Update: Friday, Nov. 3 at 12:15 a.m. ET
The Angels-Cubs trade saga took a dramatic turn into the morning, as the Angels decided not to deal Haren and make him a free agent. MLB beat writer Alden Gonzalez tweets:
#Angels have declined the option on Dan Haren.
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) November 3, 2012
It seems the L.A. brass couldn’t find a deal of equal or lesser value for Haren’s services than Marmol. They decided to cut their losses and make Haren somebody else’s problem.
Boy, it’s going to be awkward for Marmol in Chicago.
—End of Update—
Update: Friday, Nov. 2 at 10:30 p.m. ET
All of a sudden, it appears the Chicago Cubs have nixed the trade that would have sent Carlos Marmol to the Los Angeles Angels and Dan Haren to Chicago, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.
Rosenthal tweeted on Friday:
Source: Marmol would have OK’ed trade to #Angels, but #Cubs pulled deal off table and trade is not happening. Angels talking to other clubs.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 3, 2012
— End of Update —
The Los Angeles Angels have reportedly traded right-hander Dan Haren for Chicago Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
Heyman tweeted:
Haren was traded to #cubs, confirmed
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 2, 2012
Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com added:
Confirmed, #Angels and #Cubs swapping Haren and Marmol. Details still a little fuzzy, though.
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) November 3, 2012
The trade comes as a bit of a surprise, but given Haren’s $15.5 million option for next season and his 12-13 record and 4.33 ERA last season, perhaps it isn’t that surprising after all.
Haren’s deal includes a $3.5 million buyout, but it obviously doesn’t matter too much for the Angels.
Of the four Angels starters who had at least 30 starts last season, Haren tied with Ervin Santana for the fewest quality starts (15). While he did have a better second half of the season (6-5, 3.58 ERA), perhaps the damage had already been done.
This also makes it more likely that the Angels will give right-hander Zack Greinke what he wants this offseason. He’s arguably the top starter on the free-agent market.
Greinke posted a 15-5 record, a 3.48 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 200 strikeouts in just over 212 innings this past season with the Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
As for Marmol, the 30-year-old posted a 3.42 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 55.1 innings (61 appearances) last season with the Cubs. Given that the Angels ranked 12th out of 14 American League teams in bullpen ERA last season (3.97), it’s no wonder why they are adding a reliever to their roster.
As for the Cubs, they ranked 14th out of 16 National League teams in starters’ ERA last season (4.52), so this works for both sides.
The Cubs went 61-101 last season, while the Angels finished with a 89-73 record, disappointing given preseason expectations.
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