win-now, get-an-edge-in-the-WS-quest status was the prime motivator for the deal

If you’re Jim Hendry, might you approach Harden and try to get him to agree to either park himself on the 60-day DL or sit at the far end of the bench in the pen, bide his time on a regular-weekly-workouts regimen, come back mid-September for a couple low-pressure warmup starts, and then enter the playoffs as #1/#2 fully healthy and energized?

young possible front of the rotation pitcher (Gio, Gallagher), and enigmatic, but talented outfielder (Sweeney, Murton) Sweeney had fallen way out of favor, and noone thought he would be this good, and a talented, yet far away from the pros prospect (FDLS, Donaldson). The A’s even got an extra piece in Patterson.

Is if Beane is less inclined to re-sign Ellis because we have Patterson. He’s no kind of replacement, so if it reduces our aggressiveness towards Ellis this is a huge downside.

If, however, the money we’re saving makes it easier to re-sign Ellis and Duke I’m a very happy A’s fan.

is that the A’s have to sit back constantly and wonder about what’s happening with Harden. They’re scheduled to pay him I think something like $8 million next year. What if he got hurt (and I think it’s more likely WHEN, not what if) and the A’s have to basically eat that money next year because another DL stint and he becomes even more untradeable. You have to move Harden while you can. I mean even his last two starts made it seem like he was headed toward another DL stint again. And Billy publicly proclaimed his love for Gallagher.

The Cubs are an organization who can take the risk of having $8 million tied up on the DL because they have so much money. The A’s simply are not.

I think someone mentioned this in the initial trade thread too, but eventually Beane has to start to get right of the guys who are injury prone because he’s changed a bunch of the methods of the organization and the same old guys are getting hurt again. Harden, Crosby. Eventually you have to take how healthy a guy can be into consideration. I hope Harden lasts the year for the Cubs and helps them win a World Series (if the A’s can’t win it), but if I was tired of worrying when Harden was going to drop again, you have to imagine it had to have driven the organization nuts and throws it into a general state of chaos.

I’m not sure if this was mentioned anywhere else, but Donaldson was playing in the Midwest League (home of Kane County). After the trade he reported to Stockton of the high-A California league. I’d like to think this shows some confidence that he’ll get going. Also, the Cal League is a very hitter friendly league and as Pappagiorgio pointed out to me (while we were discussing software in Yuma) this could really help his confidence if he can get to hitting again.

to the big club, and Bankston was optioned back to Sacramento

Yippee! Can’t wait to see him in action…...

Go Gallagher! Go get em’!!!!

... – and I’m not accusing Nico of this – how many people on this blog have changed their turn regarding Harden’s health. Before the trade, many were cautioning that Harden making double digit consecutive starts was akin to a Jason Kendall homer—awe-inspiring and achingly beautiful in its preciousness, yes, but also not something to be counted on. Those people were roundly shouted down by choruses of “so what, he’s healthy now!” and “he’s the only way the A’s can win the World Series!” and the ever-present “NO WAY HEIS AWSUM!”

Post-trade, I’ve noticed a lot more people drinking the “well, he’s gonna get hurt anyway” Kool-Aid. Glad to see we can all agree on something.

people have really come around on this one. There was so much crying that first day… I mean, watching Rich Harden pitch for your team is one of those awesome things in sports. That being said, I’m glad people can see that he didn’t belong on our team.

I actually think the guys we got fill out some needs for us a little better than we give them credit for. I, too, wish we’d gotten some left-side-of-the-infield help, but Murton and Gallagher are starting tonight, and catcher dude might be able to move to third base by the time he makes it up here. Don’t know about Patterson, need to see what happens with Ellis. I feel like we’ve got enough AAAA talent in the infield that a utility infielder isn’t all that helpful. Then again, maybe he’ll be the starting 2B next year.