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they've been on the market all winter..

call me a homer, but harden would look good in dodger blue

penny
lowe
harden
billingsley

not a bad rotation

i hope the astros go after harden. too bad that wont happen since astros farm system is less talented than a jv softball team

Billy Beane is a sharp guy. He's held on to his two pitchers to see how the pennant races begin shaking out and which teams have starters go down. Can you imagine how much the Red Sox or Yankees would give if guys like Beckett or Wang went down for a while? And if a team like the Reds are hanging around the upper division in June, you think Bailey, Cueto and Volquez wouldn't bring Blanton or Harden to Cincy?

yeah cincinnati isnt parting with half of there rotation and the presumed great one. sorry the time for that trade to cincinnati is dead. the powers to be got it right this spring and we already t have cuatro and volquez in the rotation and if you dont think bailey will be there by june unless fogg is actually doing well which is doubtful. so dont fool yourself Cincinnati was smart not to trade for average joe and fragile hardon, 2 of our 3 young guns are in thwe rotation and the third one will be here soon!

As an A's fan, I'm getting really tired of this. I fully uderstand that Billy has worked miracles in the past and gets a lot for the talent that they have, but what has it gotten the A's? They have overachieved in years when they didn't have the best talent (see 2006), and they have underachieved when they had a great team (see 00-04). It all equals ONE playoff series victory in a long time. No World Series victories or appearances. The team is just a farm system for the rest of the league. They make it very hard to be an A's fan.

Healthy Harden = best pitcher in AL

Blanton is way too mediocre, but Harden could be a real asset to somebody -- heck, Oakland will be 'out of it' by May

John, Zito hasn't been great, but there were questions about him before he signed that huge deal in San Fran. Mulder has been hurt, but Hudson has been alright since leaving, and was the opening day starter for Atlanta.

Now that baseball is back the TRUTH is getting Harden....get it?

If the Sox and Yankees wouldnt over bid for Santana, I cannot see it happening for Harden. I sure would like to see him in Boston, but it aint happening.
It seemed like both teams agreed not to get in a bidding war over Santana. I am not sure what is up with that. Cashman and Epstien are friends

'If the Sox and Yankees wouldnt over bid for Santana, '

If they wouldn't overbid?....how about, if they wouldn't even make a fair offer ...

At some point, Billy Beane, needs to keep some players and actually try to win a World Series. To keep trading away his best players for other teams prospects is getting a little old. How long before Travis Buck, Daric Barton and all the youg kids (Gonzalez, Eveland, etc) they received for Haren are on the market?

Dan Haren only lasted three season after being acquired for Mark Mulder. Haren, Harden and Blanton would have made a pretty good top three of the rotation. At least it sounds like a good law firm!

Those type of players are the guys you need to resign and keep for your own team. Just making the playoffs for a few years, then dismantling your team just does not cut it.

Jimmer69, what was the Mets offer???? I thought the Mets offered worse than what both the Sox and Yanks originally offered. No?
And Middle-aged Craig, I hope your comment ... "It seemed like both teams agreed not to get in a bidding war over Santana." .... is never proven to be true because that would be collusion of the most worst kind and i would hate to see what punishments the nutty prefessor would extract from both the Sox and the Yanks for such conduct.

The Tigers could use another pitcher to solidify their rotation, and strengthen the bullpen. They got the bats, they just need the hurlers.

4192- Selig gets mad when teams won't listen to his slot system when paying draft picks so you would think if the Yankees and Red Sox got together and decided to not get into bidding wars he would be pleased. Yes and no. Yes it would keep ridiculous trades from happening and decrease the number of $100M + contracts from being done but Selig wouldn't like the investigation and lawsuit the player's union would surely file if they even suspected collusion was going on.

MrTodd301. There is no way the Reds will trade those young pitchers for Harden and Blanton. Beane has to be sweating that Harden lasts until July.

Before spring training started, Beane wanted a king's ransom from the Reds for Joe Blanton. The Reds declined, decided to let their young starters have a shot in spring training and two youngsters produced and are now in the rotation.

jwhit75 is correct. Homer Bailey will soon be with in the rotation, too. That would be three good, young pitchers in the rotation. They do not need Blanton or Harden.

Teams should start to realize that they need to draft, develop and retain their good young talent, especially pitchers.

Many teams recycle old free agent veterans looking for a spark, but Beane has a turnstyle for young talent.

I heard recent, separate interviews with both Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein. Both said they did not want to both trade away alot of talent and break the bank for Santana.

Cashman even stated that the Yankees never even made an offer for Santana. The Yankees inquired what it will take and the Twins said what they wanted. The Yanks never said we will give you "this guy, this guy and that guy."

So the collusion thing is a very big long shot. There was a great article by Verducci about how the Red Sox and Yankees mind set changed in 2005 and both were going more towards the draft and not through free agents and blockbuster trades. Cashman wanted full control of the Yankee baseball operations or he was not going to sign his contract.

It looks like Cashman got his wish and wants to build for the future and he thinks the future is Joba, Hughes and Kennedy. Just like Epstein believes the Red Sox future is in Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lester and Bucholz.

Should be a pretty good rivalry between the Yanks and Red Sox for the next decade.

Theo and Cashman must have come to an agreement about 2 years ago where they agreed to stop paying all this money for free agents and to stop being held for ransom by guys like Billy Beane when trying to make a trade and instead decided to focus on scouting and drafting players. Looks to be working for both of them with many young players making both rosters this year. Then after these guys play for a few years you offer them a good deal before they become arbirtration eligible. Worked well for the Mets as they signed both Reyes and Wright to great long term deals. Just don't tell the cheapskate owners because if in the next 5 years the Sox and Yanks can remove all the bad contracts and replace them with those of younger players signed to reasonable deals then they won't be paying luxury tax or revenue sharing to the Twins, Marlins and other teams looking for a handout.