Former Dodger Aaron Harang’s journey takes him to Seattle Mariners

So you wanted more for Aaron Harang. So did the Dodgers. Heck, so did the Colorado Rockies.

But the market is what the market is, and apparently it wasn’t much.

The Rockies sent the recently acquired Harang to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. The right-hander never made a pitch for Colorado. Look at his very serviceable 10-10 record with a 3.61 ERA with the Dodgers in 2012, and you could well think maybe they could have done better.

Going to go out on a limb here and say they tried.

However, Harang is 34, on the downward cycle of his career and making $7 million this season. As trades go, it won’t rate up there with either Pedro Martinez or Milton Bradley. It’s neither great nor bad.

In return for the Dodgers sending Harang to the Rockies, they got out of a $2-million buyout, saved possibly up to $800,000 next year in luxury tax, cleared out some pitching congestion, and in their minds got a veteran catcher in Ramon Hernandez, who is more equipped to help a team with postseason ambitions.

The Rockies saved close to $2.5 million in salary in their two Harang deals, and got minor-league right-hander Steven Hensley from Seattle.

Seattle got a starter to replace Jon Garland, whom they released and who now happens to pitch for the Rockies.

Now there are understandably some people who don’t understand why the Dodgers could not have received at least a nice prospect in return for Harang. But Hensley is 26 with a career mark of 30-30 with a 4.48 ERA in his five-plus seasons in the minors. He was not some top Mariners prospect.

So Harang moves on, again. He had one season with the Dodgers and was OK. And his moving on is OK too.

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