Jimmy Anderson was the Pirates’ ninth-round pick in the 1994 draft out of high school in Virginia. Moving his way up the Pirates system, he made his MLB debut in 1999 and threw reasonably well that season. Then he had three mediocre years in the Pirates rotation in 2000, 2001 and 2002, averaging 0.6 bWAR over the three seasons in which the Bucs lost 93, 100 and 89 games.
He moved on to the Reds in 2003, didn’t throw well (or much) there, and the Cubs signed him as a free agent before the 2004 season.