With the GSI Preseason Cheat Sheet coming in mid-July we continue to give you a sneak peak and open up debate with our wide receiver rankings. These are always my favorite to ponder and they always often great debate:

SNEAK PEAK: QB Rankings | TE Rankings | DEF/ST Rankings | PK Rankings 

1. Randy Moss - NE 2. Reggie Wayne - IND 3. Terrell Owens - DAL 4. Larry Fitzgerald - ARI 5. Braylon Edwards - CLE 6. Andre Johnson - HOU 7. Chad Johnson - CIN 8. Steve Smith - CAR 9. Anquan Boldin - ARI 10. Roy Williams - DET 11. TJ Houshmandzadeh - CIN 12. Plaxico Burress - NYG 13. Santonio Holmes - PIT 14. Torry Holt - STL 15. Marques Coltson - NO 16. Brandon Marshall - DEN 17. Marvin Harrison - IND 18. Greg Jennings - GB 19. Wes Welker - NE 20. Dwayne Bowe - KC 21. Calvin Johnson - DET 22. Santana Moss - WAS 23. Lee Evans - BUF 24. Roddy White - ATL 25. Hines Ward - PIT

26. Jerricho Cotchery - NYJ 27. Chris Chambers - SD 28. Kevin Curtis - PHI 29. Joey Galloway - TB 30. Donald Driver - GB 31. Laveranues Coles - NYJ 32. Reggie Brown - PHI 33. Bernard Berrian - MIN 34. Patrick Crayton - DAL 35. Vincent Jackson - SD 36. Anthony Gonzalez - IND 37. DJ Hackett - SEA 38. Sidney Rice - MIN 39. Mark Clayton - BAL 40. Drew Bennett - STL 41. Donte Stallworth - CLE 42. Jerry Porter - JCK 43. Ronald Curry - OAK 44. Bobby Engram - SEA 45. Javon Walker - OAK 46. Nate Burleson - SEA 47. Amani Toomer - NYG 48. Ernest Wilford - MIA 49. Troy Williamson - MIN 50. Ted Ginn Jr. - MIA

The Sabathia-to-Milwaukee deal made perfect sense.  The Brewers are in the playoff hunt, while the Indians are already looking toward 2009.  Sabathia was the best pitcher on the market, while Matt LaPorta is a top-notch hitting prospect.  (Not to dismiss them entirely, but the other three minor leaguers are a significant step down from LaPorta.)

It was a classic win-now vs. win-later deal, and both teams appear to have made out well.What I don't get is the Harden-to-Chicago trade.  Yes, the Cubbies are in the playoff hunt and want to upgrade their starting pitching, but the A's are also very much alive for the post-season.

Oakland sits 3.5 games out of the wild card and six back in the division, though their run differential is much better than the division-leading Angels.Sure, Rich Harden is prone to injury, but's he's pitching regularly and quite well right now.  And Chad Gaudin isn't shabby, either.  What A's GM Billy Beane received in return is nothing more than a menagerie of mediocrity.  Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson are merely adequate major leaguers.  John Donaldson is a single-A catcher hitting .217 - 'nuff said there.

Now, maybe this is Beane getting the best he can for a pitcher always one pitch away from the DL.  Maybe he sees some thing in Gallagher or Murton (an Oakland-type hitter) that others don't.  Maybe he doesn't think his squad can make another great second-half run.  But Harden isn't a free agent until after next season, so he's not a three-month rental, and you'd think a hurler with his potential could garner better quality in return than this.

Billy Beane is more often right than wrong, and this deal will take time to fully evaluate, but right now this move appears to signficantly favor the Cubs. 

Just one day after their division rivals, the Miwaukee Brewers, traded for C.C. Sabathia, the Chicago Cubs struck a deal to acquire starter Rich Harden from the A's.

The Cubs received the right-handed Harden and righty Chad Gaudin for pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor leaguer John Donaldson, according to the Associated Press.

Harden, scheduled to be a free agent after the 2009 season, is 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts this season. He's scheduled to $4.75 million this season. The oft-injured righty missed a month earlier this season because of a right shoulder strain. It was his sixth trip to the disabled list in his six-year career.

Was this a reaction move by the Cubs, or was this something the team did just to steal some thunder back from the Brewers.

