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Looking to acquire a proven veteran to solidify their staff, the Minnesota Twins are eager to land the services of right-hander Rich Harden according to a report by La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.
The 31-year-old Harden did not pitch last season due to injuries, but posted a 5.12 ERA over 15 starts with the Oakland Athletics in 2011. Along with sporting an impressive 59-38 career record, Harden has routinely been one of the game's top strikeout men when healthy with 949 career strikeouts over 928.1 innings pitched.
Although he has only managed to start 30 games in a season once in his major league career, Harden showed plenty of promise in his most recent stint with the Athletics despite finishing with an inordinately-high earned-run average. Aside from the obvious risk of injury that Harden brings, the veteran right-hander should offer an intriguing option for manager Ron Gardenhire as both as starter and long reliever in 2013.