Why not?
Sources: Oakland's talks with the Indians regarding Brandon Moss have been revived, and the two sides are on the verge of a deal.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 8, 2014
Wait wut…
Jason Hammel guaranteed $18 million over 2 years, source confirms @ChrisCotillo report. Deal includes team option with $2MM buyout …
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 8, 2014
OK what is it with guys going back to old teams?
Multiple sources say the Astros have been pursuing SS Jed Lowrie.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 8, 2014
And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here
-slusser.
Thanks, and go As.
I go out of the country and everything goes crazy. Before I go catch up and read about everything, should I begin the ceremonial wailing and rending of garments? Or are we more optimistic about things?
Oh, so we both left them alone, now I get it.
So, I’m back from Africa, and just wanted to ask you, how great was the A’s offseason so far?
Pretty great, Ray.
Just saw my first “on the verge”. Now I will think about the Big Hurt all day.
SuSlu says sources say the deal is done. I think I may miss the Boss most of all.
Deal is done. Moss for Wendle.
Thanks, and go As.
Thanks, and go As.
fucking bullshit deal done
no reason to trade him for garbage. Keep him, have him hit, or don’t. then trade him for garbage
I don’t know, it’s a pretty good return on investment whether it turns out to be buy for nothing, sell moderate or buy for nothing, sell at the peak.
While I agree that it is a good return on investment, I don’t like the trade
I don’t pretend to know whether it’s a good trade or whether Billy could have gotten more, I let the folks who keep up with prospects make those judgments and I see they’re making them. What I know is that we’ve been worried all along that Moss would pumpkin, that he’ll be 31.5 y.o. coming off significant hip surgery at the start of the season and that he was due a pretty substantial raise.
Donaldson and Moss haven’t troubled me that much. That Country Breakfast move, though…
I was thinking that Moss could have been a nontender candidate had there not been some trade interest in him.
4.1M last year, probably 6 or 7 this year for a guy with a hip problem that took away his one good tool?
Thanks, and go As.
He didn’t do too bad in the last game he played.
So just give him a cortisone shot every day?
Thanks, and go As.
Sure, why not? It’s only a hip. How important can those be?
he’s got 2 of them, in fact!
Thanks, and go As.
That’s like one extra!
I know teams, including the A’s, have their own proprietary data for evaluating players. Right now I think someone has fucked with the A’s numbers because Moss for Wendle is bat-shit stupid.
We’ve now seen the A’s trade Donaldson and Moss and they STILL DON’T HAVE A FUCKING SHORTSTOP!
Submargarine is on the table for the White Sox.
I don’t want Alexi Ramirez.
Thanks, and go As.
Hilariously, scouting reports seem to indicate that Wendle probably can’t stick in middle infield.
I don’t find that funny. is a AA guy wrong side of 25.
It was all on Farhan’s laptop, so now they just have to guess.
I LOLed.
Thanks, and go As.
Me too.
I COLed.
I taglined that shit.
Yuck.
And I keep thinking about lenscrafter’s remarks toward the end of last season about how the A’s offense seemed to work the best when it was HR-centric.
– The A’s hit 146 HRs last year, just a hair above the league average of 144.
– They’ve now dumped Donaldson(29), Moss (25), and Cespedes (17 in 4 months), or nearly half of those.
– Our new DH/1B, Billy Butler hit 9. (Though to be fair, for his career he has averaged 18 per 162 games, with a high of 29 in 2012).
– Lawrie hit 12 (in less than half a season). He’s averaged 20 per 162 games.
– Among returning players, only Reddick (12) and Norris (10) hit double digits.
Even if Butler bounces back somewhat, and Lawrie stays healthy, this is likely to be a very dull offense.
Addison will save us!
Little do all you fkers know, but the A’s plan on moving the fences in about 100 ft.
The “Pennington porch”?
The Kendall Boxes.
But, the A’s offseason moves were pretty big topic where I was, as well.
First I broke the news that we got Lawrie.
And then, that it cost us Donaldson.
tagline
ASVD
Probably need that video of the monkey drinking its own urine for the Moss trade.
This is almost like the A’s are angry child. I wanna go to San Jose. You won’t let me? Fine! I’ll throw away my best toys!
Wake me when the A’s get a new stadium. I’m going into hibernation until then. Rip Van Winkle time.
So is Billy TRYING to get fired?
He’s probably doing exactly what his bosses want.
There is one scenario that could make a modicum of sense: the A’s are clearing payroll to pursue both Yoan Moncada and the Korean SS, Kang.
But then you look at the fact that they’ve spent about 14 million combined for Davis and Butler to essentially replace Moss + Freiman (~7.5 million combined), and they’ve actually gotten more expensive but not necessarily better.
So I don’t know. Whatever. It’s not like we can do anything about any of this. My feelings about the A’s have essentially been detached bemusement since the latter half of the season. The Donaldson trade spiked the anger a bit, but now it’s back to morbid curiosity as to how much worse it could get.
I’ll predict right now that we get Kang but don’t even pursue Moncada. Also Kang has huge downside potential.
… but can be platooned with Kodos.
I’d be okay with that as long as we take a flier on Kodos.
How to Cook
Fora 40 Man RosterComing to a Forst’s bumper soon:
I thought Moncada already signed? Or am I thinking of someone else?
