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Rich Harden is making a comeback

Oakland Athletics v New York Yankees

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 23: Rich Harden #18 of the Oakland Athletics delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees on July 23, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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Perpetually injured right-hander Rich Harden didn’t pitch in the majors at all this year and hasn’t had an ERA below 5.00 since 2009, but he’s making a comeback at age 31.

Harden’s agent told Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com that he “feels great” and has already “had a lot of interest from clubs.”

For a long time Harden was able to maintain good raw stuff and strong results despite the never-ending arm problems, but in 2008 and 2009 his velocity was down and his ERAs were ugly.

With that said, Harden did manage 166 strikeouts in 175 innings during those two seasons and I’ve always thought some team should give him an extended opportunity in the bullpen to see if he can stay healthy and effective throwing just one inning at a time.