Saarloos graduated from Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California, where he was a three-sport (baseball, football and soccer) athlete. He attended California State University, Fullerton, where he established himself as one of the best closers in college baseball during his sophomore and junior seasons. In 2001, his senior year, he became a starter (the new closer was former Washington Nationals closer Chad Cordero) and established himself as the ace of the staff, winning 15 games with a 2.18 ERA. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft in the third round as the 86th overall pick.\n', '

Saarloos quickly rose in the Astros organization, making brief stops at Double-A Round Rock and Triple-A New Orleans before being called up to the major leagues in his second year as a professional. In 2002, he went 6-7 with a 6.01 ERA with Houston and was sent down to New Orleans for the next season. In 2003, he again pitched very well in the minors but posted a 4.93 ERA in 36 games for the big club. He also contributed to the Astros\' six-pitcher no-hitter of the New York Yankees on June 11, throwing the last out of the third inning and all of the fourth. It was around this time he caught the eye of Oakland Athletics assistant general manager Paul DePodesta. A few weeks into the 2004 season, after appearing in only two games for New Orleans, he was traded to the Athletics for Chad Harville. They sent him to Triple-A Sacramento, where he pitched well enough to receive a call-up and start five games for Oakland.\n', '

In 2005, with Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson traded away, the Athletics had openings in their rotation. Saarloos beat out Keiichi Yabu and Juan Cruz to win the last starter spot in the rotation. Saarloos succeeded, going 10-9 with a 4.17 ERA in 27 starts. He was widely considered to be among the best #5 starters in the American League, sporting one of the lowest home run rates.\n', '

Return to Kirk Saarloos Autograph Profile