You’re probably thinking about Yasmany Tomas, who signed with AZ.
Yup. That’s the one. Stupid players and their similar completely uniquely different names.
Freiman just gets optioned to AAA. Callaspo leaving freed up ~$4.9 million. Donaldson for Lawrie probably saves $2-3 million.
So $16 million for Davis/Lawrie/Butler in 2015. And about the same tied up in Donaldson/Moss plus the savings from Callaspo. These transactions have been essentially payroll neutral.
With Blanks and Moss both gone, isn’t Freiman still the platoon partner for Davis (or Jaso).
There still isn’t really a spot for Jaso (or Davis).
Davis supposedly can fake it in the OF. Maybe the surprise move is Jaso -> SS?
Cespedes coming back
Thanks, and go As.
butler?
What about him?
Platoon partner for Jaso or Davis.
Thanks, and go As.
isn’t he the platoon partner?
No.
Right now it is Butler DH, Davis/Freiman 1B. (Or vice-versa.)
If you mean keep Jaso and platoon at both positions, I guess you could do that, but it’s a horrible use of a roster spot.
Well on the bright side, at least we can look forward to Sam Fuld starting in left field and batting second.
Don’t forget our middle infield of Punto and Sogard.
Another bright side? the longer we wait to re up the FK seats* the more likely to not be locked into that ridiculose new tier system
* I realize the seats are not a sure thing
Yeah, I just don’t think I want to work through the tiering bs (and don’t think I’ll be able to get to enough games this year to buy as many seats). Plus, it looks like it won’t be a quality on-field product.
I suspect sniping a few of PTBNL’s dates is the better way forward.
Was this Moss deal done just to make the Donaldson deal look good?
Say we wanted to go scorched Earth. Why the fuck did we trade Russell in July? I could sorta see the Cespedes deal still but the Russell deal is ridiculous for a one-time shot. Why are we getting back Lawrie for Donaldson?! Why Butler? If you go scorched Earth, you market that everyone’s available and let people blow you away. With top-tier prospects. Not middle tier guys. You wait until the end of the offseason for an underpaid veteran instead of possibly overpaying a lumbering DH at the first available moment.
The A’s must have ridiculously harsh aging curves on their players. But then why get a 24 yo prospect in AA as your return for Moss?
I would have LOVED a Moss/Ramirez swap. Instead immediate reaction wise this trade reminds me of Bailey for Reddick (which turned out pretty damn good). Absolutely hate it and it makes no sense.
I felt a hell of a lot better about the Bailey trade than I do about this. Reddick had already reached the big leagues, and we got two reasonably good prospects with him, all for a closer with a history of arm problems.
The Bailey trade brought back Head and Alcantara as well. I really liked those guys and thought “WTF with Reddick?” but as a 3rd piece (for me) it wasn’t too alarming.
We now have 0 Brandons.
sad tagline is sad.
BA’s take
Christ…
Keith. Ginter.
Discount.Tent.
Close.
Complete and utter nonsense.
There had better be something coming that makes me understand why we couldn’t afford a great hitter for $7M
BILLY IS DESTROYING THE TEAM
Thanks, and go As.
sure. but that is a projection based on Moss not being effective.
He might not be. The question is, why get an organizational guy for a lottery ticket? Moss could be great again. if so, hooray! if not, guys like Wendle are a dime a dozen
They believe in Ike Davis more than Moss I guess.
Thanks, and go As.
Well, it’s not so simple. It’s if not, we’re down $7 Million for a DL sitter.
The projection actually has Moss around 2 WAR. That isn’t the issue.
The issue is that it also thinks Ike Davis is worth 2 WAR over a full season. Ike Davis hasn’t put up 2 WAR since 2010.
The previous projection that this guy is comparing it to assumes that Ike Davis, 2 WAR player, is being blocked by Moss, 2 WAR player, and Sam Fuld, less than 1 WAR player, is playing over Moss or Davis. Whereas clearly if Moss and Davis are both 2 WAR players, they would be playing 1B and LF and Fuld would be on the bench.
In reality, we can reasonably assume that the A’s are about 2 wins worse than they were before the Moss trade as per Moss’s projection. Of course, it shouldn’t surprise any of us that a AN front page writer cited projections erroneously.
Moss in LF would terrify me.
Thanks, and go As.
I can’t imagine that doesn’t end up with some negative WAR there.
Yeah. He’s a bad 1B anyway, but putting a guy coming off hip surgery in the outfield? Uh, pass.
Thanks, and go As.
Moss is fine in left. OF is his natural position and he has been consistently +5 per UZR/150 there.
He was hurting the team far more at first base. I don’t expect him to be positive still in the OF, but he would most likely be better in LF than he has been doing at 1B.
better than Cespedes with a worse arm.
Before hip problem of course
Thanks, and go As.
Thanks, and go As.
one deal isn’t gonna cut it. Unless they get “barry Larkin”
Seriously the Submargarine deal is looking worse and fucking worse. JUST KEEP RUSSELL
Thanks, and go As.
So the plan is to get rid of most of the trade chips first, and then target the biggest need … got it.
confusing the most in tune fans is the new market inefficiency.
It’s not the first time Beane has done this.
I assume this means we sign him tomorrow.
Thanks, and go As.
Just means we’re holding out for Kodos.
