According to Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry, the Oakland A's will send starting pitcher s Rich Harden and Chad Guadin to the North Siders for outfielders Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and Sean Gallagher and minor leaguer John Donaldson.
This fills a widening hole in Chicago's starting rotation and paired with Carlos Zambrano, gives the Cubs a deadly 1-2 punch. Harden, who is 5-1 and has a 2.34 ERA, became the Cubs top option after Milwaukee acquired CC Sabathia from Cleveland on Monday. The Cubs rotation is now much deeper with Carlos Zambrano, Harden, Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly making up the first four spots. For Cubs fans, this keeps the blood pressure down, knowing Dempster, who hasn't pitched a full season as a starter since 2002, no longer needs to be the No. 2 starter.
Patterson showed signs of the potential his brother (Corey) displayed a few years ago. Murton has been a dead-man-walking ever since he cooled down from his initial hot start when he first came to the big leauges. And according to Hendry, the deal would not have happened had Gallagher not been in the mix, which speaks highly of his talent.
But all-in-all, this is a deal the Cubs had to make. Anything short of a championship this year will be a disappointment for this franchise, and losing Patterson and Murton won't hurt the Cubs depth in the outfield, especially with Reed Johnson returning and the success of recently acquired Jim Edmonds.
The acquisition of Harden is an example of the trade-deadline type deals that Hendry is known for. Back in 2003 the Cubs traded for Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez, and got Nomar Garciaparra in 2004. Last year Jason Kendall was added to the roster around this time, too.
Hendry has done it again, and hopefully this time it will work out.
And you just got to love Lou Piniella, who just said to the media, "This was a little bit of a surprise for me at 3 in afternoon."
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