The Angels have declined their option on Dan Haren's contract for 2013, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter). The hurler will now enter the open market with a $3.5MM buyout rather than a $15.5MM salary with the Angels next season.
Earlier this evening it seemed as though the Angels were on the cusp of trading Haren to the Cubs for reliever Carlos Marmol. Marmol was apparently willing to waive his no trade clause to go to the Halos but the Cubs ultimately pulled the deal off the table. The Red Sox were one club known to be keen on Haren and the Halos worked to strike a different deal for Haren as the deadline neared, but they were unable to find anything to their liking.
Haren, 32, posted a 4.33 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 176 2/3 innings across 30 games for the Angels in 2012. The right-hander emailed reporters on Thursday and said that he had a feeling that he would be traded before the deadline.
Cool. Boston can have him for nothing but money if they go after him now. Assuming he wants to sign there, obviously. There will be no shortage of choices for him though
The same can be said for the Cubs…
Yeah. That’s why my last sentence says there will be no shortage of choices for him though.
Duquette also.. Fits his mold of super buy low type with high upside. He just never got any credit at all for anything from the NE media.
The problem is that he will cost more now. Before you were on the hook for only a single year and $12m or so. I’m guessing that he’ll get at least 2 years on the open market with an AAV for $13m or more.
Why the heck didn’t they just pick up the option then have more time to trade him! This is a complete waste of 3.5 million. Haren has value at one year and around 15 million. There had to be a team that would be willing to do what the Royals did a couple days ago and receive a superior pitcher. Unless he has a serious injury. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!
I honestly wonder if the Pujols deal is already looming on owner ship? They have a HUGE Cable deal, their owner is crazy rich and they are declining an option that should have been picked up to save a few million…
woh! bad move not getting anybody and losing Haren. Haren has got to be dealing with health issues. How can a horse starting pitcher like Dan not be wanted even in Chicago …
It’s possible to pitch 200IP area with severe injuries. We know now that Lackey pitched 2 full seasons with a torn UCL and had enduring pain, yet pitched a combined 375IP in 2010-11, just wasn’t effective.
We will find out when he is negotiating as he will have to take physicals. Lackey’s arm was insured for instance and an extra year thrown in with his contract at league minimum if/when he had TJ surgery.
Something is wrong with Haren, it will at least get leaked out.
Even though Haren put up good numbers in September, he was often removed from games after fairly low pitch counts (80 or fewer pitches) even when apparently pitching well.
I can’t believe the Angels wouldn’t keep Haren for a year unless he has serious health problems as the Angels are in desperate need of starting pitching. Their rotation as of now is Jered Weaver and CJ Wilson. Wilson pitched terribly the second half of the year due to bone spurs in his throwing arm.
now that he becomes a free agent maybe the Dodgers will go after him since their priority is to sign starting pitching and bull pen help
Probably would have been a great idea 2008/2009, but he would have cost the McCourts 2 side-by-side beachfront homes and at least 2 Fashionable Frank haircuts. Now that LAD has the money, they may as well keep Harang (for the money, if Haren is damaged goods). Hopefully Haren, if there is a health concern, gets a one year deal, has a great 1st half, gets a good contender trade, and sets himself up for a 2014 payday
Why wouldn’t the Angels just give him up for little to nothing then? That way, they could’ve saved the buyout and the Cubs could’ve gotten him without giving up Marmol.
I guess his medicals/back injury are a real concern and Cubs were certainly concerned enough about it to pull the deal off the table.
Very strange. Cubs and Angels must know something about Haren that the general population doesn’t know about…
Yep, or the Cubs are working on a better deal for Marmol. Go Cubs!
Well, this was a fun night. Too bad it had to end with the most boring possible outcome.
Well regardless of why, my guess is this means the Angels might be even more agressive to keep Grienke. They’re saving a lot of money.
fail
Something doesn’t seem right here at all. After running through why and how the most logical conclusion I can come to is that Haren isn’t 100% healthy. Thats the only rational thought I have left in regards to his whole situation. Very confusing as a whole.
well given how he pitched in september, he sure as hell didn’t look injured
That’s pretty much the conclusion I came to. The only other possibility I see is with the rumors that the Rangers might aggressively pursue Grienke the Angels want the financial flexibility to come out of the gate with a very lucrative offer. They may think that if they pick up Haren’s offer then any deal they make would require them to take on more than the cost of the buyout.
It looks like they have a lot less leverage in negotiating w/ Greinke now with three gaping holes in the rotation. They should’ve held onto at least one of Santana or Haren as an insurance policy and traded them if/when they succeeded in signing Greinke or another pitcher.
Did Cubs really pull the offer, or did Anaheim reconsider, beings the perceived goal (by us speculators) was that they were trying to clear funds for Grienke?
C’mon Mr Byrnes, you now have a chance to bring your old buddy to the Padres. Get it done.
Dont get this at all, why not pick the option up and trade him? even if the Angels eat half the salary(yes more than the buyout) they might get a solid prospect back in return. Worst case Haren comes back and pitches as the 4th or 5th starter….teams can do a lot worse than Haren as the 5th starter
Unless they don’t think he can hold up. And paying a pitcher $12m (+ the $3.5M buyout) is a lot for a 5th starter. If they truly believe that he is injured or ineffective there are much better ways to spend $12m.
I’m fine if it turns out that Haren’s injury concerns are significant. I will be pissed if the Angels turned down the option because they are being cheap.
It’s simple, the Cubs stalled the Angels from negotiating with other teams and they put their focus into the Cubs’ deal. The Cubs backed out at the last minute and now could go after Haren via FA. And they still keep Marmol (who was much better towards the end of the year)
Maybe…just maybe…the Cubs did this as a ploy to hold other teams off and show their interest in Haren. Then they could sign Haren and jettison Marmol for some prospects somewhere. Just a thought.
Nationals please?
i still would like the sox to pick haren up on a 1 year deal with a mutual option. Maybe a 1 year 10 million mutual option of 15 million. Then if haren is a bust they only had to pay him one year and a buyout and if he is pre 2012 haren then he declines the option they give him a qualifying offer and get a draft pick. but a lot of teams would be interested in that too ranging from rebuilders like the Cubs to big spenders like the dodgers. just adds another interesting storyline to the offseason
Well, this seems thoroughly bungled by Dipoto, no?