Gets funnier every time.
this is pretty amazing.
Thanks, and go As.
2015 Oakland Athletics: “After the Fall”
heh
We ain’t Joe Dimaggio, that’s for fucking sure.
Though in this analogy we actually are … Dimaggio was married to her for part of ’54, Miller from ’56 to ’61.
So Bellarmine Prep is James Dougherty?
Billy was going to say we’re the Walter Gropius to Alma Lester’s career, but he didn’t think Jane would get it.
Here it comes
Thanks, and go As.
So the plan is to contend in 2015 on the strength of Parker and Griffin finishing 1-2 in the AL Cy Young vote. Do I have this right? Just trying to keep up here.
Lawrie MVP
Thanks, and go As.
Thanks, and go As.
I like Semien (although can he really play SS?). But Thompson and Beck are pretty mediocre. Beck doesn’t strike anybody out. Thompson strikes out a ton. Russell would have been so much better…
So infield at some point next year:
Davis/Butler 1b
Wendel 2b
Semien SS
Lawrie 3b
Well…it’s different. Donaldson probably out-WARs all 5.
ACtually it’s leaking out now that the trade isn’t done. ESPN was duped by a fake Ken Rosenthall (two L’s) twitter account.
Per Slusser, a deal won’t be announced until tomorrow involving Shark.
Thanks, and go As.
It’s tomorrow where I am
you are from the future, so it checks out
Thanks, and go As.
Barton, weeks, Pennington, kouzmanoff?
In 2010, those 3 + MaEl were worth 13.7 WAR. In 2011, those 4 were worth 2.7 WAR (and that was Jemile’s good year!)
Can Semien play SS…
Did you think Lowrie could play SS?
From what I’ve read average defense will be the max ceiling and he’ll probably fall short of that height.
But he could hit enough that you’ll live with the glove.
You know, it sure would be nice to have a plus fielding SS, like…..Jose Ramirez. Or Addison Russell, probably.
…God fucking damnit.
I would have liked Jose Ramirez very much.
I get the Donaldson trade. I don’t like the return but I get the logic of it. I get Shark.
But Moss? Beane sold low. He said he dealt Donaldson because the team couldn’t be timid but the deal with Cleveland was pure timidity.
Donaldson was the single best player of the Beane regime with the possible exception of Giambi. We had him for 4 years. If you deal him, it better be a frickin’ phenomenal return. I don’t see logic.
Wendle is an interesting player. I actually like him. But as a secondary piece. He ain’t a headliner. If I had any faith that Beane would spend FA money well (he’s never been good in that market. Cespedes being his biggest feather), I totally understand trading Moss. Dude’s 31, likely won’t age well, injured, and expensive. There’s a lot more logic there than trading a player who WILL age well, who can decline and still be valuable, ISN’T expensive, and played 158 games the last 2 years.
Beane’s logic is he thinks he can keep Lawrie heathy and that will lead to a break-out which will come real close to matching what can be expected from Donaldson over the next 3 years. Lawrie is young enough to still dream on, especially if he’s healthy.
I don’t think he stays healthy.
Don’t worry about FA spending. Butler/Davis/Lawrie will cost ~$16 million. The A’s have only kicked loose $21 million in salary. If they move Kazmir then you’re talking real spending money.
Yeah, because if there is one thing that the A’s are famous for, it’s keeping their players healthy.
Assumption 1. You believe you can keep Lawrie healthy.
Assumption 2. You believe Lawrie improves enough to be a step below Donaldson’s performance.
Assumption 3. You believe this happens immediately.
Assumption 4. You re-sign Lawrie to regain the value of the extra year of control.
Assumption 5. You can make up the difference with two back-end starters and/or what amounts to a good lottery ticket. And instead of from 1 roster spot from 3-4.
Assumption 6. There’s no added benefit from having a superstar like fan loyalty (the SO keeps saying I should stop being a fan as she no longer is since they dealt JD), better playoff performance, or offensive consistency, or some other unmeasurable.
Note: I actually think assumption 6 is mostly hocus pocus besides fan loyalty.
Thank you for enumerating the reasons why I don’t like the deal. Assumptions 1-3 earn my thumbs down.
Thanks, and go As.
Dude’s tall and old. Basically another Nolin.
A’s now have an awful lot of back-end of rotation candidates: Gray/Pom/Kaz are for sure if Kazmir not traded. That leaves Chavez/Nolin/Graveman/Bassitt/Griffin/Parker for the backend.
all i know about bassit is, his twitter isn’t totally stupid. he just seems to like sports. a lot.
Upon learning Bassitt first existed from the tweet, you embedded, I googled him and returned this. Seems unlikely, but any chance he start in Oakland?
I am sold by the stirrups in one gif
When do we get to release the hounds on Beane?
So if you ignore that we traded the best prospect in the game for him, I actually don’t hate this Shark deal. I hate, hate, hate the other two deals this offseason.
And Butler becomes more confusing by the minute.
Yeah, I like Semien a lot, and as long as the team isn’t good anymore trading Samardzija isn’t too bad.
Also, I wonder if Beane would consider the trade with the Cubs a success?
the way the team shit the bed, the hammel part doesn’t bug me anymore
This one hurts. Basically, for 16 starts of Samardzija (however good and needed they were) we essentially traded Russell for Semien. I was never high on McKinney, but really, really loved me some Russell
It was a pure 2014 play. If we had won the WS (which looked like a real possibility then), I would be happy to downgrade my SS prospect that much.
