A's deal Rich Harden to Cubs

The arms race is heating up in the National League Central Division.

The Chicago Cubs acquired Canadian pitcher Rich Harden from the Oakland Athletics in a six-player trade on Tuesday, a day after division rival Milwaukee made waves by dealing for C.C. Sabathia.

Chicago received Harden, who hails from Victoria, along with fellow right-hander Chad Gaudin, for pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor leaguer John Donaldson.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry denied the move was a response to Monday's Sabathia trade, in which the Brewers acquired the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner from Cleveland for three prospects and a player to be named.

"We've been working on Mr. Harden for a few weeks now," said Hendry, whose team entered Tuesday's action leading the NL Central by 3½ games over second-place St. Louis and four games over third-place Milwaukee.

Harden, who is eligible for free agency after the 2009 season, is 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 77 innings this season, a relatively healthy one for the oft-injured 26-year-old.

Though he missed a month early this season with a right shoulder strain — his sixth trip to the disabled list in six major-league campaigns — Harden's 13 starts have already surpassed the seven he made last year and the nine he managed in 2006.

One less landing spot for Burnett?

Considered one of the most talented pitchers in baseball, the hard-throwing but fragile A's ace worked a career-high 189 2/3 innings in 2004 but fell to 128, 46 and 25 over the next three years.

"Obviously there's some risk involved. He's missed some time but he's never had any surgery," Hendry said. "We did extensive work with their doctors."

In his six big-league campaigns, all with Oakland, Harden is 36-19 with a 3.42 ERA, 523 strikeouts and 232 walks over 541 2/3 innings.

"I heard it was going to happen. Still, it's always a surprise," Harden said of his move to the Cubs. "It's a bit of a shock but it will be good. They've got a good team and a chance of doing something special."

The Cubs said they expected Harden would join the team Wednesday and that he'd pitch either Friday or Saturday night at Wrigley Field against the San Francisco Giants.

"This gives us another weapon," manager Lou Piniella said. "He'll fit in here really nice. Let's keep him healthy and pitching and go from there."

Chicago's acquisition of Harden could mean the Blue Jays have one less potential trading partner for righty A.J. Burnett, who the Cubs were rumoured to be interested in.

Beane looks forward, again

Chicago also received a useful piece in Gaudin, who was 5-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 26 appearances — including six starts — this year for Oakland. As a starter last season, he went 11-13 with a 4.42 ERA.

To land the pitching pair, the Cubs had to part with Murton, a highly regarded prospect who has yet to live up to his billing. In his fourth season, Murton has shuttled between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago. He's hitting .250 in 40 at-bats.

Chicago also traded the right-handed Gallagher, who is 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts, in his second season.

Patterson, the brother of Cincinatti's Corey Patterson, was sent to the minors on July 3, the fourth time this year he's been sent down. An outfielder who can also play second base, Patterson was hitting .237 with a homer and seven RBIs in 38 at-bats with the big league club.

Donaldson, a catcher for Class A Peoria, was hitting .217 with six homers.

Oakland GM Billy Beane hasn't been shy in recent years when it comes to dealing top players for promising youngsters to replenish his budget-conscious team.

In 2005, the forward-thinking executive surprised observers by trading away Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder — two of his top three starters — and he made similar moves last off-season in dealing ace Dan Haren (to Arizona) and star outfielder Nick Swisher (to the Chicago White Sox) for rich packages of prospects.

Beane, though, found himself in a difficult spot with Harden. The Oakland ace had maximized his trade value with a strong — and healthy — first half of 2008, but Beane had reason to keep him around with the surprising A's just 3½ games out of the AL Wild Card heading into Tuesday's action.

"I don't necessarily think we've taken a step back. I think we've taken a step forward for the next three to five years," Beane said. "We were balancing that the club's playing well but also keeping in mind that we've had numerous injuries over the last week."