27 Outs: Making Sense of Recent Trades

In the past 48 hours we have seen CC Sabathia and Rich Harden dealt to contending teams. With this we have seen a total of 8 prospects traded for these 2 guys. Sabathia was the 2007 Cy Young Award winner and was basically given to the brewers for 1 big prospect in Matt LaPorta and the rest just okay prospects. As for Harden the Cubs traded the A’s pennies on the dollar for Harden. Beane said that he would have to be wowed to trade Harden and he basically gave him away for Matt Murton and Shaun Gallagher. Not to take anything away from these guys Rich Harden has showed some dependablity this year and looks like a very good 2 starter. If he can stay healthy throughout the rest of the season the Cubs will win the Central Division and the Brewers will look like fools for trading for Sabathia. And this is not the first time a big transaction like this hasnt worked out the way teams wanted it too. For Example, the trade for Mark Teixeira to the Braves for a kings ransom of prospects to the Rangers and the Braves did not make the playoffs. Another example is Carlos Lee going to the Rangers in 2006 and the Rangers at the time were just a game and a half out of first place and did not make the playoffs. What it comes down to is that the teams that do not disrupt the team chemistry and add a little pieces to the puzzle usually turn out better than adding a big name at the trading deadline. I think the Cubs and Brewers will battle down the stretch but look for the Brewers to fade down the stretch again due to the lack of pitching beyond Sabathia and Sheets.