Obviously we didn’t do that, but you can’t criticize a deal for that reason. Hammel blowing up was predictable (though not to the degree he blew up), and Russell should have been near-untouchable, but we were at the right place on the contention curve for a deal of that style.
It’s the untouchable status that does it for me. It seems to me that almost every team says XXXX is untouchable and they’re still able to get their man. We traded our untouchable and didn’t even get Valbuena….
I get it. There was a huge upswing in the WS chances if winning the division, and at that moment it looked to be a head to head race vs. the Angels. It was a calculated move, even if the hope was to get more or pay less. It’s definitely a move that had its merits. And yet it hurts
This.
I don’t disagree with any of that. Just saying it’s unfair to call it a deal from Russell to Semien
I was focusing on the merits but hurts part. Not commenting on the rest. Pardon the confusion.
I’m not saying it was a deal from Russel to Semien. If I were, I for sure wouldn’t say it had any merits whatsoever. I’m saying that it was a deal of Russell for Semien and improved chances of winning it all.
But we didn’t win it all, so now there is no ring and no Russell. Which, of course, in no way changes the merits of the deal. But it hurts.
Agreed.
And I am left the constant bitter taste of what the Giants gave (or did not give) up to land Peavy.
I am with you, this fucking hurts, and it fucking sucks.
So the obvious next two candidates are Kazmir ($13 M) and O’Flat ($5.5 M). Kazmir might return a prospect or we could keep him to build his value. EOF is a salary dump candidate.
Then you still have the semi-valuable spare parts of Jaso and Cook.
Reddick, Norris, Lawrie, Gray, and Doo are likely too valuable or too undervalued to trade.
And then there’s semi-interesting pieces like Gentry, Chavez, and Vogt. For as bad as we’ve traded, there’s still a lot of interesting parts on this team.
Why don’t you think we can move Doo? I think the single best feature of Beane’s tenure is the willingness to sell high on closers. If we’re doing this blow-’em-up thing, I think it would be a major error to keep Doo.
Given what Robertson and Miller got and how little Doo makes, I’m not sure that we will get enough surplus value in a trade to be worth it.
That just means it’ll happen. Lack of value back on trades is the new market inefficiency.
I’m tired of sports.
Thanks, and go As.
Pretty much agreed.
oh. okay.
Thanks, and go As.
Probably Robertson…
Just don’t read ESPN and find out they’re referring to David. I nearly flipped my shit.
Ynoa the second player.
No big loss there, in all honesty.
Yep.
Actually opens up another spot on the 40 man.
Any word on the 4th from Chicago?
Ravelo.
Phlegm.
Guys who sound like bodily fluids are the new market inefficiency.
Thank you.
Link please?
Once in a Generation Talent!!!
Why not move Kazmir?
I’d have preferred to have dump him and kept Sam. But apparently Billy is doing the opposite of what I want. So now I want him to get us a really really really shitty player. And overpay for it too.
Rangel Ravelo must be Scooby-Doo’s favorite player.
Even though he isnt ours anymore, I like the fact that he will sign elsewhere and there is less risk he somehow ends up back next year.
I could think of a few players that fit that description
half of MLB at this point, basically.
From SuSlu:
Scout tells me about Rangel Ravelo- underrated but extremely productive, untapped power potential Similar MiLB career arc to Allen Craig. report on Semien: “Steady defender, poised, efficient. 15-HR power potential, high OBP throughout pro career.”
Also: Report on Bassitt: “Good mix of pitches, velo up to 94 mph. Solid breaking stuff. Good touch on changeup, throws strikes.”
Finally: And report on Phegley: “productive bat, short swing, nice power potential, strong arm.” #Athletics have liked him for a while, apparently.
Well, “throws strikes” is literally true, he throws many strikes, but…
his strikes turn into very very pretty hits
I have two pitches, ball and home run
A’s are also trading away the draft pick compensation attached to Samardzija so it’s really a 3 for 4 deal.
But all in all, a much better value than the other two trades. Of course, that’s not saying much…
Phegley is supposedly a good catcher and threw out 47% of baserunners against in his career. He also looks like he might hit. Remember the Norris is our second most irreplaceable player after Donaldson? Is he about to be replaced?
What do you do with Norris/Jaso/Vogt?
Remember when we had 3 catchers in the line up? Prepare to have FOUR catchers in the lineup. Ray is going to have a Fossgasm.
M/F/K?
I think you’d have to charge someone with attempted murder if you let Jaso catch again.
Give Norris reps at 1B to back-up Butler and have him DH vs. LHP. I wouldn’t trade him because I’m not completely sold on Phegley as being ready for full platoon responsibility Opening Day 2015 OR on Vogt being able to handle the primary C position.
So essentially a Davis/Norris platoon at 1b/DH with Butler playing wherever Davis/Norris isn’t? With Vogt being backup catcher and LF if he can’t?
And Jingle Heimer Schmidt….traded?
If Jingle Heimer is FKing code for Jaso… yes, traded.
John Jaso Jingle Heimer Schmidt!
Ravelo hit 379/.446/.621 against LHP last year in AA. And since he was a 3b -> 1b, he’s probably better than Freiman at 1b already….
