Dan Haren

As if the pitching-thin Angels need another reminder of what might have been, there it is, on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, New York Mets ace Matt Harvey, the one who got away. The Angels picked Harvey in the third round in 2007 knowing it would take first-round money to sign him out of high school, but when owner Arte Moreno authorized an offer of only $1 million - half of what Harvey wanted - the right-hander went to the University of North Carolina. Harvey signed for $2.6 million with the Mets in 2010 and, armed with a 97-mph fastball and devastating curve, has emerged as a Cy Young Award candidate this season, going 5-0 with a 1.55 earned-run average in his first nine starts.

As if the pitching-thin Angels need another reminder of what might have been, there it is, on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated, New York Mets ace Matt Harvey, the one who got away. The Angels picked Harvey in the third round in 2007 knowing it would take first-round money to sign him out of high school, but when owner Arte Moreno authorized an offer of only $1 million - half of what Harvey wanted - the right-hander went to the University of North Carolina. Harvey signed for $2.6 million with the Mets in 2010 and, armed with a 97-mph fastball and devastating curve, has emerged as a Cy Young Award candidate this season, going 5-0 with a 1.55 earned-run average in his first nine starts.

Tempe, Ariz. -- Angels pitchers Dan Haren and C.J. Wilson, teammates for the first time this season, have opposed each other twice as starters in the big leagues, in 2010 and 2011, but their history actually dates back to 2001, when they squared off in a memorable college game at Loyola Marymount University. “We both threw seven or eight innings, we both hit home runs off each other, I ran over their catcher … it was my favorite game in college,” said Wilson, a former LMU star.

It looks like Dan Haren's short tenure with the Angels is over, as the right-hander agreed to a one-year, $13-million deal with the Washington Nationals. The deal probably means the Nationals won't sign pitcher Zack Greinke, considered the plum of the free-agent market, leaving the door open for the Angels or Dodgers to sign him. Haren, 32, went 12-13 with a 4.33 ERA for the Angels last season. He struggled with a sore back throughout the season, however, and the Angels declined to pick up his one-year, $15.5-million team option.

NEW YORK - Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto said they were "very encouraged" by Dan Haren's full bullpen workout Thursday in Angel Stadium, a session the veteran right-hander, on the disabled list because of lower-back stiffness, will repeat Saturday with Class-A Inland Empire. Barring a setback, Haren, who has been bothered all season by the injury, could make a minor league rehabilitation start Tuesday and join the Angels rotation for a July 22 game against the Texas Rangers in Anaheim.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Angels lost an integral part of their bullpen Tuesday when left-handed reliever Scott Downs was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a shoulder strain, an injury that could sideline him for several weeks. “We're comfortable with the fact that this won't push him back too far, but he might need a couple of weeks for this to settle down,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Right now, it's a minor issue, and we want to keep it that way.” Downs, 37, will be replaced on the roster by left-hander Hisanori Takahashi, who was called up from triple-A Salt Lake and joined the team for Tuesday night's game against the Texas Rangers.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Just when Dan Haren thought his back issues were behind him . . . they're back. The veteran right-hander tweaked a muscle in the right side of his back during his last start against Tampa Bay on Friday night. The injury is not in the same area as the lower-back tightness that sent him to the disabled list on July 4, but it is expected to prevent Haren from pitching Wednesday night against the Rangers. Haren played long toss Monday and hopes to throw a light bullpen session Tuesday.

Dan Haren will be skipped in the rotation in Boston next week, but the struggling right-hander will not be removed from the rotation completely. Manager Mike Scioscia said Friday that Haren, who was tagged for 10 earned runs and 12 hits in seven innings of his last two starts, both losses, will pitch Aug. 25 in Detroit. Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson will start against the Red Sox in a three-game series that begins Tuesday, and Zack Greinke will start the opener of a three-game series in Detroit next Friday.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Dan Haren said he felt good after his bullpen workout Thursday, and the right-hander, who did not pitch Wednesday because of soreness in the right side of his back, will be inserted into the rotation for Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox. “I've made a lot of progress the last five days,” Haren said. “I didn't think me pitching in the near future was going to happen when I woke up the day after I last pitched.” Haren, who went on the disabled list for the first time in his career because of lower-back stiffness on July 5, pitched well in victories over Texas on July 22 and Tampa Bay last Friday night, but he tweaked his side against the Rays.

It looks like Dan Haren's short tenure with the Angels is over, as the right-hander agreed to a one-year, $13-million deal with the Washington Nationals. The deal probably means the Nationals won't sign pitcher Zack Greinke, considered the plum of the free-agent market, leaving the door open for the Angels or Dodgers to sign him. Haren, 32, went 12-13 with a 4.33 ERA for the Angels last season. He struggled with a sore back throughout the season, however, and the Angels declined to pick up his one-year, $15.5-million team option.

