Verlander or Harden?

[RedHopeful]

Go with Verlander as he's got the better chance for success. No way Detroit's offense continues to fail him every time out + Harden won't make it through the rest of the season without another DL stint.

[WyldStallyn]

never thought id see this question.

i would go verlander. harden will get hurt again, its a guarantee

[Inukchuk]

This is legitimately a difficult question. Obviously the injury risk is there for Harden, but I would rather have a half season of very good outings from him than a full season of junk from Verlander.

I think the real question that needs to be answered is: Do you have more faith in Harden's health or Verlander's chances for a turnaround? I would imagine that's what the dude meant when he said Verlander's riskier.

On a side note, I know Verlander's last few outings haven't been as bad as before, but he still doesn't look right. He had 4 BB apiece in 7 IP against CLE and MIN, and against SEA struck out only 1. I'm still not sold on him. I would imagine I'm in the minority here, but I'd actually go with Harden and his injury risk. At least you can throw him on the DL and grab a replacement...

[yanks924]

HARDEN. He has half the innings, half the era, a much better whip, more k's and more wins in 40 less innings lol. If Harden can throw 60 more innings of this type of baseball id much rather have that then having Verlander throw another 140 of that.

[tah161]

harden is by far better, but not safer when looking at the health side of things and the health side only.

[Dhark]

I would agree to have Harden, but I have a few aces already and Harden is just a flier I took. If you don't have other aces then you would have to stick w/ Verlander I think. Harden will put up better numbers than Verlander, but will obviously work less innings. Since i already have a decent pitching staff, I would stick w/ Harden for the good innings he will provide.

[Giambis]

Ah, the Harden Kool-Aid.

I have a gut feeling that by year-end, we will look back at this thread and laugh at the question.

[AquaMan2342]

Ah, the Harden Kool-Aid.

I have a gut feeling that by year-end, we will look back at this thread and laugh at the question.

I'll second this. Same guy in my league drafts him every year, and after his 9 pitch/3 k inning, he wrote his annual "This is the Year" post.....

[Dhark]

I doubt my $1 last pick of the draft is going to hurt me at the end of the year. I am already pleased w/ what Harden has done and have already got my money out of him as far as I am concerned. How many Verlander owners can say that? Verlander went much higher on the ADP for much more money. Verlander went for $23 in my league. Call it Kool-Aid, I call it a smart draft pick. Besides, Harden lost his great Kool-Aid taste several seasons ago. He has not been hyped for awhile, if anything he is undervalued now. He was a $1 flier last pick of our draft, who has outpitched Verlander in every stat w/ half the innings. I doubt the OP is planning on dropping either pitcher if he has them.

[Inukchuk]

Ah, the Harden Kool-Aid.

I have a gut feeling that by year-end, we will look back at this thread and laugh at the question.

Uh, no. Again, the question is who would you rather have. A half season of strong Harden starts will do more good for your team than a full season of a struggling Verlander's. If a person legitimately thinks Verlander won't break out of his funk (for whatever reason), then he is right to hang his hopes on Harden's health instead.

I also want to reiterate the fact that if Harden is healthy, he's an automatic start. If he gets hurt, you throw him on the DL and pick up someone else. If Verlander continues to struggle, you're stuck with the headache of when to put him in, and you cannot just stash him somewhere until he gets right without sacrificing a roster spot.

In short, I'd rather have a half season of a healthy Harden than play the matchup game and get only a half season out of a struggling Verlander.