So we’ve traded Shark, JD, Moss, Ynoa and lost Hassan, Blanks, Lindblom, and someone named Andrew Brown. Another 12 to go Mr Passan…
you know what?
I am sad to lose players I liked watching and were good, but I love this complete dreamer shit of to total rebuild
You have to give Beane credit for at least one thing: he never coasts.
Pfft. He’d never trade JD. Or Kaz. Or Reddick. Or um… anyone on the roster.
Corporate Welfare is a helluva drug
Kansas?
carry on, my wayward son
I’m not really overwhelmed. or underwhelmed.
I’m just kind of whelmed.
Thanks, and go As.
Attention Secret Santa.
Also if we’re not doing SS, someone can just get me that. Thanks.
Thanks, and go As.
How did I not get in on the FKing Secret Santa?
What about all the Nightmare stuff on sale? I’m disappointed in you.
Both
Thanks, and go As.
On a non-baseball note, I’m glad to see corporate nepotism is alive and well.
The drone’s operator said the mistake wouldn’t have happened if the woman hadn’t flinched.
And why was this supposedly professional drone pilot trying to land it on her head to begin with?
Playing the modern version of the William Tell game, I would presume.
Oooh. Win.
It’s neat to have a Berkeley kid on the team.
Is this a joke?
He’s too busy winning football games with his great defensive play.
The fact that Keith Law has hated every deal the A’s have made, makes me a little more positive.
I only like Keith Law when it involves his interactions with Curt Schilling.
Quick question…what’s the payroll looking like for next year? Any chance Beane will be able to add some salary in the next round of trades?
They have roughly 12M to play with if they are going to match last year’s payroll
Thanks, and go As.
Thanks for the information, folks.
The A’s current payroll commitments, based on a few remaining arbitration estimates, is ~$69.5 million. Their Opening Day payroll a year ago was just over $82 million but they pushed that figure to nearly $95 million by the end of the season.
So if Beane has the funds to push towards $95 million again he’s got a significant chunk of cash to play with.
I suspect that’ll go even lower after a few more trades which, combined with that $95M potential, would mean a holy shit amount of cash to play with.
The current word is Kazmir won’t be dealt and I personally never speculate about trading guys with no-trade protection like Crisp. That’s $22 million in payroll and the last of the big ticket items Beane could potentially deal. Trading O’Flaherty would free up $5.5 million.
But if $95 million is the bench mark the A’s could afford the following players without asking for salary relief:
Matt Kemp: $21 M in 2015, $21.5 M 2016-2019
Cole Hamels: $22.5 M 2015-2018, Team option for 2019
Justin Upton/Chris Johnson: $20.5 M in 2015. CJ under guaranteed contract through 2017 for an additional $17.5 M
Not needing other teams to kick in cash, which the Dodgers and maybe the Phillies anticipate doing, would mean the A’s could give up less talent back in trade. Of course, those two teams could just as easily WANT to eat some money to better the prospect return. Atlanta is looking to dump salary so (I believe) they’ll have already lowered their asking price for Upton from “better than Heyward” to “cost controlled pitching”.
The A’s could go a number of other routes, possibly including Moncada.
I’m not buying the “Kazmir won’t be dealt” stuff. Based on his other moves, keeping Kaz doesn’t make a lot of sense in a probable non-compete year. I guess he could hope to do a mid-season move for him, but it makes sense for him to say “I’m not trading him, make me an offer.”
Very possible. But there’s been no chatter to that affect (or is it effect?) and I believe Kazmir has enough question marks that he might fetch better value in July than now. It would make sense to keep Kazmir through June if that’s the case, that way he also provides some vet presence behind Gray and buys time for AJ to get ready.
But that’s total speculation on my part.
I would love Kazmir to Boston for Cecchini or JBJ or even Marrero. Boston seems to be targeting Miley, who’s worse than Kazmir but 2 years younger and with 2 extra years of control.
And there’s also Hamels on the horizon.
I don’t see Hamels moving until RAJ is out of town
That’s optimal for us in regards to Kazmir. Super high asking price drives market up and screws the Giants and Red Sox.
Still holding out hope that the A’s could get into the Headley sweepstakes. Though I’d be surprised if the Giants don’t get him now that they didn’t spend that money on Lester.
Agreed on both counts. Headley is probably the best FA out there who won’t be absurdly priced. I’d also like Medlen but that’s much smaller fish.
Alternatively:
After several years of being willing to spend more than they planned to take shots at contention, my read is that ownership plans on not doing that in 2015. I’m not saying this in a Fuck Lew Wolff way, but simply my assessment of what this offseason’s moves suggest about the team’s latest Five Year Plan.
Oh, that’s definitely the most likely scenario. I would add that they have more money in the last couple of seasons due to the MLB TV deal so they do actually have that extra money to play with. It’s not just something “they’ve been willing to do out of the goodness of our hearts to win” thing and more of a “we technically ‘have’ to spend it instead of turn it into a cash grab for ourselves to make good with the other owners.”
That’s pretty much how I see it, too. $95M (prorated, nota bene) was acceptable budget when there was a serious chance for the ring. That chance is significantly lower now (even if the team is equally good, when that push was made, there was already a good chunk of excellent season in the bank) and I think they will budget accordingly.
