Fantasy Baseball Cafe Forums

by **dynastykid22** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:46 am

News: RHP Rich Harden threw from 150 feet on Sunday, taking another small step in his return from a strained right shoulder. A's manager Bob Geren is optimistic Harden might be back on the roster in two weeks, though he probably would be in the bullpen while Oakland debates whether to return the injury-prone hurler to the rotation. "If everything went perfectly, he might be ready for an inning against St. Louis (June 15-17)."
Analysis: Fantasy owners have to be especially alarmed by that comment by Geren. It looks like the Athletics are extremely concerned about Harden and his propensity for injury, so they might ship him off to the bullpen. Chad Gaudin has been tremendous in his stead, so the team might be afford to keep Harden in the bullpen and take it slowly with him. Stay tuned.

Might be ready for an inning ? Are you kidding me ?

Will he close or just middle relief ?

THE 10,000th Harden thread for 2007

by **Rounders** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:54 am

I sure hope he closes, else he's useless. My guess is he's going to be useless though.

by **d18Mike** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:07 am

Here's the rest of the quote from Oakland ...

"If [Harden] did pitch one inning at a time, it would be toward the end of building him up as a starter," assistant GM David Forst said. "We have a closer. Rich Harden can be our best starter. I wouldn't say it's a shift in philosophy. ... Long-term, we still think this guy's one of the best starters in the league. Until he's ready to pitch six or seven innings in a game, we want Rich Harden to pitch for us in any capacity he can." While Harden's return is still around two weeks away in a bast-case scenario, it does seem likely that he'll temporarily serve as the A's closer upon his initial return.

by **bryan1327** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:27 am

Does it matter..he will still find a way to get hurt. I only say this because he has burnt me way to many time already!!..ugh!

by **Rounders** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:05 pm

bryan1327 wrote:Does it matter..he will still find a way to get hurt. I only say this because he has burnt me way to many time already!!..ugh!

Yeah, but I'd rather get a couple saves out of him than nothing (especially since I'm tied for last in saves in the league I have him).

by **acsguitar** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:06 pm

This guy will never ever be healthy.

I'm not sure that putting him in the pen will help either

by **Yoda** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:10 pm

I think leaving him in the pen will help him a lot more than throwing 100+ pitches every 5 days.

by **greenandgold** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:51 pm

I think the idea is that he will help stabilize the pen while Street and Douche are out, and build up his arm strength again. If you haven't noticed the Oakland pen is pretty bad right now. Everyone seems very clear that he will be a starter soon.