Dont let Scuds fool you, Gaudin is not a star. he may be the 5th best RP the cubs have.

Yeah and Lowe is no hitting the Braves

No, Andruw didn't get hurt. He looks exactly the same as he did before the surgery. He was gunna have it done after the season, but Joe begged him to have the surgery in early June. I ain't kid'n. Anything to get him out of the game.....BTW LOWE perfect game thru 6. Dodgers got just 1 hit against Hudson(one of them Oakland pitchers that is not that good anymore..lol.)

No, he isn't a star, but the Cubs will get good spot pitching from him.

Made a mistake to Kemp...Crushed it.

Joe Sheehan on the trade

"The trade ends up looking like one that made sense for both teams, given the expectations on each and each organization’s relative focus. The A’s are trying to build for 2010, while the Cubs are trying to not go 101 years without a championship. The A’s didn’t have much reason to bet on Harden’s upside, given the money owed to him and their chances of winning this year, while the Cubs not only have reason to, they were offered the pitcher for a price they could happily pay. Neither team is likely to lose this trade, and it seems clear that both could win it. That’s the definition of a good deal."

Yea, but my problem lies in the expectations and overall focus of the A's management right now. Building for 2010? This didn't just start a couple years ago. They were surely using the excuse of building for 2008 when giving away other good players 2-5 years ago. If I really believed they were trying to get young talent together(to keep to one day get a ring,) then, believe me, I would buy into their stories. They have proven they are liars. This is why you see very few people in that green stadium, but the lil house across the bay is full every time you see a game on T.V. there. One has relative good will from the people of the bay area,and the other doesn't. The one with much fewer fans is the one who has won rings for the bay area, but they choose to pay to see the team with no rings, and the team with the consistently worse record. There is a reason for that. They know that if this Gallagher kid does get good, then the A's will trade him before they have to pay him. Why would fans be interested in seeing them trade their players just when they are getting good? Why couldn't they have held on to Harden, and seen how they do in 2009? That's what they did with Zito in 2006. Now, if they are decent in 2009, they won't have Harden to help them. Like I said, they almost seem to want to make sure they never have quite enough to contend with teams like the Angels. The Angels had to have a pretty crappy year in 2006 for the A's to beat them, and it took a God-like year from the combination of Thomas, Bradley, and the other leftfielder free agent hitter(can't think of his name, but they refused to pay him anything after that season.....anger control an issue with this one as well as Bradley.) Point is they don't seem to have made this trade to really accomplish anything (except stay young n' cheap, and hated by bay area fans.) You see a plan, and I see them doing nothing but the same bull that is keeping them from having enough to really compete with top teams in 2008. It's always gunna be 2 years in the future with this management. That's the claim 8 years ago, and it will be the same false claim as long as Billy is there.

I get to see Harden's first two starts live, this Saturday and in AZ on Monday (also the unveiling of the Soto jersey)

Hopefully he makes it to his 2nd start with the way you guys are talking

If Gallagher gets any good, you can make a deal with these whores to get him right back. So, I don't see the risk in the deal. Harden's salary for the next season n' a half will be paid in one homestand's beer concessions. If Harden gets hurt before the deadline, then these whores will probably give up Duscherer to ya as well. They don't want to sign him for 2010(although these liars claim they are building for a great 2010,) and it's obvious they don't care about 2008/9.

I don't know what Murton will turn into but I can tell you that the deal is essentially Harden,Guadin for Gallagher. Patterson is garbage, no idea about the catcher but he wasn't going anywhere with Soto probably around for a long time.

Beane really solved ALOT of Hendry's problems becuase he was constantly asked why Murton/Patterson weren't producing, yadda yadda and now, Hendry gets to wash his hands of the BS. I don't even know if they were looking for another starter, the bullpen has been stressed alot lately because Pinella has had a short fuse so the addition of Guadin could be even more important then Harden. Last night was a perfect example. Score is 5 to 1 bottom 9, and he pulls Marmol and brings in Wood for one hitter.

Now, if it were life or death, sure, pull him, but middle season games are not and I see no reason to bring in Wood in that situation, regardless if his arm is fine or not. Maybe I am just the ultimate pessamist because I personally think Wood is one pitch away from throwing his arm completely off. Why not leave Marmol in and let him fight his way through it. He doesn't give up many HR's and his stuff is electric, and he might get some confidence from getting through a trying situation.

It isn't IF with him Scuds, he is solid, real good fastball, good curve, needs one more pitch, has some testicular fortitude, not afraid, no skirt for him.

You guys can just make a deal to get Duscherer for the 2nd half of 2009, and sign him as a free agent going into 2010. Then, when Gallagher is polished(in 3-4 years,) you can get him from the A whores for a couple lil biscuits

So much hatred, and they are not even 'your' team....

