"The Angels finally got around to replacing Chuck Finley on Sunday.

Dan Haren is the closest thing to a steel-driving, big-footed No. 1 starter since Finley was putting up six consecutive 200-inning seasons (in full seasons) beginning in 1989.

Haren joined a rotation for the first time in 2005 and has shown up for every assignment since. He has posted 216 to 229 innings in those seasons. His season high for walks is 55. He ranks No. 6 among active pitchers in WHIP (walks and hits, per innings pitched) and led the NL at 1.000 last year.

True, Haren has gone up in flames with the rest of the building in Arizona. He is 7-8 with a 4.60 ERA and already has given up 23 homers.

But then he never has pitched as if there is a sensor on the white part of the plate that, if violated, will trigger the demolition of the upper deck, which was the way Joe Saunders approached too many games the past two years.

Haren believes in confrontation. That has cost him the longballs, but it also gets him deep into games. Three times this season Haren has thrown 120 or more pitches."