Rich Harden

Rich Harden is a nine-year MLB veteran having pitched for three franchises, including a two-year stint with the Chicago Cubs during the height of their 2008-09 craze.

Originally taken in the 38th round of the 1999 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners out of high school, Harden opted to go Central Arizona College, parlaying his success there into a 21-round jump. The Oakland Athletics selected him in the 17th round the following year. He quickly rose through the farm system, eviscerating hitters at every level of the minors before finally getting the call to the big leagues in July 2003.

Over the next six years, Harden developed into a dependable starter. He pitched to a 3.60 ERA between 2003-07, starting 76 games and hurling over 460 innings. He dealt with back-to-back injury-plagued campaigns 2006 and 2007, though by the latter season, the A's window of contention stemming from the "Moneyball era" had slammed shut. The Canadian-born righty got off to a roaring start in 2008, yielding a scant 2.34 ERA in 77 innings, becoming one of the top trade chips on the market. He also authored the 57th immaculate inning in baseball history, doing so on June 8, 2008 against the Los Angeles Angels (video here).

With the A's out of contention by July, the Cubs pounced. In exchange for Rich Harden and reliever Chad Gaudin (who was a disaster in his half-season with the Cubs), Chicago gave up Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, Sean Gallagher, and, most famously, Josh Donaldson. Of course, Donaldson ended up becoming the star of the deal, converting off catcher and becoming one of the league's premier third basemen in Oakland. However, while Gaudin was a nothing-burger, Harden more than lived up to his end of the bargain.

To close out the 2008 campaign, Harden turned in a sterling 1.77 ERA in 71 innings. Were it not for Jake Arrieta's unfathomable run in 2015, Harden's 3.2 bWAR in the second half would be the highest of any Cubs pitcher since at least 1999. Unfortunately, like Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano before him, Harden couldn't stymie the Dodgers' bats in the NLDS as Los Angeles swept the Cubs out of the playoffs. Nevertheless, he was so good that the Cubs gladly picked up his $7 million team option for 2009.

The following campaign wasn't quite as memorable for Harden or the team — he pitched to a 4.09 ERA in 141 innings while the Cubs won 14 fewer games than the year before and missed the playoffs entirely — and he would walk in free agency over the offseason. He signed and played for the Rangers in 2010 before making his way back to Oakland in 2011, though a serious shoulder injury prevented a trade to the Boston Red Sox and all but ended the starter's career. He failed to latch on with the Twins after undergoing surgery, officially retiring from the game in 2013.