Is Haren-Weaver The AL's Best Pitching Duo?

by Satchel Price on Apr 27, 2011 4:00 PM EDT in Positional Reviews

Seems pretty remarkable to be asking this question right now. Weaver posted a 4.40 xFIP in 2009, and Haren was traded last season for a package led by Joe Saunders and Tyler Skaggs. Reading those two bits of information, you probably would never expect them to combine forces and become the AL's premier top-of-the-rotation duo. But I think that it's about time that we wonder if that's precisely what's happened.

Now, to be clear, there aren't any mega-duo's in the AL. There is no ridiculous AL equivalent to the NL's Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee bonanza. But there are a ton of great pitchers in the AL, and a bunch of exceptional rotations, too. So it's not like Haren and Weaver are without competition.

But this is the kind of peculiar development that can only happen in the wacky world of pitching, and I thought I would present the question to you guys now: Do Jered Weaver and Dan Haren comprise the best top-of-the-rotation duo in the American League right now? Ignore contracts, ignore service time, and ignore the 2015 season. This is purely about this season.

Because I've gone over the key options, which are shown below with their combined 2011 statistics, and I'm thinking that they might. And you know what might be even more shocking? That their biggest competition comes from within the division, and doesn't involve Felix Hernandez.

Jered Weaver and Dan Haren - Angels - 82.6 IP - 1.21 ERA - 3.02 xFIP - 5.47 K/BB - 3.1 WAR

Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill - Athletics - 66 IP - 1.91 ERA - 2.72 xFIP - 4.67 K/BB - 2.1 WAR

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester - Red Sox - 59.3 IP - 2.28 ERA - 3.12 xFIP - 2.90 K/BB - 1.5 WAR

John Danks and Gavin Floyd - White Sox - 68 IP - 3.44 ERA - 3.13 xFIP - 2.86 K/BB - 1.6 WAR

David Price and James Shields - Rays - 75 IP - 2.76 ERA - 3.81 xFIP - 3.32 K/BB - 1.3 WAR

OTHER DUOS:

Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda, Seattle

C.J. Wilson and Derek Holland, Texas

CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett - New York (AL)

Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer - Detroit

Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow - Toronto (hat tip to jar75 for noting their omission)

Jeremy Guthrie and Zach Britton - Baltimore

Poll

Which two pitchers comprise the best top-of-the-rotation duo?

Jered Weaver and Dan Haren

173 votes

Jon Lester and Josh Beckett

15 votes

Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill

31 votes

David Price and James Shields

18 votes

John Danks and Gavin Floyd

5 votes

OTHER - Let us know who in the comments, eh?

30 votes

272 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Nice list.

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by Jeterian 2 on Apr 27, 2011 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

Personally I don't think it's remarkable or surprising

Especially on Haren’s behalf.

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by Discofever on Apr 27, 2011 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

You don't think it's a little surprising

Last season, the Angels got away with acquiring Haren for very, very little. If teams liked him so much, wouldn’t the offers have looked a lot better?

Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.

by Satchel Price on Apr 27, 2011 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I just chalk that up to AZ making a dumb trade

I don’t doubt that a few teams said “wtf, we could have beat that” afterwards.

Nelson Cruz - 2011 MVP

by t ball on Apr 28, 2011 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Still seems odd

They make Haren available, and presumably all the teams know this, and nobody forks up more than Saunders-Skaggs-Corbin-Rodriguez? Really? Seems like teams assumed that they could get him without giving up that much.

Texas gave up Smoak for Lee, and New York was ready to part with Jesus Montero. And that was for a half-year of Lee, compared to three reasonably priced seasons of Haren.

Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.

by Satchel Price on Apr 28, 2011 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

It's baffling to me

Nelson Cruz - 2011 MVP

by t ball on Apr 28, 2011 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Ricky Romero & Brandon Morrow should be an option

It’s not the best, but definitely worth mentioning.

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by Jeff Reese on Apr 27, 2011 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, you're right

Honestly, Morrow just kind of skipped my mind because he’s only made one start so far. Those two absolutely belong on there.

Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.

by Satchel Price on Apr 27, 2011 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

xFIP

Doesn’t like Weaver because of fly balls?

BASEBALL !!!

by Figgi4life on Apr 27, 2011 4:44 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, a little

But he’s not finishing this season with a 3.8% HR/FB anyways, even if he’s usually slightly below the league-average.

Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.

by Satchel Price on Apr 27, 2011 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Those are fWAR. I was already on FanGraphs so I just went with those.

Probably should have made that clearer, particularly when I generally prefer rWAR if I only have one number to look at for pitchers.

Here are those rWAR marks:

Haren-Weaver: 3.7 WAR
Anderson-Cahill: 2.6 WAR
Danks-Floyd: 2.2 WAR
Lester-Beckett: 2.2 WAR
Guthrie-Britton: 2.0 WAR
Verlander-Scherzer: 1.8 WAR
Hernandez-Pineda: 1.6 WAR
Sabathia-Burnett: 1.4 WAR
Wilson-Holland: 0.7 AWR
Price-Shields: 1.7 WAR

Yes, my real name is actually Satchel.
I'm a columnist for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.
Oh, I'm on Twitter, too.

by Satchel Price on Apr 28, 2011 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow.

It’s not nearly as close as I’d have expected. The A’s have a really nice top three when you include Gonzalez, though. I wonder who the best top three is… I’d guess, off top of my head, that it is the A’s.

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by Julian Levine on Apr 29, 2011 1:33 AM EDT up reply actions