Rich Harden Back From DL; Back On Market?

Rich Harden has been activated from the DL and will make his third start of the season today. John Shea says that the A's are hoping Harden will stay healthy, as the A's are better team with him. Billy Beane may be hoping for Harden to stay healthy for an entriely different reason. Before His latest trip to the DL, it was believed that the A's were marketing the right-hander that has not made more than nine starts since 2005. After making two strong starts at the beginning of the season, Bruce Jenkins suggested that Harden needed about six strong...

Rockies Looking For Starting Pitching

7:22pm: Walt Jocketty did not deny the Fogg-Rockies rumor when asked. Maybe he'll be a little more loose with the rumors than Krivsky was. 9:18am: Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post has details on the Rockies' pursuit of starting pitching. Their search includes some familiar names. Josh Fogg seems like the most likely acquisition; he's a DFA candidate for the Reds. Fogg received an early one-year offer from the Rockies this winter that was later pulled back. Julian Tavarez, another former Rockie, is on the radar again. The Red Sox don't seem to have much use for him. Kevin...

Baseball Blogs Weigh In

Bunch of random topics so let's just get to it and see what it being said in the Blogosphere... Big League Stew talks to Bless You Boys about the idea of Barry Bonds signing with the Tigers. BYB argues against signing Bonds noting that the Tigers already have a bunch of slow players (base cloggers?) and what they really need is some more speed in the lineup...Although we keep hearing about collusion and have not heard any numbers bandied about, Bonds has always made it very clear how much he values the almighty dollar. Does anybody else think that Bonds...

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Pedro's Injury

Earlier this week Pedro Martinez pulled a hamstring in his first start of '08 and is expected to be out until mid-May. The loss of Martinez will likely only cost the Mets seven to eight starts, which might only be a difference in two to three wins over that span. Of course, two or three more wins in '07 and the Mets would have spent October in the playoffs. With the importance of every single start magnified this year for the Mets, it would not be surprising for Omar Minaya to seek outside help as a contingency plan for Martinez...

The Harden Situation

Rich Harden is popular this morning - both Bruce Jenkins and Buster Olney discussed his trade value in the wake of his second excellent start of '08. Jenkins suggests it'll take at least six starts for suitors to begin believing in Harden. Olney believes he could be the top difference-maker to acquire via trade this summer. It's pointless to speculate on teams yet - any contender would benefit greatly from adding a healthy Harden (though I will mention that he was recently linked to the Yankees). Harden is still just 26. He earns $4.5MM this year and then has a...

Yankees Interested In Harden?

According to a source of Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, "the Yankees have apparently expressed interest in Rich Harden." Slusser believes the A's would demand full price for Harden, perhaps asking for Ian Kennedy and young pitchers. If you look at this from each party's point of view, it doesn't seem like a trade could be reached anytime soon. Harden would be a tantalizing #1 starter for the Yankees, but why pay full price for a guy who's pitched 200 innings over the last three years? Replacing Kennedy with Harden could deplete the team's starting pitching depth. On...