The Unofficial Scorer

Sorting through the numbers

Haren deal gives Astros another look at pitching market


Dan Haren isn’t Roy Oswalt, but his trade presented a second look at the market for starting pitching — the first being the Cliff Lee deal — as the Astros ponder their move with Oswalt.

The Arizona righthander, who is having his worst full season in a stellar career, was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for the following package:

• Big league lefty starter Joe Saunders, a low-strikeout former All-Star who has been average-to-below for two years. Could still do well in a move to the NL. He’s owed roughly $1.5 million the rest of this year and will be in arbitration year 2 next year.

• Righty reliever Rafael Rodriguez, 25, who has been poor in 19 major league outings but has pitched well for Class AAA Salt Lake City this year.

• High Class A lefty starter Patrick Corbin, who is 13-3 with a 3.87 ERA and a very solid strikeout-to-walk ratio across two levels in his second pro season.

• And most importantly, a player to be named later, and a player reported in multiple places to be a top prospect who doesn’t share his name with a bony fish.

Haren’s deal is smaller than Oswalt’s if Oswalt’s 2012 option is exercised, as Haren will make $12.75 million in 2011 and 2012. He is also more than three years younger than Oswalt.

But he’s not having a great year, which has made Oswalt widely considered the top name on the market. Haren is 7-8 with a 4.60 ERA for the dreadful Diamondbacks, but with that ERA comes a league-leading 141 strikeouts in 141 innings, which translate better than ERA, which is harder to control.

Depending on who the player is, it’s a package that seems like it was not ideal but a good way to dump salary. Saunders could certainly hit free agency or be non-tendered before the Diamondbacks are good again, and Corbin and the PTBNL would provide the trade’s only value.

If I’m an Astros general manager, I’m not really smiling upon hearing this deal, but hoping that the Diamondbacks were so eager to dump salary that they jumped for anything.

Categories: Uncategorized
Zachary Levine

12 Responses

  1. Al says:

    You’re absolutely right. I hope the Astros can do better than this for Oswalt. I’d rather take my chances on a couple more hot low-level prospects than Saunders and Rodriguez. Maybe that ptbnl is really the key; otherwise, as you stated, it looks like a salary dump. And as the Astros rebuild, they need to do more than just dump Roy’s salary.

  2. Miggy says:

    Roy’s ERA was over 4 last year, mid-three this year and seemingly rising. He’s getting older and owed a lot of money. And his last two starts, which were auditions for other teams, have gone poorly.

    Not really a recipe to receive top prospects, but let’s hope I’m wrong. A deal like the Haren deal is probably all the Astros can expect.

  3. Matthew says:

    Pure salary dump. That’s an embarrassing bunch of nothing to the DBacks.

    Is anybody really expecting Ed Wade to outsmart a contending team?

  4. Millard Fillmore says:

    The lymchpin is Drayton being willing to swallow a nice portion of Roy O’s contract. Period. Regardless of where he may be going, even the Yankees, that is the dealbreaker.

  5. Barry says:

    I’m beginning to think we have less than a 50% to trade Oswalt. Reasons…1. Salary to high 2. Option year 3. Age (Injury potential) 4. Wanting too much in return. Or we could sum it up this way…1. Money 2. Money 3. Money 4. Money Oh and the wild card….Wade and Drayton

  6. D.A.K. says:

    The Angels are nuts… that was a sad ‘desperation move’ on their part and doesn’t really improve their chances to make a run at the Rangers. They can only pray for yet another high summer meltdown in Arlington at the outrageous heat in that blast furnace they call the Ballpark in Arlington generally kills thet stoutest of hearts. Roy O would have guaranteed them a repeat.

  7. astroglide says:

    oswalt hurt is chances with the Sat nite debacle.

    the money is the big deal, roy. and at the end of the day, MLB is all about money.

    I doubt he will get a better deal than what he has- I imagine he will have to make a big concession if he leaves the astros for greener pastures.

    he may just have to be one of those good players who never played for a winner.

    take your money and your tractor and shut up.

  8. br. ron says:

    Begins to look like these deals for people who are performing poorly, and even have been performing poorly for awhile, are merely “chance taking” for the sake of hope in some sort of resurgence. Someone or group or panel of someones, decide to take a chance, apparently after considering pluses and minuses, but also that it comes down to rolling the dice for the sake of “trying something”.

  9. Kurt says:

    I honestly think the Astros organization has waited too long. The Astros are losing any leverage they had because all the teams that want pitching are getting it. Oswalt is fading fast it appears. The Stros may not get offered very much if the bidding teams end up being the Phillies and Cardinals.

  10. Mike S. says:


    I have to disagree with you about the Astros waiting too long. Roy is the last top of the rotation pitcher available. As long as there’s more than one team interested, the Astros should be able to play multiple teams off against each other (i.e. the Phils, Mets, Tigers, Dodgers and the Red Birds)and increase their take. It won’t be hard to do better than the D-Backs, but I think that was just a salry dump.

    If I were the Stros, I’d be willing to pick up a part of Roy’s salary next year in trade for better prospects. Right now I favor a trade with the Phils as ong as they can move Werth to bring in some more prospects.

    I’m still confident that we can get something done that benefits us down the road.

  11. dudley says:

    Astros need to make the best deal they can with any team not named the Cardinals, then take it to Roy and let his decision be made public. If he turns it down, he will look bad, not the team. then you keep him and try again during the off-season. If he accepts the trade, you take whatever you can get as far as young prospects/talent.

  12. BillyBob says:

    Don’t count on Roy being anywhere but on the Astros bench on August 1. Uncle Drayton will demand too much in return, or be willing to cover too little of Roy’s salary for a deal to get done. In the end Ed Wade will bring a good half dozen possible trades to the table, but the baseball men will lose out to the idiot owner.I pity men like Roy and Lance Berkman, who should have a chance to go out winners with good teams in other cities.