Dan Haren

Daniel John Haren (born September 17, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Haren played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, and Chicago Cubs.

He now serves as a pitching strategist with the Diamondbacks.

Daniel John Haren was born on September 17, 1980, in Monterey Park, California.

Haren attended Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California, where he played for the school's baseball team as a first baseman.

He was named All-San Gabriel Valley.

After he graduated from Bishop Amat, Haren enrolled at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, on a college baseball scholarship.

Playing for the Pepperdine Waves baseball team, he was selected as West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year in 1999.

As a sophomore in 2000, Haren had an 8-5 win–loss record and a 3.08 earned run average (ERA).

Haren starred for the baseball teams at Bishop Amat High School and Pepperdine University before the Cardinals selected him in the second round of the 2001 MLB draft.

In the 2001 season, his junior year, Haren posted a 2.22 ERA in 17 starts, while teammate Noah Lowry posted a 1.71 ERA in 18 starts.

Haren was named WCC Player of the Year and Lowry was Pitcher of the Year.

Haren also was a Second team College All-America.

The teammates skipped their senior seasons, and Lowry was taken in the first round (30th overall) by the San Francisco Giants and Haren was taken in the second round (72nd overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2001 Major League Baseball draft.

Haren made his professional debut with the New Jersey Cardinals in 2001 and was 3–3 with a 3.10 ERA in 12 appearances, with eight starts.

He also struck out 57 while only walking eight.

He then made 28 starts in A-ball in 2002 for the Peoria Chiefs and Potomac Cannons, finishing with a combined ERA of 2.74.

After he made his MLB debut in 2003, the Cardinals traded him to the Athletics to get Mark Mulder.

He started 2003 in Double-A with the Tennessee Smokies, but was promoted after eight starts to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

He was a combined 8–1 with a 2.68 ERA in 16 starts in 2003, with 84 strikeouts and was selected as the Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year.

Haren made his major league debut at the age of 22, on June 30, 2003.

He was the starting pitcher against the San Francisco Giants and allowed four runs (two earned) in six innings to pick up the loss.

He recorded his first Major League win with a six-inning start where he allowed only one run against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 19.

After finishing 2003 with a 5.08 ERA for the Cardinals in 14 starts, he was sent back down to AAA Memphis for the 2004 season.

He received a late-season call-up, and made five appearances in the postseason for the Cardinals, including two in the World Series.

The Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox, but Haren pitched well, tossing 4 scoreless innings.

After the 2004 season, the Cardinals traded Haren in a package that included right-handed reliever Kiko Calero and top hitting prospect Daric Barton to the Oakland Athletics for Mark Mulder.

Haren went 14–12 with a 3.73 ERA in his first full season as a major leaguer.

In 2005, Haren finished in the top 10 in the American League in the following categories: innings pitched (217, ninth place), strikeouts (163, sixth place), and complete games (three, fourth place).

After his first All-Star season in 2007, the Athletics traded him to the Diamondbacks for prospects.

Furthermore, in 2007, Haren had one of the best seasons among any pitcher in the majors.

Haren finished in the top ten in the American League in wins, with 15, strikeouts, with 192, innings pitched, with 222 2⁄3, strikeout to walk ratio, with 3.49, and finished in the top three in the AL in ERA with 3.07.

In 2007, he was also selected to start the MLB All Star Game.

On December 14, 2007, Haren was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, along with Connor Robertson, for prospects including Carlos González, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham, Greg Smith, Dana Eveland, and Chris Carter.

After appearing in two more All-Star Games in 2008 and 2009, the Diamondbacks traded him to the Angels during the 2010 season for Joe Saunders and pitching prospects.

A free agent after the 2012 season, he pitched for the Nationals in 2013, and then signed with the Dodgers for the 2014 season.

The Dodgers traded Haren to Miami after the 2014 season.

On July 31, 2015, Haren was traded to the Chicago Cubs for two minor league prospects.

Haren is one of a small number of MLB pitchers to have beaten all 30 Major League teams.

Although he was never a particularly well-known player, Haren finished his career with three All Star game appearances and the seventh best strikeout-to-walk ratio in major league history.