Well, that explains how come Harden was so cheap.

No biggie.

What did they expect?

What did they expect?

Seriously. I am not a doctor, I've never read a medical chart, I couldn't tell an elbow from a shoulder on an X-ray, and even I can tell you that Rich Harden is fixing to have more arm trouble soon.

Seriously. I am not a doctor, I've never read a medical chart, I couldn't tell an elbow from a shoulder on an X-ray, and even I can tell you that Rich Harden is fixing to have more arm trouble soon.

Yeah, but just exactly how bad does it have to be for even the Red Sox to see it?

Yeah, but just exactly how bad does it have to be for even the Red Sox to see it?

It's bad enough that they finally have a name for it. Rich Harden Disease.

Red Sox medical staff: "We ain't takin the fall no more."

[5] Yeah, but just exactly how bad does it have to be for even the Red Sox to see it?

Not as bad as it has to be for the Mets and the doctors from the Hospital for Regular Surgery.

From 2009:

Manuel poked fun at the team's beleaguered medical staff when asked about Gary Sheffield's status after Sheffield left the game in the fifth inning with a cramp in his right hamstring.

"They're calling it cramps . . . surgery on Thursday," Manuel said before erupting in laughter.

Realizing that team-owned SNY was filming the remark, Manuel quickly added: "I couldn't resist. Sorry, doctors."

Manuel then pleaded twice -- apparently without success -- with the network's in-house reporter, Kevin Burkhardt, not to run the footage.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/item_XW1gMcvAdBrjk7tzFRTiBI

According to Gammons on NESN, they A's had to give Harden a shot of some kind (cortisone?) after his first start this year and that spooked the Red Sox.

I'm glad. I didn't like this deal. I like the idea of replacing Miller in the rotation, but not with someone who's so likely to get injured that Miller ends up pitching anyway.

Whew! We still retain the great Lars!
Given the recent performance of the Red Sox medical people, expect a Schilling-like stretch of seasons for Harden in his 30's.

A's got Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto from DBacks for Ziegler, so I guess they won't want Lars now anyway.

Does this (believing that the Sox would have done it) tell us anything about the Sox FO, how they believe in the starting rotation, the news on Clay, or anything else?

A's got Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto from DBacks for Ziegler, so I guess they won't want Lars now anyway.

Former prospects at 1B are the new market inefficiency.

Beane: "Hey, you just asked if his arm was still attached ... not my fault you didn't specify which arm."

Bedard.

For something called a Federowicz, what ever that is.

Too soon, there's more!

3-team deal Bedard for BOS: Federowicz, 2 other minor leaguers to LAD, Trayvon Robinson, Chih Hsien Chiang to SEA for Bedard,Fields.

Portland pitcher Stephen Fife is also involved, going to Seattle.

Josh Fields, too? Huh.

That stinks about Bedard, who's still one of my favorite baseball players. Oh well, my fandom is patient and can resume when he puts on another uniform.

Trayvon Robinson is going to the Sox.

They went from Harden to Bedard? Was Mark Prior not available?

Why not sign Irabu?

Too soon?

CHICAGO — No confirmation yet from the Red Sox [team stats], but in the final minutes before the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline, it appears the club has acquired lefty Erik Bedard from the Seattle Mariners in a package that includes Double-A catcher Tim Federowicz among others.

Bedard, 32, is 4-7 with a 3.45 ERA in 16 starts for the Mariners this season. He bombed Friday night in his return from the disabled list, giving up five runs in 11?3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark was first to report the deal, a three-team trade that also includes the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It appears the Red Sox will get Bedard and right-handed pitcher Josh Fields, a former second-round pick of the Mariners. The price tag: Federowicz, outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang and pitchers Stephen Fife and Juan Rodriguez.

Yesterday, before the Red Sox made and then killed a trade for Oakland right-hander Rich Harden, a major-league source told the Herald that they remained interested in Bedard. One executive from a team that dispatched a scout to evaluate Bedard on Friday night in Seattle said the pitcher “looked healthy” after missing one month with a knee injury.

Friday, when Bedard’s name had surfaced in connection with the Sox, former Baltimore Orioles executive Jim Duquette warned the Sox about acquiring the oft-injured left-hander.