Possible. Although Oakland started the offseason saying (or at least implying) they had the means to push $95 million again.
But its not my checkbook so I guess we’ll see.
it might be mine. i think one fell out of my pocket with about 95 mill in it just the other day. let me see it, maybe i’ll recognize it.
:D
Thanks, and go As.
Yoan. Moncada.
Thanks, and go As.
Sold!
Yes. I oan him.
asvd
That’s my hope
At 3:30 of this interview (and referenced again at 6:35), Slusser mentions that the A’s have budget left for “maybe some Cuban players, some international guys…”
I was hoping you people would cheer me up about these trades. That’s not working. All we have is the “Beane’s trades often look stupid, but sometimes aren’t” thing.
The Samardzija one, by not being actively loathsome, is a winner. The Moss trade, boy, the only reason to make it is the belief that Moss is toast and had no chance of ever being a decent hitter again.
But I don’t know why I am surprised. One of the reasons for disliking the summer trades (aside from giving up Russell) is the belief I expressed at the time that it’s turning a two-year window into one roll of the dice.
That’s how Beane treated it then. It’s how he’s treating it now.
I like Jeff’s take, that FKing hack.
The specifics can certainly be nitpicked, but Beane is doing what Beane does, and we’ll probably be competitive.
Also LAWRIE TOOK A FASTBALL TO THE FKING MOUTH, GOT UP, AND WALKED TO FIRST BASE SPITTING OUT BLOOD. That is pretty badass.
Thanks, and go As.
Not bad. For a clown like Jeff.
The Cubs are lining up nicely, having added Lester and Montero…
IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU!!
Yup…
What’s up with the Astros suddenly shelling out big dollars for our old relievers? Are they planning to compete or something?
They have to start getting ready to win the series in ’17.
They remember what happened when they ran Qualls out there against us
I think I read a quote from Dallas Keuchel that they are doing it for us
They’re doing it for the Mariners. Qualls singlehandedly kept them out of the playoffs.
I’m not going to say I’m happy about anything baseball-related right now, but I’m not unhappy about the Red Sox screwing up the Lester thing.
I’m happy he didn’t go to the fucking gnats.
Thanks, and go As.
Yeah, now if Scherzer goes to Dodgers or mystery team, that would be perfect for schadenfreude.
Pretty much yeah
Rumor? Or sadness?
Rollins wouldn’t waive his no-trade rights for Oakland.
FK him. If he doesn’t want us. We don’t want him.
Semien’s more loyal to Alameda County anyway.
born in SF it says. I wonder where
el cerrito.
I thought el cerrito was on the bayou.
the bayou’s in berkeley. corner of 10th and parker.
Can one’s hound dog chase down a hoodoo there?
It is such a shame. Over last few weeks, Rollins grew to be one of, if not my favorite MLB player
Thanks, and go As.
For Andrew Heaney.
Why not short hand the name as D. Gordon. Saves one less character even though it has no impact verbally.
Thanks, and go As.
And Haren’s likely to retire now (or traded to LAA). Which is an interesting way to save $10 M by the Dodgers.
Why?
Rumor is Haren would rather retire than leave the LA area.
He don’t like money?
It’s the root root root of all evil. If they don’t pay him it’s a shame.
Has Haren pitched for half the teams in baseball yet?
i hate you jimmy rollins
Seriously, fuck that guy. Wholly unworthy of the great legacy of East Bay baseball.
Kendrick to the Dodgers?
Yeah, Zaidi flipped Heaney for him.
Thanks, and go As.
Thank goodness. Fuck that guy. Would kill us every time. Sorta like Michael Young leaving TEX.
Can he please take Aybar with him.
I dunno, maybe it was relative to all other things Slegna, but he seemed like an O.K. guy. Always smiling & chatting with whomever was on second, never did anything douchey in terms of whining to an umpire like the rest of his ex-teammates.
Absolutely agree, always liked that guy, grudgingly.
hate the game, not the player
oh, i do, brother. i do.
Yeah, but I think Heaney is the real deal. Not sure if I like that from the A’s perspective.
Thank goodness the Angles traded for a top starting pitching prospect and clearing $9.5m in payroll space by only giving up a year of Howie Kendrick? I don’t see that as a win at all. Plus Kendrick is projected to only be 2.5 WAR next year.
Thank goodness from a purely emotional perspective.
From a rational perspective, it seems like a reasonable trade. Kendrick is a very good player at a position that’s quite hard to upgrade (as we have seen). Heaney is a prospect a lot of scouts are divided on.
The way I see it, any upgrades of today don’t matter much since we won’t compete. It’ll be another year of huge contract guys getting older for them and soon they’ll be albatrosses. It doesn’t help for them to acquire someone young and potentially good, but it also means that he’ll be another year closer to being more expensive and it’ll make their draft position a little worse and ours potentially a little better.
Heaney was rated the #9 pitching prospect by Sickles before the year with an A-, and still called him one of the top pitching prospects.
6 years of a top pitching prospect for 1 year of 2.5 WAR @ $9.5 million is a deal I would make every day. Especially since Asdrubal would probably take about 9.5m to sign.
