Dan Haren Trade Reactions: On Joe Saunders, Pat Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez, And Tyler Skaggs

Keith Law has checked in with his review of the trade return Arizona got for ace Dan Haren. In order:

Joe Saunders is what he is -- a mediocre, back-end starter whose stuff should miss more bats but doesn’t.

[Pat Corbin] projects as a back-of-the-rotation guy if he can put on some (good) weight as he gets into his 20s, but the median projection now would be a swingman/reliever, and that’s assuming that he successfully reaches the majors from low-A without getting hurt or regressing.

Rafael Rodriguez is an up-and-down guy in a major league bullpen who throws strikes, but doesn’t miss bats with an average fastball/just-above-average slider combo.

Meanwhile, on Skaggs, who is believed to be - but is not certainly - the PTBNL:

Regarding Skaggs, Arizona was considering taking him with one of their first-round picks in 2009 and he’s had a very strong full-season debut this year for Cedar Rapids.

Saunders has seen his K/BB drop from 2.0 in 2007 to 1.4 in 2010, and he’s only declined since a promising start to his career. Corbin just turned 21 and is all the way down in A-ball. Rodriguez doesn’t miss any bats as a reliever. And the 19 year old Skaggs, while talented, is also in A-ball after spending 2009 in short-season. There is just no way to sell this as a good deal for Arizona.