Dan Haren warming up nicely to Miami Marlins gig
Being a professional athlete is a job most of us dream about. It’s a privilege for almost anyone fortunate enough to live that reality. But it doesn’t mean being a consummate professional — like in any other industry — won’t have its fair share of difficult situations presented . Both on the field and off, players can face turmoil.
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When a player with a family gets traded out of the blue, things can get sticky. Such was the case for Miami Marlins pitcher Dan Haren. Up until December 10, 2014, he probably assumed he would be playing out his contract in California with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 34-year-old father of two exercised his $10 million option with the club for 2015, then was unceremoniously shipped off with Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas to the East Coast.
Haren, a native Californian, did not plan on such short notice to uproot his wife and kids or to move across the country away from them to continue his playing career. When the Marlins trade was announced, he pondered retirement.
While the move from Orange County to South Beach may not have done wonders for his personal life, from a professional standpoint, Haren has responsibly accepted the new circumstance in his life and has flourished.
Haren’s best seasons came from 2007-09 when he made threee consecutive All-Star games with the Athletics and Diamondbacks. A trade to the Angels during the 2010 season brought Haren back to SoCal. While in Anaheim, he received Cy Young consideration in 2011 and compiled a .550 wining percentage there over two-and-a-half seasons.
Miami Marlins
A move to Washington in 2013 and then the Dodgers in 2014 produced seasons with ERA’s over 4.00 and a combined WAR of -0.6. After initially being hesitant about the move to Miami, Haren is experiencing a career resurgence of sorts. He is playing his finest baseball since the three year stretch when he appeared in consecutive All-Star Games.
The right-hander is off to the fifth 4-1 start of his career and is setting the benchmark for the Marlins somewhat patchwork rotation right now. Through six starts, Haren leads the club in wins, ERA (2.68) and strikeouts (24). He is also one of three pitchers in the rotation, along with Mat Latos and David Phelps, who did not play with the Marlins in 2014. Jose Fernandez and Henderson Alvarez are both on the disabled list, leaving Tom Koehler and Jarred Cosart as the last two arms rounding out the current rotation.
The injuries are one thing, but the rotation is patchwork mainly because management felt a need to necessitate a ‘win now’ mentality within the organization after extending Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich in the offseason to hefty contracts. So as a result, reliable veterans like Haren and Latos were brought in and young talents like Anthony DeSclafani and Nathan Eovaldi who were brought up through the Marlins’ farm system were said goodbye to.
Fernandez, when healthy, is the ace of this staff. But even still, he is the longest tenured Miami Marlins starting pitcher and he is only 22-years-young. Outside of him, no starting pitcher on Miami’s 25-man roster was with the club for Opening Day 2013. Cosart came over at the trade deadline from Houston last year and before him, Alvarez was part of the blockbuster deal between the Marlins and Blue Jays back in 2012, but initially started his career with Miami on the 60-day DL.
Right now, Haren is doing a fine job as the most veteran player on Miami’s rotation leading by example in the absence of Fernandez. The club is being competitive in the NL East and is only 4.5 games back of the first place Mets. Though their rotation may not be as cohesive as others in the division, the Miami Marlins should only get better when Fernandez returns in June.
Offensively, they’re about to get a boost with Yelich expected to be activated from the DL sometime this weekend for the final three games of their series versus the Giants. Also, in Haren’s most recent win Thursday night, he helped his own cause by scoring two runs and delivering two RBI in the contest. Ironically enough, Haren is scheduled to make his next start May 12 at Dodger Stadium.