Cubs exercise Harden's $7M option

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vh2k6
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Re: Cubs exercise Harden's $7M option

Post by vh2k6 »

Magneto2.0 wrote:
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
longhornbaseball wrote:
JG1982 wrote:For example, say we had made the Harden trade, and given up say, Jess Todd and Bryan Anderson for him..
Todd and Anderson are much better prospects than anyone the Cubs gave up.
And, the Cubs are in a different situation. That is to say they don't need Harden to be healthy to have a solid rotation, and aren't really relying on him to carry them to the playoffs. When he's healthy he makes the team that much better. When he's not, well, no big deal. They have a plethora of arms to choose from.
I must've missed this plethora of arms they have. Zambrano is good but has arm issues, Dempster is a one year wonder until he proves other wise, and Lilly is basically 104 +ERA pitcher. They might not have needed him this year, but they DEFINITELY are gonna need Harden to contribute next season.
Zambrano has still pitched 180+ innings every full year of his career as a starter in the majors. yeah i'm worried about him, esp. the downward trend of his peripherals, but he's still a good piece to have. Dempster is worrisome, but it isn't his first year starting, and he's always had talent (just never put together). I'm worried about him going forward, but he isn't even under contract for 09 yet. Lilly has been > 104 ERA+ pitcher in both of his years in Chicago and he was really solid the last 4 months of the year this year. Plus he can be counted on for innings. So assuming they re-sign Demp, which seems like a safe assumption, they have Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly, Marquis, Marshall, Samardzija, and Gaudin that can all start if need be next year. They're all serviceable (or potentially serviceable in Samardzija's case) pitchers. They don't have a horse/top-end ace (like a Carpenter or a Sabathia or a Halladay and so on), but they have a lot of very good starters.

They have a good amount of arms, they didn't get here because they have one or two great pitchers and a lot of slop.

phins
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Re: Cubs exercise Harden's $7M option

Post by phins »

longhornbaseball wrote:
JG1982 wrote:For example, say we had made the Harden trade, and given up say, Jess Todd and Bryan Anderson for him..
Todd and Anderson are much better prospects than anyone the Cubs gave up.
Sean Gallagher was a pretty solid prospect, but Anderson is a much better prospect currently, I'll agree. Todd has some things to prove, and he's superior to Gallagher, but not MUCH better IMHO. At least at this point...if he answers his questions about durability with another solid year, he'll leap past where he was at.

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