Dan Haren tells Marlins that he won’t pitch for them

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Haren was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins this MLB off-season, but the veteran starting pitcher maintains that he won’t pitch in Miami.

Dan Haren doesn’t want to pitch for the Marlins. The Marlins know that, they have known that for a while, and really, they aren’t even upset about it. This was the situation from the start when Haren was traded from the Dodgers to the Marlins, so now everybody is just kind of going through the motions until it is resolved.

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The Dodgers also knew that Haren wouldn’t want to pitch for the Marlins, and with the 34-year-old pondering retirement as a real option this off-season, Los Angeles offered to pay Haren’s salary if he didn’t pitch in Miami. So while the Marlins might try to accommodate Haren’s desire to pitch on the west coast to get something for him in a trade, they might just let him retire too.

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that Haren has informed the Marlins that he does not plan to pitch for them and still wants to be traded out west.

"Dan Haren has informed the Marlins that his preference remains to pitch out West, and for a team that has Spring Training in Arizona. The 34-year-old California native had been weighing his options sinced he was traded to Miami from the Dodgers on Dec. 10.If Miami cannot work out a trade, it is not clear yet if the 12-year big league veteran will retire.Haren’s decision does not change the terms of the deal."

It’s an interesting dynamic, because Haren has made it clear that he is comfortable walking away from the game despite the fact that he proved in 2014 that he can still be an effective pitcher in the big leagues. In 32 starts last season, Haren went 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA over 186.0 innings. Any number of contending teams would love to add Haren to sure up the back of their starting rotation.

Given Haren’s stance, however, he will only be helping a big league team next season if the Los Angeles Angels or another western team shows interest in acquiring him.

There are no hard feelings, apparently, but one thing is clear: Dan Haren will not be pitching for the Miami Marlins next season. Whether he will be pitching at all remains to be seen, but it most likely will not be for the Marlins or any other team in an Eastern or Central division.

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