Angels Acquire Dan Haren
In a deal that comes as a major shock to the system, the Angels have acquired Dan Haren from the Diamondbacks. The Angels were never mentioned during the discussion of potential destinations for Haren, so this deal flew under the radar until it’s completion and subsequent announcement.
Even though his ERA isn’t pretty this year, Haren is still a pitcher on the top of his game. Haren currently ranks 4th in the Majors in strikeouts, and was tied for the NL lead before he was traded. Guys of Haren’s caliber aren’t usually available for acquisition, and the Angels pounced when the opportunity presented itself to them.
While there are always worries about players moving from the NL to the AL, Haren should be an exception. Haren has had past success in the AL, contributing 13 wins to the Athletics from 2005-2007. Plus, the AL West isn’t exactly an offensive division, so Haren should have no problems sustaining his production going forward.
The Angels are currently 6 games back of the Rangers in the AL West, and 8.5 games behind the Rays for the AL wild card, making them unlikely to make the playoffs. However, they still have a small chance of rallying in the final two months and sneaking their way into the postseason. If they can, pairing Haren with Jered Weaver would make the Halos a scary team to face in October.
But, because Haren’s contract runs through 2012, with a club option for 2013, this move isn’t an all-or-nothing push for the 2010 postseason. With Kendry Morales returning next year, and the monetary woes possibly continuing in Texas, the Angels will enter 2011 as a favorite to reach the postseason. Weaver, Ervin Santana and Joel Pineiro will all still be under contract for next season, leaving the Angels with one of the top rotations in all of baseball.
While we still await word on who the PTBNL will be, it appears the Angels didn’t mortgage the future to win now. Instead, they figured out a way to give themselves a chance to make a run in 2010 while vastly improving their odds in 2011. Let the celebrating begin.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
what. a. steal.
According to mlbtraderumors, Tyler Skaggs is the PTBNL.
I was going to guess one of Tyler Skaggs, Randal Grichuk, or Garrett Richards(since it was hinted that the PTBNL wasn’t Mike Trout).
Is Skaggs a better get than Grichuk? I’m guessing he(meaning Skaggs) is a better get than Richards, in all likelihood.
It looks like the Angels gave up very little for a 5+ win pitcher here. Great deal for the Angels.
Is this worse than the Lee-Mariners package? I think it is (and Haren may just be a better pitcher than Lee, and younger, and cheaper).
And the package I was referring to was the PHI-SEA Lee deal.
The Phi-SEA deal was worse IMO especially since you look at philly now struggling to find pitching. plus i find Lee to be the superior pitcher and being a lefty with mechanics helps a lot.
*good mechanics
As a mariners fan, we are fucked for the remaining of Harens contract with Haren paired with Weaver, Morales healthy next year, and Mike Trout coming up soon, the Angels are going to be tough
Everyone in that division are going to be tough. Well, except for the Mariners. 😉
Considering the fact that they’re going to have both spend money and potentially trade off some more of their minor league talent to replace 1(or possibly 2) outfield spots, acquire some kind of decent left-handed starting pitcher to replace Kazmir this offseason, and get some help for the bullpen(and/or DH), I won’t worry too much(and perhaps Abreu becomes the new DH next year, who knows?)
Yes, they’re minor league system is OK and so is their major league team, but neither is stacked, really, and even Seattle has a decent minor league system going forward(it will be better if James Paxton finally signs). The Angels have Trout, Reckling, Conger, and perhaps a few others with upside like Grichuck and Richards, both of whom are a few years away. But there are also several aging players and question marks on their 25-man roster, and are not infallible.
All 4 teams have a decent chance to compete going forward. Seattle will have to wait for more of the Bavasi-era mistakes to fade(Milton Bradley isn’t a strict representation of that, but he’s what they got in exchange for Carlos Silva, so…) and the minor league system to develop more, but starting in 2012, they should have this “good one year, horrible the next” thing finished off for good, hopefully and will be a minimum 85 win team year in, year out.
The Mariners are tough in the sense that they will kick all their own asses in the name of accountability. The Diamondbacks upper brass could use some of that right now.
Either the Angels have something on the DBack’s owner or that package included lots of hot strippers each with a pair of high end Bel Air tits.
People can rip this deal, and they should, but I still think it might be better than what Philly got for Cliff Lee. Damning with faint praise, I know.
I agree. What makes that worse for Philly is that they are a team that needs to win now. They had no business betting on mid level prospects. At least Arizona isn’t currently a pennant contender.
I’m not sure. Phils got a top 100 prospect for Lee (Aumont) and another right on the outside (Ramirez), who’s shown the most this year. What’s more, Haren should be more valuable because of his age/contract and the fact that he was delt during the Summer, when values are usu. inflated.
I’m not exactly SURE it’s better, but I think the PTBNL, if it is actually who people say it is, has the chance to be better than any single player in the Lee deal. Maybe I’m wrong. Time will tell, and I’ll gladly admit I’m wrong when the day comes, because I lived in Southern NJ for a while (Phillies country) and I generally like to see them do well.
This deal doesn’t disgust me as much as the Lee deal did. Maybe in 3 years I’ll change my mind about that though.
“While there are always worries about players moving from the NL to the AL, Haren should be an exception…”
Can we move past this AL/NL stuff and start analyzing it at the divsional level already? It makes so much more sense, given that teams play half their games in their own division, and the difference in strength between different divisions, even ones in the same league. It really just doesn’t make much sense at all to only look at it from a league level. We’re better than that.