The NL Central Gets Cut Throat or Why I love Billy Beane

The Chicago Cubs have just acquired Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. This is just a great deal -- for the A's, NOT the Cubs -- and is the exact kind of deal that the Houston Astros should be figuring out how to make with say...Wandy Rodriguez and Jose Valverde.

I honestly don't know how Billy Beane does this year after year, but he just cashed in big time. Harden is an oft injured, but tantalizing when healthy ticking time bomb. The man is already inching periously close to the deal, per this snippet from the A's website:

Harden did not. His truncated evening ended with his most electric moment of the night, striking out Guerrero with runners at first and second with two outs in the fifth, but his final line was pretty ho-hum by his lofty standards: five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. He never topped 93 mph on the radar gun and was far more frequently checking in at 87-89.

So he's got dead arm and most likely a shoulder problem to underlying/because of it. Gaudin is at best a good seventh inning guy or number five pitcher. Meanwhile, Beane gets one of the best young pitching prospects in baseball, plus a big catching prospect and two young, formerly very hyped, OF. Brilliant. Gallagher is 22 and one of the most talked about pitching prospect this offseason because he was the sticking point for both the O's and the Cubs in the Brian Roberts deal. I salivate for savvy management like this and so should you. Maybe some day we'll be blessed with such genius, but with Drayton McLane at the helm I won't hold my breath.

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