Heaney did not have a great year. He had a near 4 FIP in AAA and a 5.45 FIP in the majors. Plus people are saying he might be a reliever. He’s likely a B/B+ prospect now. Which is a nice little asset. And while Steamer sees Kendrick declining to 2.4 WAR, he hasn’t posted a WAR as low as it predicts since 2010.
And while I freely admit it seems like a win-win deal, the Angels almost certainly get worse this year. And in 2016, Pujols, Weaver, and Hamilton are a year older.
i like the cut of your jib
Those are both post season comments that take into account the fact that he struggled a bit in AAA and was rushed to the majors.
The thing that is most likely to make the Angles dangerous long term is their inability to pay for pitching, due to their financial commitments to Hamilton and Pujols. They went from a team with literally one starter two years ago to having a potential rotation full of young cost controlled talent. Effectively filling their fifth starter role while Skaggs gets TJS for no cost while freeing up 10 million for a stopgap 2bman like Asdrubal.
Now expect to see the Slegna sign Lowrie to play 2B, and watch him return to his 2013 form at the plate.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Matt Joyce ended up on the A’s. If you wanna recreate 2012, you gotta have a Theth proxy…
I wouldn’t mind it. 120s wRC+ against RHP.
So that happened
Thanks, and go As.
I don’t know who either of those players are.
Me neither. Also who are the “Rockies?”
They were a hockey team, but I thought they had moved to New Jersey.
I just looked up Canha. He’s a right-handed 1B, but he also played OF and 3B last season. Spent 2014 with the Marlins AAA team and hit .303 with 20 dingers. He went to Cal!
Our Cal guys outnumber our Stanford guys now. Yay!
He seems like a decent Rule 5 pick if his defense is actually adequate in the OF. That would give him a bit of versatility to go with right-handed pop. If he can play 3B as well, then double bonus.
A’s currently have Freiman slotted in as the RH side of the 1B platoon with Ike Davis. This guy is probably better than Freiman.
Steamer projects Canha for 101 wRC+ and Freiman at 102. My opinion on Canha hangs on whether he has any defensive value. But it’s pretty easy to exceed Freiman’s defensive value.
In single A (2012), Canha played one game at catcher! (or maybe just part of one game) yesssss
are we pronouncing it the portuguese way?
Sure
Well, you are not in America
this is america!
ah. brazilian pronunciation it is then.
THATS NOT AMERI…uh…
USA USA USA
I am disappoint.
Canha is fine but lets be real, there were quality SS options availible and we picked another bad defense corner bat.
Isn’t the 40 man roster full?
Thanks, and go As.
I think I heard somewhere that the A’s DFAd Shane Peterson.
Yep.
Oh no! Not Shane Peterson! He’s… Super…fluous!
I always did prefer Sloane Peterson.
So *that’s* how it is in your family.
The last remaining chance for the Holliday deak to swing back in our favor…
That trade doesn’t deserve to be salvaged.
He didn’t wear undersleeves. in his pajama pants it really really looked like he was wearing pajamas.
What SS did you want? I wouldn’t have minded DeShields at 2b. Speed is fun.
Either Featherston or Herrera.
From BA
OR
Sure, both are intriguing.
cal bears the new market inefficiency. Can Tyson Ross be far behind?
Not to be confused with Conor Jackson who was just inefficient.
Mat Latos’ wife livetweets trade. (SBN Link)
Thanks, and go As.
Forst Fangraphs QandA
This is a great read.
Ignorant foreigners are the new hidden value.
i must be worth billions.
Only to those who would exploit you
Yoenis probably didn’t care. He either misses it, or he hits the absolute shit out of it to the point where park effects are irrelevant.
Got half an hour to kill?
http://www.baseballessential.com/news/2014/12/11/forced-to-pitch-jeremy-barfield-opens-up/
I mean, cell phones can take better video than that.
Thanks, and go As.
As for the info in it, it wasn’t really a big secret the A’s wanted Barfield to do this, but I didn’t know they refused to release him when he didn’t want to. I know he was never a top prospect and his odds of reaching the bigs aren’t great, but even if he says pitching helped him learn how to be more selective (and better) as a hitter and now it answered the “can he pitch?” question, it cost him some important time.
But he’s right that it was silly to think that just because it worked for Doolittle (who, as he said, pitched well in college whereas Barfield only occasionally pitched in high school), it’d work for him too.
Those were his words. I highly doubt that’s why the organization did it.
Thanks, and go As.
I think that was a major factor. Lefty, strong arm, etc. For a moment there, I have no doubt the A’s thought they’d find gold twice.
a big reason Doolittle switched back was because his injuries meant he couldn’t really play outfield/1b anymore.
I agree lefty/strong arm, but also the fact that he isn’t a very good hitter probably had something to do with it.
Thanks, and go As.
And the OF logjam, which Barfield mentioned again. I know it’s not just the Doolittle thing, but I absolutely believe it was a key part of them approaching him about it even if the reasons were different compared to Doolittle’s shift.
Maybe for a moment, but they were also honest about it. The Sports on Earth article said that it would not be the same as with Doo from the A’s and that was back in spring training. Havent watched it yet, but if he was taking games out to the bullpen and actually not working on getting better then I question everything he says about it.
I’m not saying playing games in the bullpen the first few innings or the reasons behind it was a great idea, but nobody is working on getting better there during the early parts of games. That stuff is done between games.
