The Recent Trades

Well what do the A's expect? Trading away their ace and two members of their rotation for a bunch of young guys who can't make a big impact yet, all while being a few games behind first place. I mean, I love the Joe Blanton trade for the future, getting three guys who strengthen our farm system tremendously (Cardenas is hitting .309 with 6 triples and 16 SB in 67 games in A, Spencer is hitting .250 with 6 HR, 41 RBI's in 84 games in A, and Outman was 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA in AA ball) for a guy thats no better than a #3 starter, but Blanton is ML ready while all three of these guys are a few years away.

The Harden/Gaudin trade on the other hand is questionable for the present and possibly the future. Harden is 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 122 K's to 39 BB. Gaudin is 5-4 with a 3.41 ERA. But most importantly, both are ML ready. The A's got Sean Gallagher, who is 4-4 with a 4.03 ERA, Matt Murton who is a .288 career hitter, but only hitting .186 this year in 26 games, Eric Patterson who is hitting .237 in 13 games, and AA catcher Josh Donaldson. According to an inside source with the Cubs, talks of this trade were going on for about a month. But as soon as the Cubs threw in Sean Gallagher, Beane accepted. Gallagher, who is only 22, is ML ready, and is just like Joe Blanton. I don't ever see him being a start, but will be a solid #3 starter and the A's have him for 5 1/2 more years before they have to resign him which is good cause they have him for cheap for 5 1/2 years. Murton is 26, but is a .288 career hitter and could provide some outfield help to the A's who are down Travis Buck due to injury. Eric Patterson is 25 and has been moving between AAA and ML with the Cubs. Patterson is a strong utility player, and fast. He can play 2B and OF, and is also a threat on the basepaths, something the A's desperately need. Patterson started off in AAA Sacramento, but was hitting .349 so the A's recalled him and is now our leadoff hitter. Josh Donaldson fits into the A's system perfectly. He's extremely patient at the plate and has a high OBP. Gaudin is 25 and Harden is 26, so the A's got younger in this trade. Harden was sceduled to make 4.75 mill this year and Gaudin was scheduled to make 1.75 mill this season, but their salaries are increasing in 2009 while all four of the players the A's aquired are making less than 1 million. As far as contending for this year, the A's hurt themselves a lot in this trade, because Harden was their ace and Gaudin was a key part of the staff. But a year or two down the road, this trade could turn out good. Harden has been on the DL more than not, and Gallagher, Murton, and Patterson will only get better with experience. Look for these guys to play key roles in a playoff team in 2009 or 2010. But Beane has to keep this team together. He can't keep trading players when they start to accel at the ML level like he's done in the past. If he can keep this squad together and they can continue to make improvements, the sky is the limit for this team.