Angels Need To Decide On Dan Haren and Ervin Santana…And Soon

I know I’m a little bit late on this, but hey there’s a hurricane where I am. In southern California however, it’s the usual gorgeous weather. There, it appears the Angels might be making an interesting move or two. It’s possible they could exercise the options on either Dan Haren or Ervin Santana to trade them or maybe even keep them.

Sep 10, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Dan Haren (24) reacts in the dugout during the game against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

I think based on Santana’s year and option money it would be extremely hard to trade him unless they pick up some of the money which wouldn’t make sense. It’s not like Santana is a terrible pitcher, however, he’s had a history of being inconsistent.Dan Haren is the interesting story here. He’s been a very good pitcher for a few years now, and with the shallow market  of free agent pitching, I think it makes some sense for the Angels to pick up the option, especially if they lose Zack Greinke in free agency. A top three of Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson and Haren would be outstanding and if you re-sign Greinke it makes it that much deeper. Also, if the re-sign Greinke, maybe they trade Haren and getting something for him.

This is going to be an evolving situation throughout the week, maybe even as early as today or tomorrow. I think the Angels front office wants to get a clearer vision of their pitching before going out and trying to re-sign Greinke. I also think they see the value that Haren and Santana have in a thin market that got even thinner when Jake Peavy re-signed.

Needless to say, the next couple of days will help shape the entire Angels off-season plan.