The A's dropped the final game of the Mets today, but the best news of all is that the A's ace, young King Richard Harden is very close to returning.
Meanwhile, Tim Hudson, surprise, surprise, is having troubles with his oblique again and is now on the DL. I mentioned this before and I'll say it again now, I loved Hudson, but the A's couldn't afford to pay millions for a pitcher who was going to miss weeks at a time seemingly every year. I wish Huddy the best, but this is going to be a recurring problem with the A's former bulldog. Of course, Juan Cruz has shown to be a complete headcase who is an inconsistent as they come, Charles Thomas is in AAA (seemingly starting to find his stroke hitting .348) and Dan Meyer is also injured. So, this one is going to take a while to assess.
As for our team, the A's are finally close to being at full strength for the first time this season, once Harden gets back. And the difference in this team with Harden, Zito, Haren, Blanton and Saarloos/Glynn compared to Zito, Haren, Blanton, Saarloos and Glynn can not be overstated. Harden will make players feel uncomfortable in the batter's box. The A's don't have any other starting pitchers that'll do that to a player, except maybe Street and possibly Cruz (because he can be wild).
The team will never be at full strength this year because of Durazo and Dotel's injuries. But this will be a close second.
I, for one, am looking forward to seeing how this team performs with Harden back and the offense seemingly finding itself once again. Let's just hope that Harden isn't rushing himself back into the lineup too soon.
