Cue Bobby McFerrin and his classic little ditty from the late 80's. In case anyone missed the news, the baseball team that resides in Wisconsin officially added a southpaw with a little bit of skill on Monday. Like so many of the experts were guilty of when the Mets landed Johan Santana, the Brewers have been declared the winners of the central and will be playing ball in October. Lou Piniella might have a few thoughts on that subject....
The Daily Herald's Bruce Miles ran the following quote from Jim Hendry on Monday, "Anything we do from here on out is not a reaction to what they (the Brewers) did. It's what we were planning on trying to anyhow. It's not, 'They're a whole lot better, we better step it up.' They were real good without him. And we never assumed the Cardinals were going away whether they added players on not. Our goal is not just to get in. It's to advance, which we weren't able to do last year."
Jayson Stark debated the move on Monday. Stark's take, "But I'm still taking the Cubs as the favorites in this division. They're deeper. They're more versatile. They're less reliant on the home run to score. They have the better late-inning relief crew. And they undoubtedly have a trade or two in them themselves. So let's see what the Cubs do between now and the deadline...."
With those words of wisdom from Jayson Stark, here is the latest from the mill....
Chris DeLuca added a little fuel to the rumor fire on Monday:
Jim Hendry has been talking with Billy Beane about what it would take to land Rich Harden. DeLuca said Hendry has spent "a lot of time on the phone recently" with the A's GM. This rumor has been around since the end of June when Dave Kaplan mentioned it on his show. DeLuca said Hendry has been working on this for a month.
Beane could wait until July 31st to decide whether or not Harden is on the block....and if so, many think it will take a package similar to the one Beane received from Arizona for Dan Haren.
DeLuca called Randy Wolf "Plan C" for the Cubs.
From the Daily Herald's Bruce Miles:
- Mentioned Greg Maddux
- Discussed A.J. Burnett. Miles said, "He (Burnett) does not appear to be a 'must have' for the Cubs."
- The Cubs "are looking hard at pitchers."
- Rich Harden is a "prime player of interest."
Dave Kaplan on WGN's Sports Central:
Kaplan discussed the Rich Harden rumors, as well as Randy Wolf, Greg Maddux and A.J. Burnett. He also had a listener email him about Tim Hudson. Kaplan stated with the pending sale of the team it was unlikely the Cubs would be able to trade for Hudson, if he is made available. Hudson is owed $13 million for this season, $13 million in 2009 and has a mutual option for 2010 worth $12 million with a $1 million dollar buyout.
Kaplan questioned the amount of prospects the Cubs would have to give up for Rich Harden and if the Cubs would have what the A's would want in return.
Stay Tuned....there are 23 days left before the deadline.
What would make for a perfect day would be the following:
A) Cubs win over the Reds. Dempster goes 10-0 at home. Incidentally, expect to see Matt Murton in the line up against Harrang....he's hitting .348 in 23 AB's with 3 HR's!!
B) Cardinals lose to the Phillies in Philadelphia against one of their better pitchers, Cole Hamels.
TO TOP IT OFF......
C) The Rockies find a way to beat the Brew Crew and C.C. Sabathia!! (Despite the Rockies starting Mark Redman and his 7.05 ERA)
D) CC leaves in the 3rd inning with "shoulder discomfort".
I have a draft question. I see we signed all but 1 of our top picks, but whats the status of SP Sonny Gray. I know he was a 27th rounder, but was said to have 1st round talent and just wanted to get the college experience. The Cubs.com listings aren't updated after 6/26 so I was just curious.
Lets get that Sonny Gray kid signed and trade him along with some other prospects for Rich Harden. :)
Honest question from another team's fan here: If the Cubs had the pieces to land a year and a half worth of Harden, wouldn't that also mean they had the pieces to land a few months' worth of Sabathia? Conversely, if they couldn't acquire a few months' worth of Sabathia, wouldn't that imply they stand essentially no chance of getting a year and a half of Harden?
Sonny Gray wasn't and isn't going to sign with anyone. I think they just drafted him in case he was kidding, but he wasn't. But hey, it only cost us a 27th round pick to see if he was bluffing.
Andrew,
Rich Harden is seen as an injury risk and has only pitched 77 innings thus far compared to 122 for CC. Teams are concerned for that reason which means Beane isn't likely to get the same quality that Cleveland got for CC....even though he will try to get it. Hendry knows what he is doing and can work something to get the help the Cubs need.
Tom
Andrew...
Your comparing apples to oranges. C.C. and Harden are completely different pitchers. When healthy Harden is as good as they come, but he can't stay healthy. Most Cubs fans are trying hard to avoid another Mark Prior situation where your top pitcher is a question mark start to start. On the other hand C.C.'s has been durable and a very good pitcher for the last few seasons. The crazy part to all this is it is impossible to compare any 2 players as many outside factors come into play. The brewers made this deal knowing C.C. would be a 2 month rental and were ok with that. Whats really crazy to me is that the Brewers gave up more for C.C. then the Mets gave up for Santana atleast in my opinion.