Pulling off a trade that caught everybody off guard, Angles General Manager Tony Reagins announced to the rest of the baseball world that he is not about to let his team concede the AL West to the Texas Rangers. Working in typical Angels covert fashion, Monday’s acquisition of ace Dan Haren was a huge shock to everyone, especially the New York Yankees, who many considered to be the front-runners in the Dan Haren sweepstakes. But once again proving that he is not one of those GMs that relies on that tired excuse of “looking forward to rebuilding next season,” Reagins dealt left-hander Joe Saunders and a couple of minor league arms in an attempt to match Texas’ recent pickup of ace Cliff Lee. Forget 2011––the Angels still want a shot at 2010.
Although Haren hasn’t exactly been lights out this year (he is second in the majors with 23 homers allowed and is currently sporting a 4.60 ERA), the Angles are hoping that he can conjure some of that electric stuff that made him so dominant during his years in Oakland. But then again, he was playing for a club that was 25 games under .500. What the Haren deal does for the Angels is bolster an already talented rotation that has had an underachieving year thus far. The Halos are 11th in the AL with 4.42 team ERA. Now, manager Mike Scioscia has another crafty right-hander that will hopefully eat up innings and relieve a struggling bullpen. If the Angels really do want to catch the high-flying Rangers, then they are going to need plenty of quality starts from Haren down the stretch.
The Angels aren’t wasting any time with their new ace, either––Haren will make his first start as an Angel tonight in Anaheim against the rival Boston Red Sox.
photo credit: The U.S. Army
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