It is hard to see what the supposed upside of the players coming to Oakland is, none have what you would call eye popping stats. Maybe Harden's six trips to the dl track record made other GMs gun shy and he was a harder sell than we might have thought. The Cubs have rather famously been hit with poor luck when it comes to the health of pitchers this decade,so it's surprising that they would be the ones willing to take a chance of Harden.
It is also possible that the A's know something about Harden's potential for remaining healthy which has been concealed from the public. Beane learned his craft under Sandy Alderson and Alderson was a believer in protecting every bit of information that could be protected. A's moves have typically been surprises, no weeks of swirling rumors, just out of the blue....he's gone.
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