Harden's comeback; AL MVP race; Florida soap opera

	Hailed as Oakland's ace, Rich Harden has made only six starts this season, but he could be back soon. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
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Welcome to the regular season's final stretch. Here are story lines to watch in September:

Return of Rich Harden

One of this season's great enigmas -- aside from Magglio Ordoñez's hairstyle -- is Oakland's comfy perch atop the AL West. The club is last in the majors in slugging, last in average with runners in scoring position, 21st in in runs scored and has outscored opposing teams by a total of only 30 runs. A's hurlers have been solid -- they rank fifth in ERA -- but, as a scout says, "They've mostly underachieved. Barry Zito and Joe Blanton have been inconsistent. Esteban Loaiza has been awful at times. Dan Haren is their best pitcher. This isn't really a group that scares anyone."

That could soon change. Oakland's true ace, Rich Harden, may be on his way back. Later this week the Canadian right-hander will throw from the mound for the first time since the first week of June, and when (and if) he rejoins the team, he'll start working out of the bullpen. If he can build up enough arm strength by October to give his club six, seven innings a start in the postseason, consider the A's a real threat to make the World Series.

Surprise NL award candidates

Yes, Ryan Howard has thrust himself into the NL MVP debate thanks to his incendiary August, joining Albert Pujols and Carlos Beltran in the race. But what about Miguel Cabrera? The Marlins' third baseman deserves to be included in the discussion. The 23-year-old, who would be the youngest NL MVP winner since Johnny Bench (22 in 1970), is the best player on baseball's biggest surprise team. He leads the NL in OBP and ranks second in hitting, fourth in OPS and sixth in slugging and RBIs. Meanwhile, the Cubs may actually have something to cheer about this fall: the coronation of their first Cy Young winner since Greg Maddux. Carlos Zambrano quietly leads the NL in wins, strikeouts and batting average against and has a good September track record: The ebullient right-hander has a career 3.05 ERA in the month.

Minnesota's handling of Francisco Liriano

How quickly will the Twins bring back the phenom? Will the club allow the 22-year-old to pitch even if he's not 100 percent healthy? While they don't want to mess with the future of their franchise, they have a real chance of bringing the World Series trophy back to the Twin Cities if they march into the postseason armed with the one-two punch of Johan Santana and Liriano. "My guess is that they'll be extremely conservative," says a scout. "That's the Minnesota way. They're very careful with their young pitchers. You can't blame them for that, but that conservatism might cost them a chance at the World Series."

South Florida soap opera

Carl Hiassen couldn't have dreamed up the plot twists in the Marlins' strange 2006 season. Projected by everyone in spring training to lose 100 games, Florida -- the youngest and cheapest team in baseball -- has a realistic chance of winning the NL wild card, even as Joe Girardi and Jeffrey Loria engage in a very public tiff. It's looking more and more likely that Loria will fire Girardi at season's end, even if the Marlins reach .500 and make a serious postseason push. But can Florida actually win the wild card? Why not? "They're not overachieving," says a scout. "I like their young pitchers. That staff is as good as any of the wild-card contenders."

Much has been made about the AL's pitching phenoms, but what about the Marlins' Josh Johnson? With his major-league-best 2.87 ERA, the quiet and humble Oklahoman is poised to become the first rookie to lead the majors in ERA since Mark Fidrych.

AL MVP race

In this week's Sports Illustrated, we polled general managers and execs from 12 AL teams. While Derek Jeter and David Ortiz look like front-runners of a list of candidates that includes Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, there's a lot of momentum behind Jermaine Dye. One AL GM on Dye: "He's a good outfielder, with a good arm, but like all of [the White Sox hitters] he can hit it out of the park. Nobody does that quite like Thome, or not many, but Dye is just a good all-around player. I really like him. Kenny Williams made a great deal when he got this guy. He's a good player who doesn't draw attention to himself. All he does is play hard and very productively."