Dan Haren Is Not a Fan of Leaks

Wolverine

Earlier this week Alden Gonzalez kicked up a bit of a dust storm when he answered a fan question in his blog here about the Angels and their preference to sign Zack Greinke rather than retain both Dan Haren and Ervin Santana. I'm guessing no one explained to Mr. Gonzalez how exactly the internet works because Haren has heard about it and is, well, not raving mad, but probably has an agitation level that is just a smidgen to high when he should be concentrating on a playoff push. It's bad enough that poor vagabond Danny has had to endure not only numerous appearance changes (like his failed Wolverine look) as well as his first appearance on the disabled list, but he is also in the midst of having his worst season statistically.

Shot Of The Night

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

It may seem like I advocate drinking here with the shot recipes and drinking jokes but alcohol makes you do stupid things kids. Drunk dialing, drunk texting, drunk showing up at your ex's bar. All poor decisions after 2 am. Trust me. That said, let's take the shot of the night while I try to shake off some shame. The shot of last night is a California Dream: 2 oz 1800® Tequila, 1 oz sweet vermouth, 1/2 oz dry vermouth, 1 maraschino cherry and it's in honor of Buster Posey.

I realize I need to stop gushing over Buster Posey before Chase Utley and Mike Trout get jealous but he's just so good. Posey extended his hit streak to 18 games, going 4-5 and moving his slash line to .371/.407/.579. While Posey is a blog favorite, those are MVP caliber numbers. And he's a catcher. This brings up 2 questions. 1) How bad did Tampa Bay screw up in the 2008 draft by passing on Posey when they needed a catcher? 2) Bengie Molina?

Honorable Mention: Dan Haren
While the San Francisco Poseys were beating the Diamondbacks in extra innings, the Angels were beating their GM in making trades. You can catch my analytical/non-biased reaction on the trade here (now with 300% more bias) but Dan Haren was a pretty big winner without even playing last night. He gets to go play in his native SoCal for an annual playoff contender while the Diamondbacks are trending toward Pittsburgh Pirate territory. Haren's escape from the dessert to the beach is one of the best sand moves since that hour glass got the job on Days of Our Lives.



That reference was brought to you via my grandma. I promise I don't watch soap operas. Unless you count Gossip Girl.

Angels Steal Haren From D-Backs and 28 Other Teams

My beloved Halos traded for Dan Haren today in what appears to be a laughable deal. The Diamondbacks dealt their ace to the Angels for back-end rotation guy Joe Saunders and 2 prospects and a player to be named later. The rumors suggest that PTBNL is 2009 supp pick Tyler Skaggs. While Skaggs was coveted by the Diamondbacks, the trade still looks silly. Tony Reagins seemed to catch other GMs asleep at the wheel by sneaking in and acquiring Haren out of nowhere without giving up a big (or even good) package of players.

While I write this, it appears the Angels will fall 7 games back of the Rangers in the AL West. Without a Rangers collapse, the Angels still figure to fall short of the playoffs. But Haren is signed to a below market deal until 2013 and that has to hurt the feelings of many GMs. Except of course for D-Backs GM, Jerry Dipoto, who is fooled by winning percentage and thinks Joe Saunders is good at the pitching. I really expected Dipoto to shout "but he's a lefty" in announcing the trade. Pairing Haren and Jered Weaver should make the Angels a dangerous playoff team if not this year then in the following years. Sorry Diamondback fans, you're in for a long next few seasons.

My Reaction: Wheeeeeee!!!!!
Somehow the Angels managed to add a front of the rotation pitcher without giving up a major prospect. It's absolutely stunning that there wasn't another GM offering a better deal than this for Haren. The D-Backs didn't come close to getting one of the Angels top prospects, most importantly Mike Trout. This trade at least gives me a glimmer of hope for the Angels making the playoffs but I'm smarter than that. It does help ease the pain of Vlad Guerrero murdering the ball for the Rangers and the fact that the Angels are still paying Gary Matthews Jr a boat load of money.

Dan Haren's Reaction: Wheeeeeee!!!!!
Haren gets to move back to his homegrown SoCal digs and pitch for a perennial playoff contender. He shouldn't mind pitching in the AL West where he posted a 120 ERA+ with the A's between 2005-2007.

Arizona Fan's Reaction: Football starts soon, right?