Arizona’s Haren gets 4-year, $44.75 million deal
Author: Amanda Category: ArticlesArizona Diamondbacks All-Star pitcher Dan Haren has agreed to terms on a four-year, $44.75 million contract that runs through the 2012 season with a club option for 2013.
Haren, acquired in an offseason trade with the Oakland Athletics, is 12-5 with a 2.75 ERA, fourth-best in the National League. He is fourth in the NL in strikeouts with 142 and leads the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.92.
“I knew I’d like it here but I didn’t know I’d like it this much,” Haren said at a news conference at Chase Field on Tuesday. “A lot of these guys are going to be around for a while and I’ll be one of them. I just couldn’t be happier.”
The 27-year-old Haren is part of a potent 1-2 Arizona pitching punch with staff ace Brandon Webb, who also has had talks with the Diamondbacks on a new deal. Buy Arizona Diamondbacks Tickets at Tickco.
Haren’s new deal includes $31.5 million more than he would have made in his old contract, which ran through 2009 with a team option for 2010. If the club picks up the option for 2013, the new contract would total $56.75 million.
The contract pays him $7.5 million in 2009, $8.25 million in 2010, and $12.75 million in 2011 and 2012. The deal includes a $3.5 buyout if the team doesn’t pick up the option.
Webb, 16-4 after a complete-game 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, has a contract that also expires in 2009 with a club option for 2010. But Byrnes said talks on a new contract for Webb have been “tabled” for now. Webb, the NL Cy Young winner in 2006, makes $6.5 million in 2009 and, if the team picks up the option, $9.5 million in 2010, including $1 million in incentives he’s already reached.
The right-handed Haren has been durable as well as effective. Since 2005, he is tied for second in the majors with 125 starts and is third in innings pitched with 816 1-3. Manager Bob Melvin said he found Haren to be better than advertised.
“I didn’t realize what an intense competitor he is and what a big-game pitcher he is,” Melvin said. “The better the opponent, the tougher the game, the more excited he is about pitching.”
Haren and Webb were Arizona’s All-Star Game representatives this year. Haren, who started the 2007 All-Star Game for the American League, pitched two scoreless innings in the contest this season in New York.

