FanPost

The Cliff Lee Signing and the Dan Haren Trade - A What-If Post

Cliff Lee going to the Phillies has an absolute ton of ramifications throughout baseball. I outlined some of them in the SnakeBytes for today, but just take a quick look at how some teams have been affected.

The Yankees still need their arm, as do the Rangers, but both of them never expected that they'd still be competing with each other on the market. The Royals will see the Zach Greinke trade market heat up. The Jays, considered one of the favorites in that race, could see increased efforts from the Rangers to get Greinke. The Rays could see Matt Garza's market explode, as the Yankees could look for an upper-level arm who doesn't have the psychological concerns that Greinke may. The Cubs, who were once supposedly hot on Garza, could see that price explode out of their price range. The Nationals' efforts to land a big-name arm to go with Jayson Werth may suddenly become futile in the new market unless they add Jordan Zimmerman or Ian Desmond to the package.

Unfortunately, one team that this signing doesn't affect much is the Diamondbacks. I say unfortunately because there is a scenario that isn't too hard to imagine in which it would affect Arizona, in a dramatic and beneficial fashion.

I have supported the Dan Haren trade in the past, because I felt that we moved him when his value was supposedly highest - when he had the most time remaining on his contract. That was at the time when the Yankees were assumed to be willing to outbid everyone for Cliff Lee, and the Haren market wasn't going to extend further than it where it was at last year's deadline. Well, as if I needed another reminder of what happens when you assume.

Lee going to Philadelphia just changed everything. Imagine right now, if we had hung on to Haren, the position we would be in. Two teams, the Rangers and Yankees, still want a pitcher, preferably a big-name arm. Arizona would be competitor in the Greinke trade market with an arm who is dramatically superior to Matt Garza. Haren is someone who has pitched in the AL before, is a reputed ace, and put up better numbers there than Garza has in recent years. Haren is coming off a down year, sure, but so is Greinke. Haren has no psychological concerns of going to New York. And Arizona has a GM who just worked for the Yankees a year ago and is familiar with Brian Cashman and the Yankees' system.

There's no way we couldn't get Montero, Nova, McAllister, and maybe Chamberlain from the Yankees for Dan Haren today. UGH.

With that possible haul from the Yankees in mind, and considering that the Angels just swung-and-missed on their outfield targets, what would L.A. be willing to offer to get Haren as a way of salvaging their off-season? Sure, Mike Trout is still untouchable, but what if we could get a combination of Skaggs, Corbin, Saunders, and someone like Hank Conger or Jordan Walden instead of Quad-A'er Rafael Rodriguez?

What if the Jays fail to rein in Greinke? How about a package of Kyle Drabek, J.P Arencibia, Eric Thames, and Chad Jenkins?

How about Texas? I'd certainly be in favor of a Martin Perez, Mike Olt, Robbie Ross, and Luis Sardinas package.

We couldn't have been expected to be able to predict that Ruben Amaro would assemble the best rotation in recent history, and I'm certainly eating a lot of crow for supporting the haul we got from the Angels. Maybe what we do now is put Saunders on the market and settle for a reclamation-type guy. But, whether it can be said that the interim F.O. was at fault for making this deal or not, the bottom line is this: the way events have played out certainly makes it appear like it was a misstep.

So here's what I'm wondering from y'all - what type of package do you think the D-backs could get for Dan Haren today if he were still on the team?