Brad Ziegler gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th inning versus Tampa Bay yesterday and received a standing ovation from the Oakland Athletics crowd.

In case you haven’t noticed, the fans cheered Ziegler’s failure because it was the first time so far in his Major League career that he’s given up an earned run.  He ran his Major League-record streak to 39 1/3 innings pitched before finally allowing an earned run.

Ziegler’s ERA has now skyrocketed to 0.23 in 40 career MLB innings.  He’s only given up 23 hits and allowed 18 walks as well.

Ziegler’s run has been impressive, but his success is also a tribute to the Oakland Athletics scouting and development team.  Ziegler was a 20th round draft choice by the Philadelphia Phillies out of Southwest Missouri State University.  He was released and signed by Oakland in June 2004, going 29-17 in three seasons as a starting pitcher.  Then in 2007, Oakland made him a reliever.  He went 12-3 and posted a 2.41 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 78.3 IP between Double-A and Triple-A.

The sidearm right-hander’s specialty is getting ground balls.  His ground out/air out rate is a whopping 3.13 in 2008.  That tendency leads to another impressive number, especially considering the pressure situations late-inning relievers pitch in:  Ziegler has induced 13 double-play groundouts in his 40 MLB innings.

Brad Ziegler has notched his name into Major League Baseball’s vast history and Billy Beane and his Oakland A’s have found another solid player at a discount price.

  Cole Hamels is one of the best starting pitchers in the game.  He ranks second in the Majors in strikeouts (133), innings pitched (150.7), and fourth in WHIP (1.01).  While Hamels should finish in the top-5 of the National League Cy Young Award vote, the other starters in Philadelphia’s rotation have not been good. 

Brett Myers, the Phillies’ Opening Day starter, has an ERA of 5.84 and had to be sent down to Triple-A.  Adam Eaton hasn’t been much better.  With the addition of Blanton, the Phillies are sending Eaton and his 5.71 ERA to the bullpen.  Second-year righty Kyle Kendrick is 8-4, but his ERA isn’t good either at 4.87.

45-year-old Jamie Moyer has been a solid sidekick to Hamels as he continues to get people out on very limited stuff.  He is 9-6 with a 3.90 ERA for the 2008 season.

Joe Blanton isn’t flashy.  He is a solid right-hander who throws just above 90 mph with an average breaking ball.  However, if Kyle Kendrick has won twice as many games as he’s lost in 2008, Blanton could be a great addition.  Blanton’s dependability could translate into several wins behind Philadelphia’s prolific offense.  He’s made at least 31 starts and logged at least 194 innings in each of his three Major League seasons.

Blanton is one of the original Moneyballers, drafted in the first round of out of the University of Kentucky in 2002.  He finished 6th in the 2004 AL Rookie of the Year vote by posting a 12-12 mark with a 3.53 ERA.  He won a career-high 16 games in 2005, though his ERA ballooned to 4.82.  Last season, Blanton took over duties as staff ace and logged a whopping 230 innings, but kept his ERA (3.95) under 4.00.  His career ERA is 4.25, just above the league average of 4.24. 

Joe Blanton is not yet arbitration eligible and made only $380,000 in 2007.  The Phillies will take no risk monetarily, and Blanton isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2010 season.  However, while Blanton’s durability almost guarantees that he is able to throw 200 inning annually, his rough 2008 season is concerning.  He is 27 years old and, although his MLB career is relatively short, his best years could already be behind him.  Plus, Oakland general manager Billy Beane seems to have a knack for trading away pitchers just as they begin the downside of their careers.  (See:  Barry Zito and Mark Mulder.)

Billy Beane is running laps around the rest of the general managers in Major League Baseball.  This trade is no blockbuster, but supply and demand ensured that Beane maximized Blanton’s value.  Adrian Cardenas was named the High School Player of the Year by Baseball America his senior season at a Miami, Florida high school and was the Phillies’ best position prospect.  Cardenas is a second baseman–obviously blocked at that position in Philadelphia by superstar Chase Utley–that will more than likely be a top-30 overall prospect going into 2009.  Since the Athletics drafted University of Miami second baseman Jemile Weeks last month in the first round, Cardenas may very well end up playing third base in the Major Leagues, but scouts believe his bat will be powerful enough to play at the hot corner.  The Athletics also received Josh Outman, a left-hander who ranked as the Phillies’ fourth-best prospect entering 2008.  He has moved to the bullpen and has a 3.20 ERA in Double-A.  Matt Spencer is a second-year outfielder who is struggling at Class High-A.