“He’s not a spotlight guy,” Duquette said of Bedard. “And he’s not reliable from a health standpoint — as we’ve seen. Caveat emptor.”

Bedard had his two best — and healthiest — seasons with the Orioles during Duquette’s tenure with the club, winning 15 games in 2006 and 13 in 2007. He was 40-34 with a 3.83 ERA in five seasons with Baltimore.

But Duquette said Bedard’s checkered injury history should be a red flag to any interested team. Indeed, Bedard hasn’t made a start after July 31 in any season since 2007, and Duquette noted that he typically has been injured in July, shortly before the trade deadline.

“He doesn’t like the attention,” Duquette said. “When he’s the guy, he doesn’t succeed. And I always thought, because he didn’t want to be the guy, that it would hold him back. I thought he’d be a real solid No. 3 (starter) in a small market. But it would concern me going into a big market. After I left the Orioles, I even tried to dissuade a couple of big-market clubs that were interested in him.”

Duquette never liked him. That's not news.

He's the number four starter if Buchholz ever makes it back. He's a very clear three at most. I don't think he'll be looked at by anyone as some sort of savior.

Bedard is just collapse insurance. If Wakefield goes down with a back injury or if Miller continues to throw up 3.0IP/6R starts, and if Buchholz can't make it back from injury the Red Sox will need someone to throw in the rotation to make sure they don't implode and somehow end up out of the playoffs.

Without Bedard, you're looking at Kyle Weiland, Brandon Duckworth, or Kevin Millwood if someone were to go down. Bedard is quite likely an upgrade over those guys, and may even an upgrade over the current #5 Miller. Injury history and pitching in Seattle in front of that Seattle defense has to make one a bit cautious about Bedard.

Chiang was raking with an ISOP over 300 if I recall rightly, though given he's a corner outfielder he'll have to continue to rake to make it.

I have to assume some scout on the Red Sox thinks Josh Fields is fixable (9 walks in 9 AAA innings with a G/F of 0.37, even in a small sample is a little disturbing).

Bedard is quite likely an upgrade over those guys, and may even an upgrade over the current #5 Miller.

Seriously? Every single one of Erik Bedard's seasons is better than every single one of Andrew Miller's seasons. Bedard gets hurt a lot. When he's able to pitch he is much, much, much, much, much better than Brandon Duckworth, and quite possibly worth a fraction of a win or so over Andrew Miller and his career ERA+ of 75.

A healthy Erik Bedard is much closer to being the best pitcher on the Red Sox than he is to being comparable to Andrew Miller.

Yes, you're right. He's certainly an upgrade over any of the remaining #6s, and historically speaking you'd rather see Bedard start a playoff game than Miller or Wakefield. I'm discounting him because of injury history. I also have a hard time trusting pitching statistics compiled in Seattle in front of their excellent defense.

OK. Then just look at his 87/30 K/BB rate this year in 90 innings, which is actually a little better than his career rate. Miller, on the other hand, has a 17/24 K/BB rate in 34.2 innings, and a career rate of 1.29/1.

It's reasonable to think Bedard won't be repeating his 2007 ever again. It's not reasonable to think he'll be anything less than a slightly above average pitcher when he is able to take the mound. Tim Wakefield is working on his second straight season with an ERA over 5, and Andrew Miller is below replacement level, by a rather significant margin. How are they in any way comparable?

The Sox offense has consistently been second in the AL in Defensive Efficiency all year. Bedard should lose something to the park but Sox are good defensively.

Is it just me, or is that an incredibly stupid deal for the Dodgers?

There is some other kind of deal the Dodgers make?

Park adjusted defensive efficiency has the Red Sox as being roughly middle of the pack defensively, turning balls in play into outs roughly 2% less often than Seattle would have in similar circumstances against similar opponents. 2% is a decent sized number, assuming PADE is worth a damn.

But you're right. The K/9, K/BB ratio this year suggests that labrum surgery hasn't been the career ender it often is for pitchers (though my understanding is success rates for labrum surgery are getting higher), but you can understand why I take stats compiled prior to 2010 with a grain of salt.