Don't Be Sad, Chad...

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The A's have too many decent starting pitchers...

What a nice problem to have...

Chad Gaudin is being moved from the rotation to the bullpen in order to make room for Rich Harden. Harden is scheduled to start Sunday against Texas.

So let's break this down: All of the A's starters have disadvantages - Blanton and Gaudin have the highest ERAs, Eveland walks a lot of guys and seems to have a problem going deep into games, Duke is injury-prone, and Greg Smith is the "new guy" without much big league pitching experience.

But even though Blanton's numbers are worse than Gaudin's, Joe has proven that he's a durable starter who doesn't get hurt and can go deep into games. Plus, in a few of Blanton's losses, he pitched pretty well, but the offense couldn't give him any run support. I think you've gotta give Greg Smith a chance because he's pitched really well since being called up. So far, his "worst outing" was when he gave up 6 hits and 3 earned runs against Kansas City. Although Duke spent some time on the DL, his numbers have been good when he starts - he hasn't given up more than 2 earned runs in an outing, and he has good control - posting an 18/5 K/BB ratio. So now it comes down to Eveland and Gaudin. Rookie Eveland has been a starter for the majority of his minor league career, while Gaudin has pitched out of the bullpen for the majority of his time in the majors. So at the end of the day, the decision appears to make sense...

But I wouldn't be too frustrated if I were Gaudin. After all, what are the chances Harden stays healthy for more than 2 weeks? You'll probably get your job back soon enough, buddy...