D-Backs chase A’s ace Haren

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Flying under the radar, the Diamondbacks have emerged as one of the strongest players in the bidding for Oakland right-hander Dan Haren, industry sources here said Tuesday.

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Haren, one of the best pitchers — and best values — in the major leagues, has been made available as the A’s consider restructuring to put a recharged product into a new ballpark in 2012.

The D-Backs are willing to discuss a package, multiple sources said, that would include three of their top minor league prospects — outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and left-hander Brett Anderson.

The teams did not discuss specific packages or offers in a face-to-face session at the winter meetings, but enough ground was covered that they are expected to resume talks, either here or next week.

A major roadblock remains, however: Oakland is not likely to entertain a firm offer for Haren until the Johan Santana matter is settled.

Boston is now believed to be the top suitor for Santana, and the New York Yankees are likely to turn their attention to Haren or Baltimore’s Erik Bedard.

The Twins now may be more inclined to deal Santana and build for the future after Detroit acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from Florida in a Tuesday blockbuster, further strengthening the AL Central.

“I wouldn’t say today we are any closer to anything,” D-Backs general manager Josh Byrnes said Tuesday afternoon.

Of talks with the A’s, however, he added, “It’s getting more specific. This is the time of the offseason when you are starting to get specific. You don’t waste a lot of energy.”

The D-Backs would have “the two best pitching contracts in baseball,” one scout said, if they could land Haren, 27, who was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA for the A’s last season after winning 14 games in each of the previous two years.

Haren signed a long-term extension in September, 2005, that will pay him $4 million this season, $5.5 million in 2009 and $6.75 million on a team option for 2010. D-Backs ace Brandon Webb is owed $21.5 million through 2010.

As far as the specifics of what it might take to land Haren, “use your imagination,” one veteran baseball man said.

The A’s might want as many as six players, a source said, and previously have expressed an interest in Conor Jackson, Jose Valverde and Dustin Nippert.

Jackson would not be included, but Nippert and infielder Alberto Callaspo also could have value in a deal.

The D-Backs also are listening to offers for Valverde, according to ESPN, and the A’s could be seeking at least one or two current major leaguers since Gonzalez and Bonifacio, while top prospects, could be a half-season from the majors.

Valverde is coming off a career season in which he had a major league-high 47 saves, and it is conceivable he could be included in a package to Oakland, who could then move closer Huston Street.

The D-Backs, meanwhile, remain a contender with Seattle, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City for Japanese free agent Hiroki Kuroda, although they have yet to have a meeting with his agent, Steve Hilliard.

Hilliard was booked on a flight here Tuesday but unsure if he would make it, and he did not speak with Seattle representatives, either. He may want to wait and meet D-Backs officials in the Valley, one source said.

The D-Backs have offered Kuroda a three-year deal, and no team is now believed to have gone to four years, a published report in Seattle refuting a previous story that the Mariners had offered four years.

Former major league reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa is working with Hilliard, and he can give Kuroda a first-hand report on the methods of D-Backs manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Bryan Price after pitching for them in Seattle in 2003-04.

Another name linked to the D-Backs was San Francisco left-hander Noah Lowry, who the Giants are said to be shopping and whose contract — he is owed $13 million through 2010 — makes him affordable. He has been bothered by a bone spur in his left elbow, however.