The Cubs are Rich
I think this was a good trade for both of Cubs and the A’s, since Gaudin can add depth and solid help to bullpen and sure Harden is a great pitcher and all probably even better than Sabathia, but with his injury proned past I am not quite sure if he will be capable of starting more than 25 games the years he is in the Cubs, maybe this year yes, but no one knows when injury will hit him.
This trade is looking real good for the A’s future, Beane has scored a big one here. He has already stated that this will be his Rebuilding year, clearly stating he will trade tenured big leaguers for young minor leaguers or ones who are getting settled in the bigs.
Here are the players that A’s got: Sean Gallagher, Josh Donalson, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton.
Starting with Matt Murton, he is the kind of hitter Beane was drooling over. I was wondering the past few years if Beane would ever pursue him but it has finally happened. He can hit, and draw walks. Past two years he has hit .297 and .281 with OBP of .365 and .352. This year he barely got any chance to show himself in the bigs only allowed to play 19 games so far. This guy will be the gem Beane has got off the Cubs. Playing full time, no one knows how good he will be. My projection is that he will hit either in 2nd, 3rd, or 5th spot in the future for the A’s.
Eric Patterson, Corey Patterson’s younger brother is a fast guy like him too. Here is his stats in Triple-A this year: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st…&pid=452221
hitting .320 and .358OBP, not the most patient hitter but his speed and double hitting power will help the A’s lineup. He will possibly be the A’s leadoff in the future.
Sean Gallagher is a 95MPH throwing 5th starter for the Cubs. His minor league stats were impressive, but he has to prove that he can pitch in the bigs. He has a 4.45 ERA right now, not bad for a rookie starter, I think he will end up as the A’s 3rd or 4th starter in the future.
Josh Donaldson, a catching prospect. If you just look at his overall stats he seems like a sucky hitting catcher. But when you look at his stats vs lefty you’ll change his mind. He’s hitting .286 and .400OBP and best of all .948OPS. I think he’ll end up being a platoon hitting catcher or Beane might be planning on training him to improve against righties in the minors before calling him up.
A’s didn’t see any need to hold on to Harden and Gaudin since they were in their rebuilding year and their SP rotation is doing really well without Harden and bullpen is too. Duchsherer is pitching with an 1.96 ERA in the rotation and no one is over 4.00ERA except for Joe Blanton. Andrew Brown and Casilla Santiago seems to be doing well with 2.00ERAs.
Expect Duchscherer and Street to get traded next time.
Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Major League Baseball, MLB, Oakland A's, Oakland Athletics, Rich Harden, Sports
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.