NASHVILLE - The Angels made an offer to a veteran starting pitcher that was essentially blown out of the water by the Washington Nationals on the second day of baseball's winter meetings. Lucky for the Angels, that pitcher was Dan Haren and not Zack Greinke. Washington agreed to terms Tuesday on a one-year, $13-million deal for Haren, a move that probably takes the well-heeled Nationals out of the running for Greinke, the jewel of this winter's free-agent class and a top target of the Angels.

Dan Haren insisted Thursday that he is physically sound after a Chicago Sun-Times report cited unnamed sources as saying “medical issues” led to the Cubs pulling out of a trade that would have sent closer Carlos Marmol to the Angels for Haren last Friday. The Angels subsequently declined Haren's $15.5-million option for 2013, buying it out for $3.5 million, and the veteran right-hander who went 12-13 with a 4.33 earned-run average last season is now a free agent. “It's definitely a little frustrating to hear, being as I've started all but three games over a nine-year career,” Haren said in an email.

Teammates call Torii Hunter the "heart and soul" of the Angels, and the popular right fielder practically carried the club during its recent September playoff push, but it appears Hunter's distinguished five-year run in Anaheim will end. The Angels did not make a $13.3-million "qualifying offer" to Hunter on Friday, a decision that does not preclude Hunter from returning to Anaheim but may have pushed him out the door. Later Friday night, veteran pitcher Dan Haren got the boot.

After a trade with the Chicago Cubs fell through, the Angels declined Dan Haren's $15.5-million option and bought it out for $3.5 million Friday night, making the veteran right-hander a free agent. Haren, slowed by lower-back tightness in the first half of the season, finished with a 12-13 record and 4.33 earned-run average, but the Angels, mindful of his high mileage and decreased velocity, determined the 32-year-old right-hander was not worth $15.5 million. Acquired from Arizona at the July 31 trade deadline in 2010, Haren went more than seven seasons without missing a start before going on the disabled list for the first time in his career in early July.

The Angels appeared to be on the verge of a trade that would send pitcher Dan Haren to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Carlos Marmol, with Marmol going so far as to tell reporters in the Dominican Republic late Friday afternoon he had waived his no-trade clause to come to Anaheim. Several media outlets in Chicago, citing unnamed sources, reported the deal was done. However, a source familiar with the negotiations, but not authorized to speak publicly about them, told The Times, “there is no deal between the Angels and Cubs.” Early Friday evening, well after reports of the trade filled Twitter, Haren, in an email exchange with The Times, said he had “not heard anything” from the Angels or Cubs about a deal.

Right fielder Torii Hunter and pitcher Dan Haren are pessimistic about their chances of remaining with the Angels as a 9 p.m. Friday deadline for decision making looms. The Angels and Hunter have made little progress in contract talks, and the chances of the team extending him a $13.3-million "qualifying offer" appear slim, according to a person familiar with negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about them. "It's kind of disappointing, but what are you going to do?"

Dan Haren insisted Thursday that he is physically sound after a Chicago Sun-Times report cited unnamed sources as saying “medical issues” led to the Cubs pulling out of a trade that would have sent closer Carlos Marmol to the Angels for Haren last Friday. The Angels subsequently declined Haren's $15.5-million option for 2013, buying it out for $3.5 million, and the veteran right-hander who went 12-13 with a 4.33 earned-run average last season is now a free agent. “It's definitely a little frustrating to hear, being as I've started all but three games over a nine-year career,” Haren said in an email.

SEATTLE -- The Angels are all but certain to decline Dan Haren's $15.5-million option for 2013. The 32-year-old right-hander, slowed by a lower-back injury and showing signs of wear and tear after seven straight years with 216 innings or more, went 12-13 with a 4.33 earned run average this season. And the Angels would like to use their rotation resources to re-sign free-agent right-hander Zack Greinke, who could command a deal in excess of $100 million. But Manager Mike Scioscia would not be be surprised to see the veteran bounce back next season.

A month ago, Angels pitcher Dan Haren saw his career heading in one of two very distinct directions. "Going into the off-season," the 32-year-old right-hander said in an email Thursday, "I thought I was going to be a free agent or come back to the Angels. " Most likely, neither will happen. The Angels are actively shopping Haren in hopes of netting some kind of return in a trade before he becomes a free agent. Several teams, including the Boston Red Sox, are believed to be interested.

The Angels got something for Ervin Santana just hours before he would have become a free agent Wednesday, trading the veteran right-hander and $1 million to the Kansas City Royals for minor league reliever Brandon Sisk. The Angels had until 9 p.m. Wednesday to exercise Santana's $13-million option for 2013 or buy it out for $1 million and let Santana go. In effect, they did both, and acquired a 27-year-old left-hander who is yet to pitch in the big leagues but is expected to compete for a spot in the Angels' bullpen next season.