Football
Associated Press 16y

To deal or not to deal? A's weigh whether to swap their top pitchers

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Billy Beane has been in the baseball
business long enough to know how all the offseason speculation
fuels the sport until spring training rolls around.

From whether Alex Rodriguez would head West or stay put in
Yankee pinstripes to where Twins ace Johan Santana might land for
2008, it's already been an interesting winter on the baseball
front.

Now, as the annual winter meetings approach next week, everybody
wants to know whether Oakland's crafty general manager will offer
up his top pitchers -- All-Star Dan Haren, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden
or even closer Huston Street -- to better his own low-budget
operation.

"There's lots of scuttlebutt about our players," Beane said.
"Teams want them. But it's coming not from us but from the teams
out there with interest. We have players people call about. It's
just a story by the nature of them having interest."

While Santana is certain to be coveted by numerous clubs if the
Twins opt to trade him, it would take less to get a proven starter
like Haren or Blanton from the A's. The Mets and Dodgers are among
the teams apparently interested in discussing a deal with Oakland,
because they might not be willing to pay the price to get Santana.
The left-hander and two-time AL Cy Young Award winner already is
being pursued by the big-spending Yankees, Red Sox and Angels.

Are the A's top pitchers truly on the trading block? Well, Beane
rarely has untouchables on his roster.

On this team, anybody can become expendable. It's not personal,
and the players know and expect it. Take Beane's shocking three-day
span in December 2004, when he dealt a pair of aces in Tim Hudson
and Mark Mulder. That left the team's Big Three as the Big One in
Barry Zito.

Beane also has watched his star players leave as free agents for
expensive contracts elsewhere. Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Miguel
Tejada. And, of course, Zito. The left-hander signed a $126
million, seven-year contract to work across the bay with the San
Francisco Giants -- the richest deal ever for a pitcher.

Harden doesn't have nearly the same trade value he would had he
stayed healthy in 2007. Instead, Harden remains a pitcher baseball
experts believe could be the No. 1 on a staff if he were available
for a full year.

Harden went 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA in only 25 2-3 innings all
season because of an inflamed right shoulder and didn't pitch again
after July 7. He threw two simulated games late in the year with
the hopes of making two final starts, but ultimately decided it
wasn't worth risking further injury.

He was 4-0 in only nine games in 2006, spending time on the
disabled list with a strained back and then a strained elbow
ligament.

Beane is always looking to tweak his team without overspending.

The A's finished a disappointing 76-86 in 2007 after reaching
the AL championship series a year earlier, but they did place third
in the division on the final day ahead of last-place Texas. Oakland
had its streak of winning seasons end at eight, and went 9-17 in
September for its worst final month since going 8-20 in 1985.

No second-half surge this time -- 2007 was the club's first
losing season since going 74-88 in 1998.

Oakland doesn't typically make a splash at the winter meetings.
At last year's session in Florida, for example, Beane arrived two
days late. The A's did agree to terms on a one-year deal with
designated hitter Mike Piazza during that time. The DH spot could
be a position Beane looks to fill by swapping a pitcher or two,
though Jack Cust has shown he is a dangerous power hitter.

So don't be surprised if the A's are fairly quiet next week in
Nashville.

"I don't think we use the winter meetings as a time of focus,"
Beane said. "We're open for business all year round. As always, we
have our eyes and ears open."

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