Dan Haren

The Angels did not exercise their 2013 $15.5 million option on starting pitcher Dan Haren and instead will be giving him a $3.5 million buy-out making him a free agent. That news comes on the heels of the news that an announced deal that would have sent Haren to the Cubs for Carlos Marmol fell apart at the last minute.

I don't understand this - I don't understand this at all.

First off - Carlos Marmol isn't chopped liver. He's a good reliever with a live arm about to enter his prime (just 29-years old). If the Cubs were willing to give up Marmol then there had to have been other clubs offering something - anything for Haren. By not picking up Haren's option then the Angels get nothing.

I've seen speculation that the Cubs may have been scared off the deal once they saw Haren's medical reports. This could be. Haren does have a bad back but Haren also came back from that bad back to go 3-2 with a 3.07 ERA in September in the middle of a playoff race. That's worth the risk for a team like the Red Sox who have deep pockets but not a deep rotation. 2012 was a bad year for Haren yet his 4.33 ERA for the year would have been the best among Boston pitchers with at least 10 starts. Don't tell me they wouldn't have given up something for Haren.

Could this have been financial? Marmol is on the books for almost $10 million in 2013. But again - by declining the option the Angels still pay the $3.5 million buyout but get nothing in return. This just doesn't make sense.