Rich Harden Available?

[TheKilo]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/mlb_experts/post/Five-and-Fly-A-s-shopping-Harden-?urn=mlb,30852&post_comment=1&success=1

 

The Oakland Athletics have made at least one phone call recently to gauge interest in right-hander Rich Harden, that being to the Boston Red Sox, according to one source. They have not, however, contacted some of the organizations with the top-end farm systems – the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays – so it is likely that general manager Billy Beane isn't serious about trading Harden, yet.

 

I don't like the fact that Beane is shopping this guy around. The injury risk is just too great.

[Rdsxmbnt]

Injury history and all, Id love to have Harden on the team. Interesting to see what the price is

[Cocos Disciples]

The talent is immense, but the risk of injury is large, and if Lester comes back and is at least solid, we don't need another starter like Harden.

[Cocos Disciples]

Injury history and all' date=' Id love to have Harden on the team. Interesting to see what the price is[/quote']

 

WMP, Ellsbury, Bowden/Buchholz. Wouldn't be surprised if this was what he wanted

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Beane would ask too much and we don't really need him that much right now.

[TheKilo]

Beane's gonna want a lot, that's for sure.

 

If a deal gets done I can almost guarantee WMP will be a part of it.

[elsrbueno]

Beane's gonna want a lot, that's for sure.

 

If a deal gets done I can almost guarantee WMP will be a part of it.

 

you think? I was shocked by WMP's being acquired by the Red Sox since he's not really the type of player the Epstein's and Beane's have typically valued. The dude has absolutely no plate discipline and I'm not sure he can hit a curveball.

 

I'm not sure Beane would be interested in Wily, but I could be wrong.

 

Harden's an amazing pitcher when he's pitching, but he may be one of those guys whose funky mechanics make him effective but put him at risk-- which means he may not be healthy AND dominant...... I'd stay away from him.

[TheKilo]

you think? I was shocked by WMP's being acquired by the Red Sox since he's not really the type of player the Epstein's and Beane's have typically valued. The dude has absolutely no plate discipline and I'm not sure he can hit a curveball.

 

I'm not sure Beane would be interested in Wily, but I could be wrong.

 

Harden's an amazing pitcher when he's pitching, but he may be one of those guys whose funky mechanics make him effective but put him at risk-- which means he may not be healthy AND dominant...... I'd stay away from him.

 

They need offense, and WMP is one of the few guys I can think of that will readily contribute to their offense.

[BoSox21]

From Rotoworld.com

 

The A's reportedly called the Red Sox to gauge interest in Rich Harden, according to Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown.

 

After he got hurt? No word on what the conversations entailed, but if they progressed it all, it can be assumed the A's asked about both Wily Mo Pena and top pitching prospect Cla Buchholz. A healthy Harden is about as dominant as any pitcher in baseball, but the A's wouldn't be able to get equal value for him unless he comes back this month and then blows AL hitters away for a month or so. An in-season trade is quite unlikely. May. 1 - 6:31 pm et

 

Obviously his talent is undeniable when he's healthy......when he's healthy. Would be a good pickup but it depends completely on how much we'd have to give up. Would you give up Pena and Buchholz?

[adam123]

Wow that sound very interesting ? How about Pena and Hansen or MDC that i might do .

[TheKilo]

Already a thread.

[jacksonianmarch]

Wow that sound very interesting ? How about Pena and Hansen or MDC that i might do .

 

will you offer them a reacharound too?

[TGov]

The talent is immense' date=' but the risk of injury is large, and if Lester comes back and is at least solid, [b']we don't need another starter like Harden.[/b]

 

Are you sure about that? you can never have enough pitching and every team could use Harden especially when he's on... I doubt this will happen though because the price will be too high and it's in the same league... I think the Sox will explore every option to get this deal done... not to say they will...

[Beckett95]

Bucholz, Willy Mo and maybe another prospect

 

something id definietely consider though

[BoSox21]

Already a thread.

 

my bad, forgot to check the rumor mill. sorry bout that

[Rdsxmbnt]

Im not too comfortable trading Buchholz, though it is Harden so maybe. If a WMP, Bowden and Hansen/Delcarmen could be possible id be all over it.

Beckett-Dice-K-Harden-Buchholz-Lester, pipedream I know, but dam!

[jacksonianmarch]

you dont deal a guy like Buchholz for a pitcher who has trouble staying healthy.

[TGov]

I'd rather at least see our young talent before trading them away, especially top prospects like Buchholz and Bowden...

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I'd love to get Rich Harden. The Red Sox have some nice depth right now with the pitching so if he has some injury issues we could survive. I am not interested in moving a Jacoby Ellsbury but certainly a Wily Mo Pena. Clay Buccholz I would be concerned because he has the ability to really dominate. Some of the lower class guys (Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, etc) then sure I would do it.

 

Of course you know the injury bug is a huge issue otherwise why would he be available? The Red Sox would really have to do there homework on him and determine if they can find a way to keep him on the field.