Because Beane and Di podesta are liar filth that destroy chemistry. We sent dat piece of Di Po garbage out of L.A. after he fkd our team up. Now he helped fck up San Diego. Beane hatched that fkn Demon.

:D :eek: :eek: :{>:

First hitter Gaudin faces. Ball ends up in bleachers

Love it! Almost as good as Lilly not making it thru 3 innings against the Reds

Seriously, EVERY SINGLE TIME i turn this little f'n sports radio on at work, something bad happens. I turned it on, two batters later Griffey hit that bomb, I see Gaudin is coming in on ESPN.com, gives up a BOMB. Gonna turn it off now and see what happens.

How do you listen to Ron Santo on a regular basis? At first I found it funny to laugh at how ridiculous he is, but after a while he is unlistenable. We are spoiled with Uecker in Milwaukee. He is by far the best ever.

Love Santo, keeps me in a good mood because of how hilarious, Kinda like reading Scuds Late night

Random thought, obviously i have seen the Brewers play alot of games, and it seems like they almost suffer sometimes when they have a good pitcher on the mound. Their coach needs to get them to focus better when Sheets/CC pitch, especially in the bullpen, can't believe they lost yesterday after the way sheets pitched...

Pathetic really yesterday. Moto needs to go where turnbow went and we need another 2 more arms in the pen. We will automatically get one with most likely McClung going to the pen. Sheets pitched good yesterday but threw a lot of pitches and gave up too many long balls. Not enough run support. Dave Bush thru 4 hitter today thru 8 and gave up one run only and we put up 11 runs.

The wind must be blowing out today. 6 HR's from the Reds

Dude, Pinella has WAY over used Marmol this year. He is the future closer but they are killing him by using him so much. his recent troubles are almost surely due to being tired or banged up. The thought that Gaudin will be an effective set up man or replacement for Marmol is scary. Gaudin is exactly what he was used for today, innings eater period.

About to test the theory, right now it is 0-0 bottom of the 5th, radio about to be turned on :)

Marquis pitching a great game right now, hopefully he will blow up now you turned on the radio

LOOK AT THIS ****...1st and 2nd 1 out, this radio is about to be Office Spaced

Radio lives another INNING

Where are your bats? You guys are being 1 hit by Cain and that hit was originally called an error. I didn't see it, but probably a homer call.

Cain isn't 'that' bad, Giants have pitching, they have zero offense

That one guy that they have is SERIOUS. can't spell it, linecicum or something

He is great as long as they don't burn him out on a worthless team. Giants do have good pitching but that is it. They have zero hitters.

SOTO!!!!!

Plus, Santo was just talking about how at Noon today it was 85 degrees and the ball was flying out, and now the wind shifted, it is coming from off the lake, and it is like 70 degrees....

Len C. Cum

Now, (that) you will remember.

O.K., now I am going to again state the key point that is missing in your assessment, and in the assessment of your statboy friend who wrote the article. Your assessment is that Gallagher and the others(combined) will be better (in the future) than Harden. That may be a correct assessment, but the problem is that the A's will get rid of them before they become free agents. That's what they are doing with Harden. They still had him relatively cheap for a year and a half. That year and a half needs to be taken advantage of, but they didn't(especially for the start of 2009.). They make a trade like this by selling the fact they can keep young players until they become free agents. During that time they expect them to prosper. What your ignoring is they won't get the full "good cheap years" from guys like Gallagher. They will do with him what they did with Harden. I'm sure 4 or 5 years ago they told their fans that they were building for 2008/9. That time has come, and they have pushed that back to 2010-2012. When does it payoff with ring contenders? 2006 was a fluke. The free agents all hit huge that year. They dumped them all in 2007. They don't raise good enough hitters to contend for championships.

2) The A's hurt themselves for 2008, and 2009...........This seems to go right over the statboys heads, because they don't particularly care if the A's can contend for a ring. They don't care if that ever comes.

I dont know why you think that they hurt themselves so badly for the next 2 years. Harden pitched in 13 games for them this year. 13. You know that they play 162 a year right? He wasnt 13-0. Gaudin was a mop up man. You know a guy who pitches when the game is already out of reach? Your irritation at the financial parts just dont make sense. Harden wasnt due that much money and there was no way they were giving him a long term contract anyway becuase of his injury history as much as the money. I think anyone who signs this guy to a long term deal is nuts.

He has started 14 times this year. His team lost 4 of those games. In those games, he gave up:

0 earned runs
1 earned run
2 earned runs
2 earned runs

He is not the reason his team lost those 4 games. He gave them chances to win. THEY TRADED AWAY THE STARTER WITH THE 2ND BEST E.R.A. IN THE MAJORS, AND YOU SAY IT DOESN'T HURT THEM IN THIS YEAR AND/OR NEXT YEAR? This is like the Andruw signing(we gunna have to agree to disagree.) This game is a war. You can't afford to just give away somebody who has dominating talent(even with a history of injuries.) He is not a journeyman pitcher.

