Innings Eaters: MLB News for 3/23/2015 – Javier Baez, Cleveland Indians, and More!

Here’s what was going on over at Innings Eaters today, Monday 3/23/2015:

Chicago Cubs’ infielder Javier Baez had a poor 2014 season and is struggling again this year. Does he belong on the opening day roster? READ MORE

The Philadelphia Phillies seem to be trapped under the Ryan Howard contract. What should the Phillies have learned from this mistake? READ MORE

By Matthew Straubmuller (Flickr: Ryan Howard) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Hyun-Jin Ryu is going to start the 2015 season on the disabled list for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Is there a chance a reunion with Dan Haren is possible? READ MORE

The Cleveland Indians are hoping they can capture the American League Central this season. In order to do so, they’re going to need to stay healthy. What does the Indians’ injury list look like? READ MORE

 

Colorado Rockies Looking at Pitchers Ryan Vogelsong, Dillon Gee, and Dan Haren

Colorado Rockies show interest in Vogelsong, Gee, Haren

By james_in_to on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Gets the Blame for the Dan Haren Fiasco?

I’m probably more interested in Dan Haren and his unwillingness to pitch for the Miami Marlins in 2015 than most people. No stake in his decision, I’m loving this story because it combines a mix of transactions and the human aspect to it. We think a trade only affects a player’s uniform. In the Haren fiasco we are reminded how much more is involved.

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Dan Haren”) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

There are three people – or groups of people – we can blame for this going wrong. Who should we blame?

Miami Marlins

The obvious choice, the Marlins traded for Haren even though it was known he preferred to stay in Southern California. The Marlins could have gotten something else in their trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, like someone who would have been satisfied living in South Florida. Instead they took the veteran pitcher with a West Coast bias. Their pursuit of Haren was unintelligent. I equate it to trying to date a girl who only likes other girls. It was stupid of the Marlins to think they could change Haren. Winning is not what Haren cares about at this point so they can stop trying to convince him the team is headed to the playoffs. The last thing Haren will want is to spend even more time in Florida.

Los Angeles Dodgers

We could call the Dodgers the bad guys in this. Maybe it was underplayed how much Haren preferred to stay in SoCal? Even if it was tattooed on his forehead, the Dodgers are at least guilty of breaking a moral code. They sold something to the Marlins that they knew had no value to them. The Dodgers gave the Marlins canned fruit when the Marlins didn’t have a can opener. At the same time, it’s not up to the Dodgers to be an example of morality. If they can trade a broken baseball bat for a top prospect then why is it their fault for being the smarter team?

By LWYang on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Dan Haren

I would love to blame Haren for being a stuck-up and spoiled athlete. I would love if it was this easy. However I understand where he’s at. He never asked to be traded. Imagine if your boss decided to trade you from one location to another when your family is already in the first place. This does happen in most businesses and when it does it is your opportunity to step away from the job. The complicated issue only comes from the contract you may be under. Not knowing the full details of Haren’s or loopholes to get out of it, I don’t blame him for wanting to retire instead of playing somewhere he doesn’t want to go. Because of free agency’s existence, players are bigger shot callers than ever before.

Considering all of this, the Marlins are the ones who made the mistake. They treated Haren like he was a piece of meat who could be lured with a large enough carrot.

While I’m on the topic of large carrots, I’m predicting this is what the Marlins get in exchange for Haren. The longer they wait, the smaller that carrot gets.

The Dan Haren Problem

The Miami Marlins may have made the dumbest trade of all this offseason by picking up starting pitcher Dan Haren from the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is nothing against Haren’s pitching skills, rather, his stubbornness and outright refusal to play anywhere other than Southern California.

Today, he once again let the world know he will not pitch for the Marlins in 2015.

I find Haren’s reluctance to play outside of California (and maybe Arizona) childish and a great example of how spoiled athletes have become. It’s like when John Elway refused to play for the Baltimore Colts or Eli Manning letting the San Diego Chargers know he would never put on their uniform. There’s a difference between these situations, maybe in Haren’s favor as he has at least played while those two were coming out of college when they tried to direct what team they played for.

As much as I would like to criticize Haren for his behavior, the Marlins already knew Haren didn’t want to play anywhere else. Trading for him was not a wise decision by any means. I figure the Marlins thought Haren could be convinced to pitch for them. How different can the weather be?

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Dan Haren”) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Adding Dee Gordon along with Haren and getting Martin Prado in a separate deal with the New York Yankees shows that the Marlins are at least trying to get better. Unfortunately winning is not an issue for Haren as he is only concerned about the location of 81 games each season which must be near his home in SoCal.

The Marlins are now left with a pitcher who will probably retire if he’s not traded. Haren could definitely help out a team on the West Coast, but knowing the Marlins are limited in their options they probably won’t get much for him.

