Harden dealt to Cubs

Rich Harden was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs Tuesday along with Chad Guadin. Both are righthanders. The Cubs sent a righthander of their own, Sean Gallagher to the A's. Also traded to the west coast was outfielder Matt Murton, infielder Eric Patterson, and catcher Josh Donaldson. (Information gathered from the Chicago Cubs Official Web Site.)

The Harden deal comes on the heels of the Milwaukee Brewers acquiring C.C. Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians. This shores up both pitching staffs of clubs that are already one-two in the NL Central.

Cardinal Nation is abuzz over the deals. There is nothing in the works for the Cardinals as far as trades. If there are any talks, they are hush-hush. It is widely thought that the Cardinals are hoping that Adam Wainwright, Mark Mulder, and Chris Carpenter will return to overstock the starting rotation with capable hurlers.