Dan Haren (very briefly) considered coming out of retirement to help the Dodgers

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Dan Haren sits in the dugout in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (John Minchillo/AP)

By Ben Cosman

March 8, 2016

Last week, when it was announced that Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson would likely miss time to start the year, recent retiree and frequent Twitter ponderer Dan Haren thought, hey, maybe a 14th season isn't the worst idea in the world:

*begins throwing program https://t.co/l0zEn3ptOX
— dan haren (@ithrow88) March 3, 2016

After all, Haren's only 35 years old, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said things like "we've got to consider everything" with regard to his rotation situation -- Haren coming out of retirement could very well be included in that "everything." And, for what it's worth, should he pitch in 2016, Fangraphs projects Haren would go 9-9 with a 4.01 ERA, 7.25 K/9 and 1.4 WAR over a bit more than 150 innings. That's actually pretty good for a Plan B.
But on Monday evening, he remembered that between Julio Urias and Jose De Leon, Los Angeles has two of the top pitching prospects in baseball:

*shuts down throwing program https://t.co/sYr5VYtf2K
— dan haren (@ithrow88) March 8, 2016

And so, the fleeting dream is no more. It does not appear that Haren will be coming out of retirement -- for now, at least. But that's totally cool. It just means more time for Zelda.

Teams in this article:

Los Angeles Dodgers