With C.C. Sabathia now in Milwaukee, the Cubs hope to make a play for A’s starter Rich Harden according to the Chicago Sun Times.
The Cubs’ pipe dream was ace left-hander C.C. Sabathia, but he’s headed from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal that is expected to become official today. Deep down, the Cubs knew they didn’t have a package of young talent to compete with the Brewers’ offer. Still, this was a tough blow watching the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner go to the second-place — that’s right second-place — Brewers.
The Cubs have spent a lot of time on the phone recently with Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane trying to pry away right-hander Rich Harden. Expect the phone lines to start burning a little hotter beginning today.
Beane’s in a tough spot. This season was supposed to be about rebuilding — at least, that’s what he told us last winter after dealing pitcher Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks and outfielder Nick Swisher to the White Sox for a combined nine prospects, including five starting pitchers. Then the A’s — even after dropping two straight to the White Sox over the weekend — made a run in the watered-down AL West, sitting six games behind the fragile Los Angeles Angels.
Now seems like a bad time for Beane to pull the trigger, no matter how much the Cubs call.
Even though the article makes a good point that the A’s might not want to move Harden right now, this is what Billy Beane does – he makes moves. If he can acquire multiple prospects for one of his stars (even if the A’s are still in contention), Beane is going to pull the trigger. And there’s no doubt he Cubs are going to need a solid No. 2 to make a deep postseason run, but it’s going to come down to whether or not they have enough quality prospects to get a deal done.
