Except none of you have any knowledge about the risk of Harden being injured.

Although the A's have been limiting Harden to 100 pitches since his return, his velocity was down in each of his past two starts, and there were whispers that what Harden shrugged off as a something of a "dead-arm" phase was cause for greater concern.

That didn't stop the Cubs, who had personnel following Harden for some time, fueling the trade rumors.

and got themselves a Ben Sheets.

This is ridiculous in the extreme. NOBODY has a substantial ability to judge risk of injury.

It's unlikely his services will be required to get them into the postseason.

It was the first time Harden had made that many starts in succession since 2005. And it's that injury history that already is making those ever-edgy North Siders nervous, after way too many injury-rehab updates on their previous saviors, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, the past few years.

In fact, one baseball man called Oakland's decision to trade Harden now -- while he's pitching great and the A's are still in a race -- a "serious red flag." Meanwhile, in a potentially related development, a scout we surveyed reported that Harden's velocity hasn't been quite the same in his most recent couple of starts, since his eight-inning, 11-strikeout two-hitter against the Phillies on June 26.

But the Cubs have watched every pitch he has thrown for weeks. They saw him hit 96 mph on the gun Sunday with their own eyes. So clearly, they'll take their chances on the odds of getting him out there 14 or 15 times between now and Sept. 28.
...
Asked Tuesday whether the A's got enough for one of the most overpowering pitchers in baseball, one scout chuckled: "For a guy who might break down tomorrow? Yeah."

But the Cubs understood that, too. Understood exactly what they were dealing for in Harden. He might miss a turn or two. Or 10. But at this point in the life of their quasi-tragic franchise, they weren't interested in playing it safe. Not anymore.

Harden's own health is often a concern, and there was speculation in the wake of the trade that his dip in velocity the past two starts, when his fastball was down 4-5 mph, might have spurred the trade. If Harden were to blow out in his next start or two, the thinking went, the A's would get nothing for him, and he's already been on the DL six times in the past four year. An A's source said that did not factor into Oakland's thinking, but the source did confirm that Gaudin was included to provide insurance for the Cubs in the event that Harden were to break down.

How many times do I have to mention that Harden's fastball was down less than 1 mph?

In fact, one baseball man called Oakland's decision to trade Harden now -- while he's pitching great and the A's are still in a race -- a "serious red flag."

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry checked in from time to time throughout June with Oakland general manager Billy Beane about the availability of Rich Harden, and their conversations traveled down the same path: Yes, Harden was available, but only at the right price, and that price would include right-handed pitcher Sean Gallagher. And Hendry indicated, repeatedly, that Gallagher wasn't available.

On Sunday evening -- the same night when word broke that the Brewers had worked out a deal for CC Sabathia -- Hendry indicated to Beane for the first time that he would make Gallagher available in a Harden deal, but it would create a problem: If Gallagher was traded, the Cubs wouldn't have the kind of depth they needed to deal with an injury.
...
Beane had an idea. He could fill Hendry's need for depth by adding veteran swingman Chad Gaudin in the trade. He phoned Hendry back on Monday night with the suggestion. "That could work," Hendry said, and the two general managers began piecing together other parts of the trade.

It is really hard to imagine this being a good trade for the Cubs.

Oddly, the Cubs were the only team that Beane was discussing Harden with, according to the SF Chronicle. That doesn't really make much sense.

Any chance the Yankees'll take Marquis off the Cubs' hands? Marquis isn't very good, but he's a damn sight better than Victor Feckin' Zambrano.

Marquis has been better than I expected too (which gives you an idea of what my expectations were), but he's sort of redundant at this point, at best.

I dunno; I think he's OK in left. He makes the occasional gaffe, but he covers more ground than you'd think by looking at him. He doesn't throw very well, so he's ill-suited to right. Basically, he's useful to the right team (which wasn't the Cubs), but he's pretty limited. I think it's safe to say I overrated him 2 years ago.

and the problem is, Murton doesn't really have Stairs pop, and at 26, isn't likely to develop it.

I'm trying to laugh as much as possible before the aforementioned Bedard-Carrasco trade is announced in a couple weeks.

(sob)

Or even worse: Bedard-Rasmus.

The A's weren't likely to give Harden more then 100 innings this season (regardless of his health, following the "30ish"-innings over previous season total rule)

Murton has roughly 1000 major league at-bats, and a 294/362/448 line.