Thursday Halolinks: Ervin Santana Is Gone, Dan Haren Next To Go

The Angels dropped a rock into the Royals' trick or treat bag yesterday when they sent Ervin Santana and a million dollars to Kansas City for 27-year-old minor leaguer Brandon Sisk. If you read the comments on the Royals site and those here on HH you get the feeling almost everyone is happy with the deal, although I get the feeling that Royals fans are just happy their sharp-as-a-bowling-ball GM Dayton Moore didn't give up too much in getting Ervin. Good luck Voodoo, don't forget to read your Halolinks:

• FanGraphs has an interesting post on the next player to be traded by the Halos. It doesn't really answer the question as to what Angel fans should expect in return of Dan Haren, but they do a nice job looking at the possible reasons for Haren's poor (by his standards) season in 2012: The Market for Dan Haren - FanGraphs Baseball. "The unknown about 2012 was just how long Haren was pitching in pain. For the first time in his career, Haren spent time on the disabled list with a lower back strain. He finally revealed the injury to the club after he was torched between June 9 and July 3, giving up 26 earned runs over 27 innings pitched and surrendering nine home runs, striking out just 18 batters." The following graph from the linked post shows what the possible effect Haren's sore back had on his performance:
  
• Speaking of injured pitchers, MLB Injury News take a look at just-traded Ervin Santana: Did the Royals Trade for an Injured Pitcher in Ervin Santana? - MLB Injury News. "One final consideration is Santana's release point. Sometimes when a pitcher is injured, they will change their vertical release point, which means they will throw more sidearm than over the top. In fact, many sidearm pitchers started throwing that way after an injury. In Santana's case, there is a noticeable difference in his vertical release point on a year-by-year basis, especially in 2012." Remember how Mike Scioscia had Santana on an "out count"? An injury would make some sense as to why Santana sucked.
  
• It's too bad some players have this delusional outlook. Okay, maybe it's not so delusional and Soriano will get his $60M, but it would've been nice to have his arm coming out of the Angel bullpen...at a reasonable price: Yankees RHP Rafael Soriano opts out of contract - Yahoo! Sports. "'I'm not surprised because (agent) Scott Boras told me he was confident he could get him 15 times four (years), $60 million. If that's the case, it would be a good deal for Soriano,'' Yankees president Randy Levine told The Associated Press." It's funny how these internet write-ups sometimes reference a quote that points out something someone else told another person at some other time when they were at that one place. You know, like this: Scott Boras Seeking Four Years For Rafael Soriano - MLBTradeRumors.com. "Levine told Heyman that Boras told Soriano he "could get $60 million for four years" on the open market this offseason, which would be the richest contract for a reliever in history."
• How screwed up is it when 8 million dollars sounds reasonable for a pitcher who missed an entire season due to injury? Royals decline Joakim Soria's 2013 option - MLB Daily Dish. "Soria missed the entire 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. While he was a productive reliever for the Royals prior to this year, they didn’t want to bring him back for 2013 at a salary of $8 million." The article points out the Royals want to keep Soria, but would rather work on a multi-year deal. Wasn't it just a few years ago pitchers like Soria would sign for a low base salary with obtainable incentives if they were healthy?
  
• MLB Trade Rumors is predicting who will sign where this off-season. The numberone free agent, Zack Greinke, is predicted to sign with the Angels. Let's hope they're right. The only other Halo signing is this one: 2013 Top 50 Free Agents With Predictions - MLBTradeRumors.com. "34. Kyuji Fujikawa - Angels. Fujikawa was a dominant closer in Japan, and the 32-year-old is finally getting his shot at MLB. The Angels are expected to augment their bullpen this winter, and Fujikawa is a nice addition."
• 2013 is going to be different! Albert will be better...Scioscia will remove his head from his butt...Peter Bourjos will play!! Attention, shoppers: Perils of free agency vs. joys of winning deals - CBSSports.com. "Look, those aren't zombies ... they're the Angels, wearing raggedy red tops: "We Paid $240 Million for Albert Pujols and All We Got Was Third Place in the AL West and This Lousy T-Shirt."
• I forget who, but one of the front office guys from the Angels previous regime told me the Angels won't sign pitchers with shoulder injuries because they feel they can't be fixed. They feel elbows can be repaired, but shoulders can't. If Jerry Dipoto and his boys feel the same way, Dallas Braden will not be coming to Anaheim: Dallas Braden says what everybody thinks about left-handed pitchers - Yahoo! Sports. "Braden has had two shoulder surgeries since his unforgettably awesome 2010 season, when he became a regional hero by tossing a perfect game and by defending "Braden's Mound" from Alex Rodriguez and the carpetbagging New York Yankees. But he did tweet this:
  

  Braden has made good progress in coming back from shoulder surgery, believes he will find a job: "I'm left-handed and have a heartbeat."

  — Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 30, 2012

• I don't know why I added this link. Maybe it's because being in Wisconsin, I heard a lot about Casey McGehee and thought he was a good third baseman. I never have a problem admitting I am wrong: Casey McGehee Elects Free Agency - MLBTradeRumors.com. "McGehee, 30, spent this past season with the Pirates and Yankees. He hit nine home runs and posted a .217/.284/.358 batting line in 352 plate appearances."
• Spend 'em if you got 'em: Dodgers crack the $200 million barrier - ESPN Los Angeles. "It's practically a lock that the Dodgers will open next season as the most expensive team in baseball history, surpassing the 2008 New York Yankees, who handed out $209 million. Even if they somehow come in short of that figure, they still would be the first non-Yankee team since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles to lead the majors in payroll."
• Who else is getting tired of the "us vs them" argument regarding old-school scouting and new age statistical analysis?: Giants GM relies on eyes, not statistics - SFGate. "The San Francisco model is based on visual evidence, not statistics, and it clearly works...The Giants look at the face, the demeanor, the background, the ability to play one's best under suffocating pressure - all the components "Moneyball" lamely holds up to ridicule." Attention please...Lyle Spencer, your 4000 games are now relevant.
  
• Remember that picture of the goofball beating up the bus? Yeah, he got caught: Man Suspected Of Smashing Muni Bus After World Series Arrested - CBS San Francisco. "Gregory Tyler Graniss of San Francisco was taken into custody Tuesday on felony charges of vandalism and injuring or destroying a passenger transit vehicle." I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation.
  
• You hurt your shoulder getting into a fight and can no longer pitch? A guy's got to do something: Brien Taylor, former New York Yankees prospect, facing 40 years in jail - ESPN. "At the time of Taylor's March 1 arrest, the Carteret County Sheriff's Office said its undercover narcotic detectives and those of the Morehead City Police Department had purchased "a large quantity of cocaine and crack cocaine" from Taylor over several months."
• I thought this post would tell me a sure-fire way to get rid of this not so attractive belly, but no, it just points out how long I have to exercise to burn it off: How To Burn Off a Pound of Candy - Gizmodo.com. Exercise? Screw that.