Cardenas is a prized hitting prospect, but Billy Beane was able to pry him away from the Phillies even though Joe Blanton is having the worst season of his MLB career.  Blanton is just 5-12 with 4.96 ERA in 2008.  While the National League will not be as strong as Blanton’s American League foes, Philadelphia’s park is grossly different than Oakland’s pitcher-friendly park.  Despite the poor numbers, Blanton was one of the best pitchers available in the trade market.  Beyond the supply and demand factor, the New York Mets have been on fire of late and are tied for the NL East lead, heightening Philadelphia’s urgency to acquire a starting pitcher.  Now Blanton is thrust in the midst of an exciting playoff race.  He will make his Philadelphia Phillies debut tomorrow in Shea Stadium versus Johan Santana and the New York Mets.

   The National League Central just got a lot better this week.  Remember in 2007 when the Chicago Cubs won this division with only 85 wins?  Now it looks pretty certain that the NL Wild Card will come from the Central.  In fact, the three best records in the National League come from this same division. 

Within hours of the Milwaukee Brewers trading for last year’s AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, the Cubs traded for the talented, but often-injured Rich Harden. 

Chicago Cubs receive:

Rich Harden:  5-1, 77 IP, 92 K/31 BB, 2.34 ERA, 1.143 WHIP.

Chad Gaudin:  5-3, 62.7 IP, 44 K/17 BB, 3.59 ERA, 1.277 WHIP.

Oakland Athletics receive:

Sean Gallagher:  3-4, 58.7 IP, 49 K/22 BB, 4.45 ERA, 1.364 WHIP.

Matt Murton:  .250/.286/.300 in 40 at bats.

Eric Patterson:  .237/.318/.342 in 38 at bats.

Josh Donaldson:  .223/.282/.385 in Midwest League (Low A).

Rich Harden’s 2.34 ERA is good enough for 2nd in the American League.  There’s just one problem.  He hasn’t thrown enough innings to qualify in the discussion.  (A pitcher must have at least one inning pitched per team game to qualify for the ERA title.)  What a perfect microcosm for Rich Harden’s career.  The hard-throwing right-hander is incredibly talented, but cannot seem to stay healthy.  He has never broken the 200 innings pitched barrier, only once throwing an inning per team game (189.7 IP in 2004).  But Harden’s talent is unmistakable:  he’s struck out nearly a batter per inning in his career while allowing much less than one hit per inning (541.7 innings, 523 strikeouts, 442 hits allowed).  Currently Rich Harden ranks 11th in the American League with 92 strikeouts in only 77 innings.  All of the 10 pitchers ahead of Harden are over the 100-inning mark.  In 10th place, Felix Hernandez has one more strikeout than Harden (93), but has thrown 31 more innings (108).

Chad Gaudin is a solid swingman and is only 25-years old.  The Cubs will use him in relief and he is one hell of an extra player in this trade.

Matt Murton, a 2003 first rounder of the Boston Red Sox, came to the Cubs as part of the Nomar Garciaparra trade.  The Cubs mishandled Murton a bit by keeping him in the Majors as a fourth outfielder to platoon versus left-handed pitching.  However, he is only 26 and his career line is .294/.362/.448, certainly a serviceable–and cheap–outfielder for Oakland.

Eric Patterson is not the Moneyball player that Athletics GM Billy Beane usually profiles.  He is very athletic, much like Oakland’s first round draft choice last month, second baseman Jemile Weeks.  Patterson is a utility type of player defensively, but could be the wild card of this trade if the power in his offensive game develops.  In 49 games (189 at bats) in Triple-A this season, Patterson’s line was .323/.356/.519 with 10 stolen bases.

Josh Donaldson was selected by the Cubs in the sandwich round of the 2007 draft.  He is a catcher from Auburn University and had a great professional debut, compiling an OPS of 1.050 in 53 games in two short-season leagues last year. 

The Cubs received a top-flight arm in Rich Harden’s, but will he be a reincarnation of Mark Prior for Cubs’ fans?  It’s definitely worth the risk since Chicago gave up four players who will probably end up being either reserves or decent regulars.  Also, Harden is due to make $4.5 million this season and now his new club–the Cubs–hold an option for the 2009 season worth $9 million. 

In a very short time, the NL Central has become very formidible.  Are the St. Louis Cardinals next in hiring a gun for a postseason run or will they continue to rely on Dave Duncan’s magic?  Right now, it does not look like St. Louis will make any major move, but they do have the second-most wins in the National League with their rag tag pitching staff.  The Brewers surely believe they can earn a playoff spot with the acquisition of C.C. Sabathia.  The Chicago Cubs want to make sure that if the Brewers make the playoffs, it is via the Wild Card.  They now have Rich Harden–who makes his NL debut on Saturday–and their sights set on back-to-back National League Central titles.

Pitchers and catchers report in less than three weeks.  It’s time to start thinking about the 2008 season.  Let’s kick it off by previewing the AL West.

http://thebigleaguebeat.com/2008-al-west-preview/