So the net gain over a replacemnet level pitcher who goes 7-7 is 3 games. You are going to risk getting nothing for 3 games? He is not CC Sabathia or Zambrano or Johan Santana. He is a very good pitcher when he is on. The problem is that is simply not very often. He is not a cornerstone guy or a guy you build around. He is a luxury item for a rich team like the Cubs that can take a chance on getting a 1/2 of a season from him. This isnt like trading Albert Pujols.

I like Gallagher. I think he is going to be a good pitcher. Not to mention the fact that he is 22 and durable. Murton may wind up like Eric Byrnes (before he shredded his hamstring).

Let's face it, Oakland needs to be proactive in order to not be like the other teams in another thread, KC and Pittsburgh. They need to liquidate guys like Harden who simply are too risky to pay a lot of money for.

Since 2000 Oakland has a record of 791-599 (close to 200 games above .500), they have been to the playoffs 5 times, they have finished 1st, 2nd ,1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, and are currently in 2nd in their division. In the same time frame the NY Yankees are 823-564. So they are 32 games behind the Yankees or divided over the 8 years 4 games a year behind them dispite a huge disparity payroll and revenues. The team that spend the most is 4 games better out of 162. And Beane doesnt know what he is doing or is ripping the fans off? The worst Oakland has finished is 3rd one time. Sounds like a team that isnt trying.

Oh Scuds.......

From Buster Olneys blog yesterday...
. On paper, the Cubs' rotation is deep and formidable. But as the season begins, they have to be very concerned about what Rich Harden will contribute. Pitching against the Yankees on Saturday, Harden's fastball was consistently clocked in the range of 85 to 89 mph -- touching 90 mph only a few times -- but you really didn't need the radar gun to tell you that he is not close to being the same pitcher who dominated in the first five months of last season.

When Harden was at his best last year, opposing hitters often looked as though they were swinging in the dark, overwhelmed by his fastball, confused by his changeup. But on Saturday, the Yankees' hitters were completely at ease at the plate against him, leaning into their swings, driving the ball. Mark Teixeira hit a home run in the third inning; then in the fifth, he got ahead 3-0 in the count and just sat on a fastball -- clocked on the radar at 86 mph -- and clubbed it into the second deck. Consider this: In Harden's first 13 starts in 2008, for Oakland, he allowed a total of five homers. On Saturday, he surrendered four against the Yankees, and he has allowed seven in his last 11 innings.


and




CUBS RELEASE GAUDIN (4:35 p.m. ET)
The Cubs have released right-hander Chad Gaudin

The reliever was acquired from Oakland in the trade that brought Rich Harden to Chicago in July.

The Cubs also optioned right-hander Jeff Samardzija to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday.

Gaudin went 9-5 with a 4.40 ERA in 50 outings with the Athletics and Cubs. He was 4-2 with a 6.26 ERA in 24 relief appearances for Chicago.

The 26-year-old has also pitched for Tampa Bay and Toronto. He has a 28-25 career record with a 4.45 ERA.


Guess that trade doesnt look so bad afterall does it? Harden cant even hit 90 on the radar gun and Gaudin couldnt even make the team. Think the Cubs will get any takers for Harden if they tried to trade him now?

Gauden probably could be the number 2 starter for the Astros this year.:eek:

7, 6, 5, and 3 ......That's the amount of earned runs Harden gave up in July, August, September, and October. If your a team that hasn't won a World Series in 80 years(and had seemingly terrific offense of your own,) then I think it was more than worth the price (for Harden.) It took a hell of a performance from Kuroda to beat his effort. He battled us hard that night. Who would of pitched that game for the Cubs(if they didn't make that trade?) In Chuck's World, who would of pitched that game, and kept the Cubs within a couple runs of winning that game? Based on the Cubs offense, he was exactly what they needed( a low era pitcher making 13 starts with a good offensive team.) Whatever else happens has no bearing on the value of that trade. The value of that trade was getting 13 starts from him (an a era of about 2) when they were trying to get an elusive ring. He has already made that trade a quality trade. Maybe you can't see it, but I doubt you had the same goals that the team in question (Cubs ) had. This ain't fantasy bullshit. This was about trying to get a ring. I understood it. You never did. That's probably because you knew the Cubs were going to choke (no matter what,) but from their point of view, the trade is already paid for. Not only that, but the A's tanked after this trade. That's something you(of course) don't ever factor in, because your a fan of that pimp running that sickness called the Athletics (it's a fkn pimp's nest.) The fact you even bring this up shows you have an inability to see the trade is already a success for the Cubs. He did what they needed to get a ring. The other 2 starters? They battle in the post? The hitters battle in the post? I was at the 3rd game of the Cubs Dodgers Series. It wasn't easy. He battled us. If they'd of hit for him, he'd of had a ring (just like junk pitcher HAMELS GOT ONE.)