Achievers/Bums - 8/19 - 8/21/08

ACHIEVERS
Grady Sizemore - OF - Cleveland Indians - 4/5, HR, 3b, 7 RBI, SB (Thursday) - Sizemore's power has slowed just a bit in the second half, but he's still got a shot at 40/40, and I think he'll get it. Sizemore is getting better every year, and is an obvious keeper in all formats. Also, he's sexy.

Rich Harden - SP - Chicago Cubs - (Tuesday) Win, 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 10 K - I'm always looking for a reason to talk about Rich Harden, and on Tuesday he definitely gave an Achiever-worthy performance, so I get my chance. Since the Cubs acquired Harden in July, he has gone 3-1 with an ERA of 1.50, a WHIP of .95 and a redonkulous 59 K's in 42 IP. In short, he's made Sandy Koufax look like Jose Lima. If you held on to him through the injuries, you are now being rewarded. Piniella and the Cubs are handling him just right by giving him extra days of rest and keeping his pitch-count down.

Raul Ibanez - OF - Seattle Mariners - 7 HR, 27 RBI in the last month - I gave Ibanez love in my first edition of "This Ain't 'Nam" back on July 10th, and you didn't listen. Brandt has been giving Ibanez crazy props for weeks, but you still haven't picked him up. Now it's too late. You're still starting Jay Bruce, and Ibanez is still raking. More Ibanez updates will be forthcoming as he continues to mash. Stay tuned.

A.J. Burnett - SP - Toronto Blue Jays - (Tuesday) Win, 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 13 K - This is what Burnett can do when healthy. I thought he'd have a good second half, and so far, so good. His stats after the all-star break are: 6-1, 3.22 ERA, 52 K in 42 IP.

BUMS

Ryan Howard - 1B - Philadelphia Phillies - Howard is going to shatter his record of 199 strikeouts in a season this year, as he's on pace for 213. He's also 3 for his last 35 with a whiff-tastic 18 strikeouts in that span. But at least he hits homers, right? Not lately. He's only got 5 since the break. If your league penalizes for K's, then bench him immediately. If not, you can probably keep him in there and hope for a power surge. Look and see if Delgado is still available, as it appears he may be getting ready to go on a hot streak.

Jimmy Rollins - SS - Philadelphia Phillies - So here's what not to do in Philly: (a) Call out the fans, (b) then go 3 for 33 immediately after that. J-Roll is losing fans almost as quickly as he's losing his fantasy value. The fact that he was basically correct in his statements about Philly fans being front-runners is completely irrelevant.

Jake Peavy - SP - San Diego Padres - Loss, 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K (Wednesday) - Peavy has showed this year why I don't like taking pitchers in the first few rounds of the draft. Peavy was a second-round pick in most leagues this year (Yahoo! ADP 18.2), but he has not lived up to his past greatness. The most concerning thing to me about Peavy is that his strikeouts are down from the last few years. His K/9 is below 9 for the first time since 2003. Not that at a K/9 of 8.7 is bad by any stretch, but with Peavy, you knew wins were going to be hard to come by with the offense he has behind him, so you are counting on the K's. The fact that he barely ranks in the top 25 in that category is a disappointment for those that drafted him so early this year.

Cubs Get Harden

How do you make Rich Harden more cursed? You ship him to Northside Chicago. The place where pitchers' arms go to die. Hey, at least Dusty isn't there anymore. He'd have Rich throwing 130-pitch complete games. Or probably game, because that would probably kill poor Rich. I'm surprised the Cubs made the trade. Harden has lost velocity and looked a little off in his last two starts, but I guess they had to counter the Sabathia pickup by the Brewers. I honestly don't think this trade has a huge effect on Harden's fantasy value. He faces worse hitting and gets more run support, but he pitches in a less pitcher-friendly park. But as I emailed Brandt this morning, as long as Harden stays healthy, I wouldn't care if he was traded to the Rockies. Problem is, he won't stay healthy. He just won't. If you're ever going to sell Rich Harden, now is definitely the time.

The Rich Harden Dilemma

As a Rich Harden owner, I am basking in the glow of his dominant performance against the Phillies this afternoon, but I'm sure many fantasy owners are wondering if it's time to sell high. The obvious answer is yes, but I'm not trying to move him. I've had an unhealthy relationship with Rich for awhile and I own him in almost every league I'm in. I've actually made an offer on him in the one league where I don't own him, and I had someone offer me Justin Duchscereherhrrehrer for him straight up in another league. (I pushed the "reject" button with my middle finger by the way.) The point is, right now I don't think anyone knows exactly what to do with Rich Harden.

He's made nine consecutive starts for the first time since 2005 and he's pitching like the ace everyone knew he could be if he could just stay healthy. But as Brandt posted earlier tonight, his arm actually may fall off mid-inning any day now. The guy is so fragile he makes Bobby Crosby look like Cal Ripken. Earlier this year when the A's flew to Japan I was actually nervous about how my Rich would handle the plane ride. What's to prevent him from getting a stiff neck? Then when he came back from his DL stint earlier this season he had a goatee, and all I could think about was whether or not the new facial hair could lead to some sort of rash or shaving incident that would leave him incapacitated. This is what owning Rich Harden for 4 years does do to you.

The reason I'm not moving him (other than the obvious man-crush) is that I don't think you'll get value for him. For example, I don't think you'll get an elite pitcher in return for him. Why would someone send you a top-tier pitcher for a guy who is more fragile physically than Zach Grienke is emotionally? Hey, if you can get Roy Halladay for Harden, do it, but the offers are going to be more like the one I got earlier. You'll get offers like the Douche Hammer or Ryan Dempster or, if your lucky, Joe Saunders. And I wouldn't take any of those guys over Harden. I'd much rather have a guy that, if healthy, can go on a run to take your team to the promised land, than less talented guys who will give you innings and decent numbers. Those guys are easily replaceable by working the waiver wire, but a healthy Harden is not. Also, if you own Harden you probably didn't have to pay too much to get him. I took him in the 9th round of a 12-team points league, which may have been a round too high, but it's not too bad for the upside of Harden. Bottom line is unless someone offers you something too good to pass up, I'd just hang on and enjoy the ride, understanding that he probably will break your heart. Again.