Billy Beane has traded three key members of his pitching staff in the last ten days for heralded young talent in an effort to "be great for a long time", according to The New York Times. Oakland traded Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin last week to Chicago, and dealt Joe Blanton to Philadelphia on Thursday. "I want to be great for a long time," Beane said of trading polished pitchers for a number of top-flight prospects. "Not have a nice, little month and make it interesting." Beane has allowed pitchers such as Tin Hudson, Barry Zito, Dan Haren, Mark Mulder and now Harden, Gaudin and Blanton go. "If we have assets, ultimately, we have to turn them into more assets," Beane said. "This is the way we have to run the business. For us, as a small-market team, the turnover is a lot greater."