Buzz: Billy Beane in Full Effect
In an article for yesterday’s New York Post, Kevin Kernan makes a case for trading Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman to the A’s for RHP Dan 
Haren, assuming Oakland will trade him.
In the last three seasons, since becoming a full-time starting pitcher, Haren has won 43 games with a 3.64 ERA while striking out 531 batters through 662 innings.
In a recent article for FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal writes that A’s GM Billy Beane could decide to trade Haren or Joe Blanton, which is similar to what Buster Olney wrote to his blog for ESPN.com last week.
According to Kernan, the Mets and Red Sox have already shown interest in Haren, who is 27 years old and under contract through 2010.
However, Olney writes that rival executives question whether the Mets have the young talent to make such a trade, adding that most view Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber as low-end starters with only middle-relief potential.
In Olney’s best guess, the Mets will end up working out a deal with the A’s for Blanton, “but it won’t be easy.”
However, in a recent mailbag for MLB.com, A’s beat writer Mychael Urban suggested that, if the A’s are going to trade a starting pitcher, it will be RHP Rich Harden, not Blanton or Haren.
As Urban points out, Harden has missed roughly 60 percent of his starts over the last three seasons due to injury.
Of course, during his last 38 starts, Harden is 16–7 with a 2.95 ERA, having struck out 197 batters through 200 innings, while opponents have hit just .193 against him.
