Harden Signs with the Rangers

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Rangers signed former 17th round pick, Rich Harden, today. Ed Price of AOL FanHouse reports the deal is for $6.5 million this year with $3.5 million more in incentives. There is also an $11MM mutual option for 2011, so neither side is bound to more than one year.

A team that has had significant financial questions, fails to sign its first-round pick, Matt Purke, has responded with a legitimate contract to possibly the best free agent pitcher of the year. It is a perfect move from the team that had Ben Sheets, another injury-riddled Ace (not to be with confused with an "ace," who gets a lot of wins and may have a memorable post season moment) just a year ago.

I just can't say how much I like this move for Texas. They did themselves a favor by moving Kevin Millwood and his contract, and they used the money to acquire the kind of pitcher that, if healthy, can make them a contender.

As we know in baseball, there may not be a salary cap, but to most teams, money questions are always present. With every move, a team takes a risk that is leveraged against the possible reward. In the current market, teams are being forced to pay too much for talent that has little chance of being worth it. Some still just overvalue grity veterans and RBI's, but others are being forced to overpay for the best available players in a weak free agent crop, like is the case with Randy Wolf and Milwaukee. Guys like Jason Kendall, Pedro Feliz, and Millwood are getting millions of dollars and multiple years. With Harden, every inning he pitches is nearly guaranteed to be top-quality. Even if he only pitches for half a season, he'll likely be a big help.

When the deal went through today, I couldn't help but smile when I read that, "The medical info checked out." It's a pretty common note when signings become official, but it's funny to me that with every other contract that Rich Harden has signed, his medical info has, presumably, checked out. He's thrown more than 150 innings in a season just once in his star-crossed career, so who knows what will happen, but it's impressive that the Rangers took such a high-upside chance.

If only another owner of another team that, one that plays in Los Angeles (not Orange County), would sell the team so someone else could make a good signing like Rich Harden or Ben Sheets or John Lackey or C.C. last year, that'd be great.