Harden could turn out to pitch extremely well for the Cubs and help them to postseason glory, but it wouldn't surprise anybody either if he makes 2-3 starts and suddenly starts feeling some pain.  The addition of Gaudin does also provide the team with some bullpen help, but in the end the A's got great value in the deal.

Harden has been impressive aganinst the senior circuit in his career:

Career vs. NL - 9 starts, 5-1, 1.81 ERA, and .146 opponents' BA
This Season vs. NL - 4 starts, 3-0, 0.68 ERA and  .132 opponents' BA

Hats off to the Milwaukee Brewers. The team hasn't been to the playoffs since 1982. They have one the deepest farm systems in baseball and are in the heat of the NL Central/Wildcard race. That's why it made sense to send four highly-touted prospects to Cleveland in exchange for left-handed ace C.C. Sabathia.

The Brewers have cut the Cubs lead by five games after winning 29 of their last 42 games and with the potential that their No. 1 pitcher Ben Sheets testing the free agent market at season's end, GM Doug Melvin decided the time was now.

"We're going for it," Melvin told the Wisconsin State Journal.

"There will be teams out there who will say we (gave up) a lot for a player who may be here for only half a season. ... But I talked to a couple of GMs (Sunday) night who said we got a heck of a pitcher and it looks like we're going for it. That's the mentality we want."

The Brewers sent prized prospect Matt LaPorta — a power-hitting outfielder who was the team's top pick in last year's draft — to Cleveland, along with promising right-hander Rob Bryson along with left-hander Zach Jackson.

The Indians will get one more player, one Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro said will be the key to the deal.

All of that for a player that they will likely lose at season's end. It a classic rent-a-player story that happens every July and August in Major League Baseball.  It's a bold move no doubt, but credit the Brewers for being smart for doing it early.

The buzz in Milwaukee is unbelievable right now. There was a standing ovation on Monday night when they flashed Sabathia on the Video Scoreboard at Miller Park. Tickets sales have skyrocketed and fans are picking up Sabathia T-shirts and jerseys faster than stores can get them.

Sabathia was 106-71 with a 3.83 ERA in 237 starts over eight seasons with the Indians. He won the American League Cy Young Award last season, going 19-7, with a 3.21 ERA in 34 starts, with 209 strikeouts and just 37 walks in 241 innings. The big lefty is 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA for the Indians, but has also been plagued with a lack of run support. In 11 of his 18 starts, Cleveland has scored two runs or less for him. He has 123 strikeouts in 122 1/3 innings. Sabathia got off to a bumpy start to open the season, but has been locked in on the mound since May. He has won five of his last 12 starts and has a 2.39 ERA in that span.

Last year at this time we were calling the NL Central, the Comedy Central, but things have changed. Entering play on Tuesday night the three best records in the National League belong to the division's top three teams - Chicago (53-36), St. Louis (50-40), and Milwaukee (49-40).

The Cubs, who squeaked to a division title in last year's mediocre race, have won 50 games before July 1 for the first time since 1969, yet they find themselves in

"If we played this well last year, we probably would have clinched already," first baseman Derrek Lee told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It's funny how it goes. ... It's that old adage, we're not running the race looking over our shoulders. But at the same time, we know St. Louis and Milwaukee aren't going anywhere."

Here's how the top three NL Central teams compare:

TEAM STATISTICS (National League rank in parentheses. Stats before Monday's game)
BA SLG ERA Bullpen ERA

Cubs .283 (1) .444 (2) 3.86 (3) 3.65 (5)
Brewers .255 (12) .438 (3) 4.10 (6) 4.04 (10)
Cardinals .272 (2) .423 (5) 4.16 (8) 4.22 (13)


RECORDS, GAMES REMAINING
vs. Cubs vs. Brewers vs. Cardinals
Rec. GR* (Hm-Rd) Rec. GR* (Hm-Rd) Rec. GR* (Hm-Rd)

Cubs-- 2-4 10 (3-7) 3-3 9 (6-3)
Brewers 4-2 10 (7-3)-- 5-4 6 (0-6)
Cardinals 3-3 9 (3-6) 4-5 6 (6-0)


RECORDS, GAMES REMAINING OVERALL
Home (GR*) Road (GR*) vs. NL Central (GR*)

Cubs 33-10 (38) 20-26 (35) 20-16 (46)
Brewers 28-14 (39) 21-26 (34) 22-14 (43)
Cardinals 26-21 (34) 24-19 (38) 23-19 (35)

* GR — games remaining