Mega agent and overall schmuck Scott Boras, when asked about the perceived lack of durability of Jacoby Ellsbury, said "[Ellsbury] is a very durable player. He just has to make sure that people don't run into him." That's true, as most of Jacoby's injury history to this point is comprised of collisions with other players. Still, in both 2010 and 2012, he played in less than 80 games (74 in '12, and a paltry 18 in '10), and even though the season in between, 2011, was a monstrous year for him that saw him hit 32 long balls (by far a career high, he's never before or since topped 9 in a season), score a career high 119 runs, knock in a career high 105, and garnered him a second place finish in MVP voting behind Justin Verlander, he hasn't come close to those numbers in the following 2 seasons, and it's doubtful he ever will again. They say that once a ballplayer shows a skill, he owns that skill, but I'm willing to bet that 2011 was an anomaly. Still, Ellsbury owns a career .350 OBP, and a player like that would be valuable in any lineup regardless of his diminished power. And, of course, there's the speed. Ellsbury owns three stolen base titles, 2013 and back-to-back ones in 2008-09, when he stole 52, 70 and 50 respectively. In every season in which he's played more than 130 games, he's stolen well over 30 stolen bases. His 162-game averages of 55 steals and 10 caught stealing are extremely impressive. However, Ellsbury will be 30 at the beginning of his undoubtedly huge deal, which is commonly accepted as the point where a player slowly begins to decline, and we all know that speed does not age well. Still, Jacoby is an igniting force and would be great to have on any team, and knowing Boras, he'll get his Carl Crawford-like deal.
It may seem a little hard to believe, but there was a point not too long ago when Dan Haren was a highly sought after, top-of-the-rotation pitcher. In fact, from 2005 to 2011, he was a stud on the mound: he only posted an ERA over 4 once, was a 3-time All-Star, threw more than 200 innings every season, and struck out 200+ from 2008-2010. Surprisingly, he was traded not once, but twice: first from the Athletics to the Diamondbacks, and then to the Angels. Both deals are notable, as the first netted Oakland Carlos Gonzalez and Brett Anderson, while the second saw Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs head to Arizona. However, in 2012 and 2013, his last year with the Angels and his year with the Nationals, he posted ERAs well north of 4.00 (4.33 and 4.67, respectively) while pitching less than 180 innings. Shoulder inflammation was the culprit for most of that, as he had an impressive stretch in the nation's capital to finish last year, and it was apparently good enough to parlay into a deal with the free-spending Dodgers, who just inked Haren to a 1-year, $10 million deal, supposedly to be their number 4 behind the firepower of Kershaw, Greinke and Ryu. There's a vesting option for 2015 if he pitches more than 180 innings, so it'll be interesting to see if he can get there again. This isn't a bad deal, as Haren has considerable experience in the NL West, and for the new Dodgers, $10 million is tip money. If Dan regains his form, this could be a steal.
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