Who's Hot

Rich Harden, Oakland Athletics: Just what the A's needed - another top-of-the-line starting pitcher. Harden (below) is 2-0 with a .086 ERA since his July 21 debut, including Thursday's home debut in which he shut down visiting Cleveland. With Harden, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, Oakland's rotation is scary.

Lou Piniella, Devil Rays: Tampa Bay swept the Blue Jays last week, making July the Devil Rays' first winning month since June 2000.

Dontrelle Willis, Marlins: Whachutalkinbout, Willis? A rookie defeating The Big Unit? That's what happened as Florida, behind its left-handed phenom, beat 39-year-old Randy Johnson and Arizona 3-1 Wednesday.

Who's Not

Texas Rangers: First Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez (the latter for a second time) rejected deadline trades to contending clubs. Shows how much those guys want to win. But then Alex Rodriguez comes out and makes the year's most disingenuous statement, that he wouldn't mind being traded. Sounds like a Catch-22 in Texas: They can't trade the guys they want to trade, and the guy with the unmovable contract says he wouldn't mind going on to greener pastures.