At least the #4 man in the Dodgers 2015 rotation is figured out, for now. Via a tweet from OC Register reporter Bill Plunkett, we find out that starting pitcher Dan Haren has already notified the team that he will be exercising the player option in his contract.
Dan Haren has informed #Dodgers he will exercise player option in his contract for 2015. Will be back at $10m salary. 13-11, 4.02 ERA in '14
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 30, 2014
Haren had recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his non-pitching shoulder a couple of weeks ago, so this news is hardly surprising. Even with the surgery taking place on his off-shoulder you would have to think he'd have a tough time equaling the $10Mil salary.
Overall, Dan Haren had an average season filled with moments of brilliance. He was an innings eater (pitching 186 innings) who continued to strike out opponents at ratio that was a little better than four to one. Haren went 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA in 32 starts.
In two games he gave up just one hit in seven innings. In fifteen games he gave up two earned runs or less. To start the 2014 season he went 5-1 in eight starts and had a 2.84 ERA. Over his last ten starts of the season, he went 5-2 with a 2.43 ERA, and had only one really bad start during that period. Over that stretch opposing batters hit just .191 against him. So, he finished strong.
I can't be unhappy with this development. Dan Haren provides some veteran leadership in a position that requires him to pitch a lot of innings and provide some decent starts. By all accounts he does just that.
In commemoration of Haren's decision to stay Blue I made the above fantasy card for him. I used a photograph taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014 during Spring Training and used the 1971 Topps Baseball card design.
Below are his career statistics, via Baseball-Reference:
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