Marlins' Haren: 'I never had any conversations with the front office, trade me or else'

Dan Haren claims he's excited to be at spring training with the Miami Marlins despite previously threatening he might retire should the team not honor his request to be dealt to a West Coast club.

"I'm happy to be here," Haren told the Miami Herald on Friday. "I had a good talk with (manager) Mike Redmond earlier this morning, so I'm ready to get going. I'll do my thing. I never had any conversations with the front office, trade me or else. Maybe they got the feeling after a while because there wasn't that much communication at the beginning."

Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a seven-player deal in December, the California native said reporters citing his lack of desire to pitch for the Marlins were somewhat misinformed. 

"I think a lot of things were probably overblown," Haren said. "I never really said anything directly to anyone, to media at all. A lot of it was just reports. I wanted to make sure I was going to be 100 percent committed, into it. I didn't want to put any less effort. Once I was committed in the offseason into putting in the work, I was ready to go."

Haren admitted that the trade caught him off guard and that he never wanted to leave the Dodgers. He was open with the Marlins' front office about his lack of motivation coming off offseason shoulder surgery, but let the team know in January he would attend spring training. 

"I felt like I was kind of portrayed as being snobby or stuck up," Haren said. "It was really kind of the opposite. Sometime after the holidays, I let them know I was ready to go."

The 34-year-old, who went 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA in 32 starts last season, projects to land a spot in the Marlins' rotation.