Pirates trade rumors: Bucs reportedly scouted Dan Haren

The Pirates have scouted Dan Haren recently, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes.

One team that watched him at Fenway was the Pirates, who could still add a veteran pitcher. But there are a lot of teams who could benefit from Haren’s experience and toughness. He’s a six-inning guy, but a contender would take that.

There are a number of teams who could use Haren, but unless someone gets hurt, the Pirates aren't one of them. He's a functional starting pitcher and has been forever, and there were times in the past several seasons where he was actually probably underrated, because the results he got were better than his 87-MPH fastballs looked. But he's a fly ball pitcher who doesn't strike many batters out, which means that, right now, he's basically a fourth or fifth starter who's overachieving. Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton are better than Haren and much better suited to the Pirates' run-prevention strategy, and the Pirates still aren't able to send Locke or Vance Worley to the minors, so it's unclear how Haren would help the Bucs.

Maybe the Pirates were at Fenway watching someone else. The Marlins certainly have other players available. If the Bucs did in fact scout Haren, I'm guessing it was as a contingency plan in case someone gets hurt in the next couple weeks.