Lockout Lookup: Brendan Harris

Subject: Brendan Harris

Why You Remember Him: If you were a wheeling and dealing MLB GM in the mid-to-late ‘00s, chances are you threw in Brendan Harris as part of the deal. The infielder out of William & Mary was moved four times between 2004 and 2010, three of them involving your Minnesota Twins.

• 2004: As part of the 4-team Nomar Garciaparra blockbuster (Twins fans: feel free to call this the Dougie Baseball blockbuster, I won’t tell anyone), Harris was traded by the Cubs to the Montreal Expos.
• 2006: In the only non-Minnesota transaction, the Expos are now the Nationals, and they include Harris in a trade with the Reds for Austin Kearns.
• 2007: The Matt Garza trade! You remember the Matt Garza trade! Harris came over with (sigh) Delmon Young and Jason Pridie for Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eddie Morlan.
• 2010: The J.J. Hardy trade! You remember the J.J. Hardy trade! You’re probably still mad about it and that’s OK! Harris and Hardy were shipped to Baltimore for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobsen. I’m getting upset just typing it.

Harris was coming off a career year in Tampa (highs in OPS, HRs, RBI, OBP, and batting average) when he joined Minnesota. He didn’t quite scale those offensive heights in his 2+ seasons here and his defense didn’t make up for it. Despite this, the team signed him to an extension prior to the 2010 season in a move described by one local blogger as a “head-scratcher.”

What You Don’t Remember: Future Twin Orlando Cabrera was also moved in the Nomar/Mientkiewicz deal.

What You Might Remember: From 2011 to 2013, J.J. Hardy led all major league shortstops with 77 home runs. Hoey pitched 24 innings for the 2011 Twins before never seeing the majors again. I’ve just made myself upset again! This is on me!

What’s He Up To: Harris is using his Wharton MBA for X10 Capital, an organization that “empowers professional athletes with the tools and resources necessary to fulfill their dreams.” Before you ask, yes, Tuffy Gosewisch is one of his co-workers. You can find him occasionally tweeting at @brendanharris23.