N.L. Central Gets Going

Just as the smoke was beginning to fade on the C.C. Sabathia trade that set the N.L. Central ablaze, the Chicago Cubs re-lit the fire; acquiring Oakland Athletic ace Rich Harden, and pitcher Chad Gaudin for four players.

To pull off the six-player trade Chicago sent OF Matt Murton, OF/INF Eric Patterson,  Catcher Josh Donaldson and pitcher Sean Gallagher to Oakland. 

The Cubs who have a 3.5 game lead over St. Louis in the Central might seem to be panicking but according to Cubs G.M. Jim Hendry, the two teams have been in trade talks for weeks.

Harden will be the second man in an already all-star filled rotation that features Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Ryan Dempster.

The oft-injured Harden is 5-1 with a 2.34 era in 13 starts this season after missing nearly a month with a right shoulder strain. 

With Sabathia joining the Brewers rotation Milwaukee seemed to become the fan and media favorites in the Central.

The Brewers five minutes of fame didn't last long. With the addition of Harden the Cubs are back in the drivers seat  in the N.L. Central -- but the rest are not out of sight

The Brewers recent offensive surge led by the hot-hitting shortstop J.J. Hardy has brought them within 4 games of first place. Milwaukee was 6.5 games out of first a month ago.

On top of the hot hitting offense the pitching staff goes from an above average group to top five in the league with the new 1-2 Sheets Sabathia punch. The Brew-Crew haven't made a playoff appearance since 1982, expect the young team to go down quietly.

Then there's the Cardinals who have been playing solid all year in the shadow of the Cubs. Even though the Cards went 10-13 when Albert Pujols went out for three weeks with a strained calf -- they were able to do enough to stay in the race.

The Cardinals have quietly played on the heels of the Cubs all season. They have been doing their damage  without Ace Chris Carpenter, veteran Mark Mulder and closer Jason Isringhausen.

Mulder came back on June 30 and has since appeared in 1.1 innings, Isringhausen is expected to come back to full strength during the month, while Carpenter who is recovering from Tommy John surgery he had last July could come back before August. 

Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Houston are all playing right below .500 and not likely to make a second half surge without the acts of the baseball gods. However, all teams are good enough to play the roll of spoiler as the season comes down to the stretch.  

The Cubs have the inside track to ending their 100 year World Series drought -- but don't except the N.L. Central to go out without a fight.

Out West the A's trailed the Angels by five games and it looked like Billy Beane would hold on to his ace pitcher. The team seems be playing for the future the four players acquired today added with the four prospects received back in the Dan Haren trade has given Oakland a sound foundation for the future.

Harden is set to make his first start on Friday or Saturday at Wrigley Field vs. San Francisco.