I disagree strongly with recommendations to trade Harden.
First off, even if he makes 6 straight quality healthy starts no team would give us anything of real value for him. In order for him to have any trade value at all he will have to finish out the rest of this season. If he can do that though, who would really want to give him up? Ask anyone who is actually in the baseball world and they will tell you Rich Harden's stuff is better than anyone else that they have seen. Honestly now, if you have the best pitcher, literally the best, what is good enough return on a trade? He is better than Dan Haren and look the returns we got from that trade. Greg Smith and Dana Eveland are already contributing solidly in the majors and we still have 4 more top notch prospects (Aaron Cunningham, Carlos Gonzalez, etc.) making their way through the minors. No one would give us what a healthy Harden is worth because no one HAS what he is worth. How many teams could even offer us an identical trade to what we got for Haren?
Secondly, If we trade away Rich Harden who becomes our true "ace"? Who would we have that you would give the advantage to when matching up against ANY other pitcher in the league? Justin Duchscherer is great and I think he has the potential to be good enough to be a #1 on most teams, but he isn't near as good as Harden. Joe Blanton eats innings, but I don't think he will be likely to ever give you an ERA under 3. Greg Smith and Dana Eveland are both too young. Chad Gaudin has a ton of potential. He is somehow only 25, and I think at his best he could be the next Tim Hudson. However, he is no Rich Harden either. So tell me honestly, if we were to trade away Harden, who would you feel comfortable having square off against any other pitcher in the league and give us the advantage to win? This is the guy who, just a couple years ago, took a perfect game into the 8th inning and ended up throwing a 2 hit, no walk, complete game shutout on 81 pitches. How stupid would Beane be if he let a guy who was only getting paid 4.75 million and has HOF stuff get away because he was "injury prone" only to see him be completely healthy the rest of his career compiling HOF numbers for another team? What would we have to receive to be worth that loss? Really guys, this is no Mark Prior. Prior is good, but he's not Harden. This is no Kerry Wood either. Rich Harden at his best is better than either Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens in their primes at their best. You may think that is an exaggeration, but talk to the scouts and the managers and the players who have seen and faced Harden. They are the ones saying this, not me. I'm just repeating it.
Guys, give Harden a break already. I'd much rather see him on the Athletics roster than any other team. Quit panicking and be patient. Baseball is a long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint. How many of you were screaming for Jack Hannahan's head just a week ago citing bad defense and no offense? Don't look now, but his AVG and SLG are climbing while his OBP is already over .400 and he just made a terrific (shades of Eric Chavez) diving play just a couple day ago. Be patient and give Harden time too. Weren't a lot of guys ready to throw in the towel on Bobby Crosby this preseason too, calling him "injury prone" as well? Didn't I tell you to give him a break and say that he can't control Justin Speier's inside fastball breaking his hand? What about throwing in the towel before the season started and conceding a 100 loss season or a guaranteed sub .500 winning percentage? How are things looking with that one now? Just wait. Give it time. Right now we lead the Angels in the AL West and are second only to the Red Sox for record in the AL. We will need Harden to face off against John Lackey when he returns, so we can't trade him.
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