Since he just came here from the Dodgers it’s unlikely he gets traded back. This leaves the best options in Arizona with the Diamondbacks or in San Diego with the Padres. Both teams could use a starting pitcher like Haren. Both teams should start battling it out to see which low-level prospect the Marlins are willing to accept for a guy they could end up getting nothing for.

Fact: Dan Haren Has the Fifth Highest Strikeouts to Walk Ratio in History

The history of the strikeouts to walks ratio is a bit interesting. In the top 25 are names like Ricky Nolasco, Jon Lieber, and Scott Baker. The most surprising to crack the top five is Dan Haren.

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Dan Haren”) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Haren’s career strikeouts to walk ratio is currently at 4.07. This is something he has led the league in three times throughout his otherwise often overlooked career. Less to do with his high number of strikeouts, Haren knows how to avoid walking opposing batters. His 1.9 walks per 9 is the best among all active players.

Rarely does Haren come up in the conversation when discussing the best pitchers from the 2000s. Fair enough, Haren deserves some credit for mastering control of the strike zone.

Fact: Pitcher Brett Anderson Earning $2.7 Million Per Career Win from the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers made a very odd move today when they gave Brett Anderson $10 million.

To clarify–they didn’t just give it to him. They are expecting him to pitch for them too. If his history is any indication, that money would have been better used raising funds for a non-existent disease.

Like many people, my first instinct after hearing this was Googling Anderson and trying to remember who even is.

Anderson was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks then dealt to the Oakland Athletics with several others in the Dan Haren trade of 2007. Anderson was 11-11 in his rookie season back in 2009 with 30 starts for the Athletics. This was the one season he was able to remain healthy. He has not only failed to reach double digit wins since, he has also not gone above 19 starts in any season.

Last year, while with the Colorado Rockies, Anderson was 1-3 in 8 starts with a 2.91 ERA. Injuries again hurt his chances to play a full season.

Six seasons in Major League Baseball, Anderson has 27 career wins. This averages out to about 4.5 wins per year and $2.7 million from the Dodgers for each game he has won in his career.

One thing the Dodgers need to consider is that Anderson won 40% of his games in one season and it was his rookie year. Signing him for any amount of money is absolutely foolish.

Of course if you ask the Dodgers, they’d tell us this was a risk they could afford to take. Ask anyone else, they will disagree.

The San Francisco Giants Acquire Jake Peavy: Your Move Los Angeles Dodgers

Earlier today the San Francisco Giants acquired Jake Peavy in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for top prospects Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree.

The Red Sox are smartly reloading (not rebuilding) and have shifted their focus from young position players to young pitchers to create a sunnier future in Boston. We won’t know for a while how the trade affects them, but even if they got a mule and a bag of magic beans for Peavy it was the right thing to do.

Peavy’s move to San Francisco returns him to the West Coast after beginning his career with the San Diego Padres. Despite what we have been made to believe, Peavy hasn’t been a top pitcher since 2007 or 2008 if you want to be generous. He has only finished with an ERA below 4.00 twice since this time and reached double digit wins just as many.

The role Peavy will take with the Giants looks to be replacing the currently injured Matt Cain and eventually joining the bullpen. The Giants already have a loaded starting rotation so picking up Peavy might be more of a precaution in case Tim Hudson’s body suddenly decides to start acting its age. There’s always a chance if Santiago Casilla struggles as the closer they end up moving someone like Tim Lincecum there although he has been great at times this season and should probably remain in the rotation instead of thrust into the closer’s role without much experience.

Even though the addition of Peavy is not something to blow anyone away, it does make me wonder what the Los Angeles Dodgers will now do. They have a surplus of outfielders and a starting rotation that when healthy and at their best can beat anyone. There’s still room for growth and we have to assume they are on the phones right now trying to steal headlines away from the only team giving them competition in the National League West.

Among their needs, the Dodgers could use an upgrade at catcher and possibly at third base. Juan Uribe has played well, but the lack of power at a position traditionally known for it is concerning. Uribe fits the lineup though and with the limited amount of third basemen even available he probably has some tight job security.

The pitching could however be fixed. Other than Dan Haren though, everyone has been pretty good. Josh Beckett still has a chance to lose his job if he continues his recent struggles, but like Lincecum on the Giants how do you demote a guy who pitched a no-hitter this season and has good numbers?

Some pitchers the Dodgers could target are Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Bartolo Colon, Ian Kennedy, David Price, and Peavy’s old teammate Jon Lester. If the Dodgers are looking to add an arm it will probably be a pretty big one. They are not known for shying away from spending money. The biggest thing stopping them from drastically upgrading the rotation will be if someone can beat them to it.

Photo Credit: By SD Dirk on Flickr (Original version) User UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons