Dan Haren

[NJMetfan4life]

The D-Backs have traded closer Jose Valverde to the A's for Starting Pitcher, Dan Haren. Who approves?

[PureBaseballFan]

The D-Backs have traded closer Jose Valverde to the A's for Starting Pitcher, Dan Haren. Who approves?They didn't trade Valverde for Haren. They trade Valverde for Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, and Juan Gutierrez. The Haren trade was six prospects to the A's for Haren and Connor Robertson.

[Silver Blaze]

This came out of leftfield. I didn't see anything saying Arizona was in the market for Haren. As always, time will tell if they gave up too much, but this relatively new type of dealing with quantity might be a troublesome sign if it sets a precedent for dishing out five or more guys for every top name from now on.

[CTaka]

What is the point of getting Chris Burke? While I suppose he still has potential, he hasn't delivered in his big league opportunities so far. He can play multiple positions, primarily 2B and and to a lesser extent, CF, but with Hudson and Young, he doesn't seem to have a position on the D-backs. Since there are teams out there still searching for full-time options at 2B, is there another deal in the making??

[danjulien]

I find these are good trades, gave up minor league depth to get a top flight starter and then received major league depth for their closer when they have two power arms already

Here's the trade breakdown (http://bvtn.blogspot.com/2007/12/trades-weeks-big-trades-haren-valverde.html)

[orangeandblack55]

Do people think Haren's overrated? I've heard some talk that he's really only a 3-4 guy in a rotation and he had a fluke year...I don't really feel it's true though, I think he's a solid ace or at the very least a number 2 guy in a strong rotation.

[NJMetfan4life]

Here are his stats from the past few seasons:

Pitching Statistics
Career: Batting | Pitching | Fielding
SEASON TEAM G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV ERA
2003 StL 14 14 0 0 72.2 84 44 41 9 22 43 3 7 0 0 -- 5.08
2004 StL 14 5 0 0 46.0 45 23 23 4 17 32 3 3 0 0 -- 4.50
2005 Oak 34 34 3 0 217.0 212 101 90 26 53 163 14 12 0 0 -- 3.73
2006 Oak 34 34 2 0 223.0 224 109 102 31 45 176 14 13 0 0 -- 4.12
2007 Oak 34 34 0 0 222.2 214 91 76 24 55 192 15 9 0 0 -- 3.07
Total -- 130 121 5 0 781.1 779 368 332 94 192 606 49 44 0 0 -- 3.82
Miscellaneous Pitching
SEASON TEAM W% #PIT TBF #P/PA #P/IP #P/GS K/9 K/BB AVG OBP SLG OPS
2003 StL .300 1163 320 3.63 16.0 83.1 5.33 1.96 .293 .351 .470 .817
2004 StL .500 755 195 3.87 16.4 88.8 6.26 1.88 .265 .335 .429 .758
2005 Oak .538 3370 897 3.76 15.5 99.1 6.76 3.08 .255 .303 .407 .709
2006 Oak .519 3490 930 3.75 15.7 102.6 7.10 3.91 .258 .301 .428 .728
2007 Oak .625 3642 935 3.90 16.4 107.1 7.76 3.49 .247 .292 .396 .687
Total -- .527 12420 3277 3.79 15.9 100.1 6.98 3.16 .258 .306 .417 .721

Sorry that it's hard to read.

[Imgran]

Do people think Haren's overrated? I've heard some talk that he's really only a 3-4 guy in a rotation and he had a fluke year...I don't really feel it's true though, I think he's a solid ace or at the very least a number 2 guy in a strong rotation.
Seriously, he's fine. He's not quite an ace but you guys don't need him to be with Brandon Webb. He'll be a heck of a #2 for you with consecutive 200+ inning seasons, very, very few walks, and as a result, a nice low 1.2-ish WHIP.

Big issue? He's a bit HR-prone, so look out for that, other than that he's great.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Big issue? He's a bit HR-prone, so look out for that, other than that he's great.

Shouldn't that change moving to the NL West?

[orangeandblack55]

I think he'll do even better, and like Imgran said, they don't need better from someone like Haren. If he stays constant, the Padres and the DBacks are going to be locked in a very tight pitching based division race. I really look forward to one of those late Sept. weekends where the whole thing comes down to Peavy vs. Haren or something like that.

His homeruns should drop a little bit. He's pitching in some more pitcher friendly parks in the NL West like Petco and ATNT. If that falls, they could be looking at two serious aces.

[Imgran]

Shouldn't that change moving to the NL West?

Not really, he was already in the AL West in what I recall as being a fairly large ballfield in Oakland, and it might actually be more of a problem because Coloado's in-division.

Still, Haren doesn't allow many baserunners so he can get away with surrendering a bomb or two and still be in like to win if the lineup he's in front of is any good.

Speaking of, Orangeandblack shouldn't dismiss the Rox this soon after they advanced to the world series. They don't have marquee pitching, but they're pretty solid defensively, Jimenez is a very nice potential ace of the future, their lineup is very powerful, and most of their key pieces are returning for another season. The D-Backs were very lucky to be where they are right now and this is a 4-team division race next year if the Dodgers get lucky with some of their young players. Should be fun to watch.

[The Drizzle]

Really looking forward to watching Haren this year. I think I have a man-crush on him:o

[Go Cardinals]

I like haren... dumb move for us to get rid of him for mulder... Anyway, he's now on my fantasy team, so I'm watching him. He pitched pretty well today:

[Zito75]

Heard that Haren is working a new splitter. Look for his K's to increase this year.