When healthy, Harden is better than Sabathia. When healthy, Mark Priors better than both. Is Mark Prior healthy? How long will Rich Harden stay healthy? Harden might be better than Sabathia when healthy, but if I'm giving up valuable chips to acquire a deadline starter, I want to make sure as much as possible that starter will be able to pitch the final three months of the year - that overrides a slight differential in talent. I'm not denying that Harden is a huge health risk, but his situation is not even close to the same as Prior's. I also believe that Harden would be much much cheaper (if Sabathia is even avilable in the first place). If Harden is healthy, there is no doubt that Beane is going to deal him for the best offer.