By Landestoy Luke
There was excitement in Anaheim this weekend when the Angels swept in seemingly from nowhere and plucked Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a trade.
Sorry Halo fans….this doesn’t make a lick of difference in 2010. Beyond that, though, this is a great deal. Haren won’t help the Angels make up 7 ½ games on the Rangers or 10 games on the wild-card leading Rays. If anything, they hold serve with the Rangers after they acquired Cliff Lee.
First things first, getting rid of Joe Saunders is a plus for the Angels. Saunders fans will say, “But L-Man, he’s won 16 and 17 games the last two seasons!” If you say that, then you haven’t paid attention to my column lately. Saunders doesn’t strike out enough guys to justify his middling control (3.36 walks per 9). He also has trouble keeping the ball in the park, a problem that will be exasperated by pitching in Arizona . The BABIP gods have come to collect after his very fortunate 2008. His BABIP has gone from .267 in ’08 to .290 in ’09 to .305 this year. His WHIP is a horrible 1.5 and has little chance of improving. Angel fans, you should have been willing to give this guy away for free.
Instead, he was a main piece in a trade that netted you a solid starter in Haren. Haren’s fly-ball tendencies will play better in Anaheim than in Arizona . Haren has the ability to miss bats, almost striking out one batter per inning. He has also pitched over 216 innings each of the last 5 years. He has walked less than 2 batters per 9 innings over the course of his career and is as reliable as they come. His numbers look down this year, but that’s largely a product of his high BABIP (.355), so he should improve this year provided he wasn’t hurt too badly last night.
Another huge plus is that he’s extremely affordable at $11 mil per season. It begs the question whether there are larger problems in Arizona . Haren is the type of player they should be keeping, not looking to unload with 2 more seasons left on his contract. This deal hints that all may not be well in Arizona , which may make things easier for the NL West.Whatever the case may be, this deal sets up the Angels in a great position for 2011 and 2012.
Landestoy Luke is a former semi-pro baseball player in the California-Nevada Independent League. Luke was once traded for former Angel Ray Chadwick in the CNIL. After spending some time as an advance scout in the Mexicali League, Luke now spends his time as a freelance writer.
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