[TheKilo]

Another issue here is that Beane, the leader of keeping cost-effective players, is trying to deal a guy who has the potential to be an ace and is cost controlled.

 

Does that not wave any red flags?

[jacksonianmarch]

Another issue here is that Beane, the leader of keeping cost-effective players, is trying to deal a guy who has the potential to be an ace and is cost controlled.

 

Does that not wave any red flags?

 

agree completely. Beane typically waits until the last yr before he deals them. And, whenever you deal with Beane, you typically get FOOKED.

[example1]

I'm dealing for Harden, if you aren't asking for Buchholz, Ellsbury or Bowden and probably not Lars Anderson. But I wouldnt overpay for him and I ouldn't get all smitten over his stuff. His stuff is about 60% as good as advertized since he's injured for 1/3 of the season. The deal better be pretty sweet. Plus, it just ain't happening.

[NateGrey]

.. WMP , Murphy & Delcarmen .. Not interested Beane? Well, go f*ck yourself .

[HeadOfSoxNation]

When Harden has been on, he's been one of the nastiest pitchers in the American league. That's on as in "on his game" not as in "on the disabled list". Problem is, he's spent far too much time on the latter. He's a great pitcher...and if Beane is willing to sell low, then yea, I'd jump on it.

 

Here's a question to all the WMP detractors, though...

 

Beane is a great GM who values OBP higher than a lot of others around the league...assuming he IS interested in Pena, doesn't that make you wonder if he, in addition to a few of us on this board, see something coming from this kid? Harden may have had injury troubles, but he IS capable of being a dominant ace. Would Beane really be looking to deal a guy like that for a player he expects to strike out 150 times a year for the rest of his career? I don't think so. Again, we have no confirmation that Beane was even looking at WMP...but assuming that he was, it makes me think that Beane feels like with the proper instruction and experience, Pena could cut down on the Ks drastically and retain his unmatched power.

[adam123]

Bucholz, Willy Mo and maybe another prospect

 

something id definietely consider though

 

beckett nice avitar did you go see them last weekend ??

[TGov]

.. WMP ' date=' Murphy & Delcarmen .. Not interested Beane? Well, go f*ck yourself . [/font']

 

I wouldn't mind that at all, I think Murphy is wasting away especially in the Sox organization, I don't really see WMP starting after Manny goes(which is what I expect) I mean he's been in the majors for how long and he still can't hit how he should, Delcarmen should be a pretty decent RP but if we're getting Harden I don't mind giving him up either... I doubt this will be enough for Harden though...

[adam123]

Harden is good . but billy bean knows something we dont ? hummm

[TheKilo]

When Harden has been on, he's been one of the nastiest pitchers in the American league. That's on as in "on his game" not as in "on the disabled list". Problem is, he's spent far too much time on the latter. He's a great pitcher...and if Beane is willing to sell low, then yea, I'd jump on it.

 

Here's a question to all the WMP detractors, though...

 

Beane is a great GM who values OBP higher than a lot of others around the league...assuming he IS interested in Pena, doesn't that make you wonder if he, in addition to a few of us on this board, see something coming from this kid? Harden may have had injury troubles, but he IS capable of being a dominant ace. Would Beane really be looking to deal a guy like that for a player he expects to strike out 150 times a year for the rest of his career? I don't think so. Again, we have no confirmation that Beane was even looking at WMP...but assuming that he was, it makes me think that Beane feels like with the proper instruction and experience, Pena could cut down on the Ks drastically and retain his unmatched power.

 

When your team is hitting .230 heading into games, you really can't pick or choose when a power threat like WMP is made available. Again, this is all speculation but it seems like WMP would be a likely trading candidate because I don't feel he's gonna get the playing time in Boston.

 

Another thing, too, is that Beane does not simply look for OBP guys just because Moneyball said he did. He looks for traits in players that other GMs around the league aren't. There was some discussion where he said he was looking towards good defensive outfielders with some speed, which explained the signing of Mark Kotsay. OBP is not his be-all and end-all.

[Rdsxmbnt]

Dont fool yourself everyone knows what Beane is doing here. Hes got a young (very talented) pitcher who could potentially command a lot of value (overpaying?) however theres a massive downside in that hes had a lot of injury problems.

[Rdsxmbnt]

Another thing, too, is that Beane does not simply look for OBP guys just because Moneyball said he did. He looks for traits in players that other GMs around the league aren't. There was some discussion where he said he was looking towards good defensive outfielders with some speed, which explained the signing of Mark Kotsay. OBP is not his be-all and end-all.

 

Exactly, this is what Beane does. When he started building his teams around high OBP guys with success, the rest of the league GMs wanted these players. So there became a high demand for these types of guys which started pricing these players out of his range so he goes looking for other types of ballplayers that he can win games with (your Mark Kotsay defenders, veteran power bats in Frank Thomas and Mike Piazza).