Angels Trade Saunders 3 Others for Haren

[bababui]

Angels trade Joe Saunders for Diamondbacks' Dan Haren - latimes.com

Nice deal for the Angels and Haren is under contract through 2013.

[damientheomen3]

Hopefully Haren won't be like Kazmir...

[bababui]

Haren is very durable. We cant say the same thing about Kazmir.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Good trade for the Angels, as much as I hate to see Haren back in the AL West and playing for LAAoA.

[Left-handed Badger]

Who are the others? Five minutes is long enough for me to wait for the story to load.

[bababui]

...minor league pitchers Patrick Corbin and Rafael Rodriguez and a player to be named.

[damientheomen3]

Originally Posted by bababui

Haren is very durable. We cant say the same thing about Kazmir.

Dan Haren has left his first start for the Los Angeles Angels in the fifth inning after a line drive by Boston's Kevin Youkilis apparently hit him in the right forearm.
The Angels acquired Haren in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
The three-time All-Star had eight strikeouts against the Red Sox before Youkilis hit a two-out drive back to the mound. Haren was hit in the arm while attempting to catch it.
Haren dropped to his knees in pain on the infield grass, and the Angels' training staff quickly ushered him off the field. Fans near the Angels' dugout gave him a standing ovation, which he acknowledged with a tip of his cap.

Angels' Dan Haren hit by liner in debut start - MLB News - FOX Sports on MSN

[jbergey22]

Angels stole Haren. Well done.

Getting rid of Saunders while he had value was a brilliant move.

[pfreek11]

Sounds like Haren should be okay. The ball seems to have caught more meat than bone, so I hope to see him back in action soon.

It will be interesting to see if the Angels actually go after any hitters. Or, you know, maybe some of our current players could hit something.

[95Marinerschangedmylife]

I might not have read it right and I am not trying to be sarcastic but can someone explain the front office explanation of why Haren for Saunders and Co. Saunders was just slumping a little. I think he will be just as good as Haren down the stretch. I must be missing something because everyone else seems to think this is a good trade.

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by 95Marinerschangedmylife

I might not have read it right and I am not trying to be sarcastic but can someone explain the front office explanation of why Haren for Saunders and Co. Saunders was just slumping a little. I think he will be just as good as Haren down the stretch. I must be missing something because everyone else seems to think this is a good trade.

I'm not sure this answers your question or not, but it is a good article about the difference between the sabermetric perspective of Dan Haren and the baseball perspective of Dan Haren:
Why MLB Teams Aren’t Big Dan Haren Fans | FanGraphs Baseball

The metric guys all think this is a swindle for the Angels. The guys that see low velocity/HR allowed do not share this view.

[TribeFanInNC]

Another fangraphs blog about the trade. The end discusses what the DBacks might have been trying to do with this deal anyway:
Haren’s “Haul” (UPDATED) | FanGraphs Baseball

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by 95Marinerschangedmylife

I might not have read it right and I am not trying to be sarcastic but can someone explain the front office explanation of why Haren for Saunders and Co. Saunders was just slumping a little. I think he will be just as good as Haren down the stretch. I must be missing something because everyone else seems to think this is a good trade.

Saunders is barely above a replacement level pitcher.(see WAR) Joe Saunders Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com The American League has figured him out and not he is going to a team that plays in a hitters park and plays very poor defense which is a very bad combo.

Here is Haren for comparison. Dan Haren Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

Haren playing in LA's pitchers park with the Angels above average defense should lead to a nice end of the year for Haren.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Saunders is barely above a replacement level pitcher.(see WAR) Joe Saunders Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com The American League has figured him out and not he is going to a team that plays in a hitters park and plays very poor defense which is a very bad combo.

Looking at his WAR, he's obviously much more than "barely above a replacement level pitcher"?

[TribeFanInNC]

Yeah, I would agree, at least with the semantics. Saunders is above replacement level. WAR is positive in all years. His general ERA+ trend is right around 100, or league average. WHIP is average too. Replacement level is below league average, commonly 80%.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

Looking at his WAR, he's obviously much more than "barely above a replacement level pitcher"?

LEt me correct. He had 1 great year. The other years are barely above replacement level.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

LEt me correct. He had 1 great year. The other years are barely above replacement level.

I think that's too harsh. Even taking away his best year, he's better than "barely above replacement level". You don't really find AAAA pitchers with that level of performance.

He averaged more than 1.2 WAR if you count 2006, 2007, and 2009, without the great 2008 year. That's not great or anything, but it's your typical #3 starter.