Former A's On The Move

2004 AL ROY Bobby Crosby inked a one-year-deal to play in baseball purgatory (Pittsburgh) next season.  As an Oakland fan, I wish him well and wish him good health most of all.  But at this point, he's probably fortunate to get a guaranteed big league contract above the minimum pay rate.  Including 2004 he has played in 100+ games just twice.  Since that year, he has yet to hit double digit homeruns again and his career OBP is .305 in more than 2,600 plate appearances.  More than once this decade, I've said during an offseason, "if Bobby Crosby can just get 600 AB's this year..."  Now, I wonder if the numbers would even be worth the wait.  Despite all that, I'd love to see him hit .270 with 25 bombs for the Pirates in 2010.

Another oft-injured A, Rich Harden, appears headed to one of the busiest teams this winter- Texas.  He would effectively replace Kevin Millwood in the rotation and if healthy (which is kind of like saying if Democrats and Republicans would just agree on a direction for health care reform...) he could anchor the staff on a dangerous Ranger club which will also feature, apparently, former Bostonian Mike Lowell playing somewhere in the infield.  Harden is the ultimate talent tease- so good when he's in service, but rarely in service for an extended period of time.  The 28-year-old has averaged 9.4 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched for his career.  He also has a 3.39 ERA and .220 BAA over 750+ innings pitched.  For a frame of reference, these numbers are better than Johan Santana's career stats (granted, smaller sample size).  Had Harden racked up these totals over, say, four seasons, we'd be talking about a potential future Hall of Famer.  Problem is, it's taken Richie Rich parts of seven seasons to do it.  So the Rangers will hold their breath, roll the dice, and get the ice machine ready for #40.