According to the ever reliable Paul Sullivan, The Cubs are shutting Rich Harden down for the year. The Cubs are shutting down Rich Harden for the rest of the year. Harden, who has struggled with his command the last three starts, including Wednesday’s 71-pitch, three-inning outing, is being replaced in the rotation. Manager Lou Piniella said Tom Gorzelanny would replace Harden in his next start on Monday and the Cubs would make plans afterwards. But sources said Harden is done for 2009 and may have thrown his last pitch as a Cub, unless he re-signs as a free agent. Harden has struggled lately and has pitched nearly as many innings as last year. He’s thrown nearly 300 innings over the last 2 seasons after totaling about 70 innings the previous 2 seasons combined. The Cubs say he isn’t injures, which is probably true. There’s no reason to send him out to the mound. There’s also no reason to let Randy Wells start another game this year either. He’s thrown more innings this year than ever before and should be shut down or moved into the bullpen. Shutting Harden down might benefit the Cubs this offseason in trying to re-sign him. It’s unlikely that Rich Harden would agree to this were he either not injured or not given some assurance that the Cubs would offer arbitration when the season ends. Since there’s no reports of an injury, I’m going to assume the Cubs are going to do the smart thing and offer him arbitration. MO chimes in: So it goes. IMO, this move likely means two things: one, the Cubs are almost certainly not going to offer Harden arbitration. Even though the Cubs are insisting that Harden isn’t injured, his last three outings and this action aren’t going to instill teams with confidence, in so far as Harden’s durability is concerned. The Cubs are clearly trying to drive the market for his services. Two, it means the Cubs have called it a season. You don’t make a move like this if you think you have a chance. Which means the Cubs are being smart. As MB21 pointed out, the next smart thing to do is shut down youngster Randy Wells, or at least move him to the bullpen to limit the innings on his young arm. As to the first, I think it’s foolish. $10MM isn’t a lot of money for a SP of Harden’s ability, and when/if he refuses it to sign for big money with the Angels, the Cubs get compensation. They missed their chance to get something for Harden at the deadline, when the Twins wanted him, and it appears they are steering a course to repeat that folly. As for the second, it’s good to see the Cubs recognizing (FINALLY) that 2009 is a lost season, and shifting their focus to 2010, but the attitude towards 2010—cut costs, go with “youth”—is discouraging. It’s beginning to feel like there’s going to be a gigantic and disastrous overreaction to what was, in reality, nothing more than an incredibly unlecky season. These things happen in baseball; it’s too bad the Cubs seem to be losing sight of that fact.
Original Story:
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September 17, 2009
