Washington Nationals Make Dan Haren Signing Official

All of the worries surrounding the Dan Haren physical could be put away for now as the Nationals announced that he passed his physical and the one-year contract was made official.

Sep 10, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Dan Haren (24) pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Haren, like I said, is a perfect high-upside move for the Nationals on the back-end of the rotation. Even if his velocity drop is permanent, he throws strikes and gives Washington a really good option and experienced option. The problem is that a lot of veteran arms will now avoid the Nationals because they have five starters set in stone and there isn’t much opportunity to break through. Call it the John Lannan position, if you will. The Nationals may be better off signing somebody after they get Spring Training started and options for free agents start to go down. Either way, they would only be one injury away from being on the big league roster and if they can show versatility and pitch in the bullpen they could be on the Major League roster anyways.

Either way, with Haren in the fold, the Nationals have their high-impact starter in the fold and can now focus on filling organizational holes for the rest of the off-season. They still have the Adam LaRoche–Mike Morse question as well, but as for impact pitchers I think they would be done unless they add a reliever to the fold like a J.P. Howell.