He knows he has a tougher road than anyone else. I’m not saying he’s running up and asking a coach to play catch, but dont go out of the way to show you arent paying attention.
From everything I read before this, he was doing what he could to try to learn how to pitch and do well with it, but he did get pushed into an almost no-win situation with it. Yeah, in large part it came from him not hitting well as he got higher in the system, but it’s such a major change if you don’t already have more of a pitching background that I’m actually kind of shocked the A’s wouldn’t just release him when he asked to be.
Still, in the end it may do more to help him as a hitter than not.
What always felt weird about it to me was he finally reached Triple-A, and yes, he struggled with it, but then it was just “Okay, you’re going to pitch now.” No real chance to take what he was experiencing at that level and try to build on it as a hitter was even offered.
Well, if you’re watching the game, you can get a sense of what opposing batters are trying to do, what the current pitcher is doing so that you can either replicate it or shake it up and exploit it. Yes, the catcher plays a part with it, but having an idea of what’s going on and who you may have to worry about the most would likely add to the learning possibilities. What bothers me most isn’t the games, but the “I don’t want to do this attitude.” You’re not cutting it at your current position, you’re not a star or a major prospect and the team is giving you a chance to try something new out. Whether you like that or not, give it your all and see what happens. Don’t half ass it and lose out on a possibility.
Yeah, that’s a fair point.
His condescending as fuck comment about being back with a bunch of 19 year olds when he was put in the bullpen was a little off putting, too.
I know you gotta have some ego to make it, but you need to have some humility too. He can namedrop Rickey all he wants, but the truth of the matter is he failed as a pitcher and so far as an OF as well.
Also, I get that they aren’t paid shit, but cmon… Don’t rattle off $600 worth of video games while you’re saying how poor you are.
Thanks, and go As.
I can get why it’s off putting when games get rattled off while crying poor, but they really do get paid shit. And as off putting as that is, how they spend their money to me is less relevant that the broader lifestyle they’re put in because of the crap pay. Games can be snagged off ebay and shit on the cheap, they could easily be bought with pooled money with roommates and what have you. At the end of the day, if he’s making a proper salary that anyone should be able to live off of and failing or crying foul about it, fuck him. If he’s not, then shit needs to be done.
I should add that in general, I do agree with everything you’re saying including that despite what I said.
Looked like he was using Gamefly anyway, and isn’t that less expensive than just buying each game?
Anyway, yeah. I don’t really care if he’s into video games or not. That’s his business and it doesn’t change the fact minor leaguers in general are paid shit and should be paid something more reasonable.
Yea and I know it’s not the biggest nit to pick, especially when that’s probably the only “luxury” he’s probably got.
That said, the only time I heard him mention an actual dollar figure was $2100/month. For a single dude with a roommate or two that’s enough to live off of and he’s playing baseball for a living instead of working at a drive-through.
Thanks, and go As.
(He’s about to get married)
But that’s barely enough to scrape by. Reading Dirk Hayhurst’s books, he detailed pretty well how difficult it can be even for three guys to pool their resources together just to rent a shitty apartment, and it becomes more of a hassle whenever someone is sent to a different level, let alone traded or released.
Outside the games themselves, video games are probably a very common escape for these guys.
Oh I know, and I don’t disagree that it’s difficult.
That applies for every low paying job though, and those don’t all come with the potential to make 400k a year
Thanks, and go As.
The risk/reward scenario is obviously much different with these guys, yeah. So is the probability of never getting that far.
(I know you know that)
I also didn’t get a 100K signing bonus when I took on my shitty paying job.
Thanks, and go As.
I don’t think they ever thought he was a great prospect as a pitcher.
But he was and is pretty much a non-prospect as a hitter. He even made self-deprecating remarks to that effect himself, before the switch.
So pitching seemed like his best chance, even if it was still a small one, to turn into something worthwhile.
That being said, if they really did refuse to release him to give him a chance as a hitter in another organization, that’s pretty crappy.
Above all else, that’s why I could easily see why he was miserable with it along with souring on the organization after it wasn’t working out.
Why? I could understand a trade or something, but he’s part of the A’s organization I don’t see why they’d be under any obligation to release him just because.
Incidentally, has he signed with anybody else yet?
Thanks, and go As.
That was kind of my view as well.
Third. Though I guess if they had no intention of having him in future plans and he was going to rot on a bench regardless give the guy a chance. you are not under obligation to but that doesnt mean you couldnt.
Isn’t that why they had him try to pitch?
“Dude, look, you’re probably not gonna make the show as a hitter. You have a cannon though, try the mound.”
Thanks, and go As.
Right. But if he is like “you will have to take the bat out of my cold dead hands” then you could say, ok here is your release see if anyone else wants to promote you.
And again, no obligation, and I think they were right to try him as a pitcher and it seemed like a good idea when he was in AZ and seeming positive about it and getting better.
Yeah, that was where I was at. I totally get where the others are coming from, even why he’d want to be released as well. It’s not an easy position either way. You want to see if you can get value for him whether by trade, by a position change, or something else. After all, you’ve put in a lot of time and effort in trying to get success from him. The situation as a whole is crappy, but not necessarily the way he was treated.
Wow, about 10 minutes in and basically he comes off as an unprofessional whiny little fuck.
Complain about not pitching when he was moved to the bullpen, and then talk about how he brought out a ladder ball game into the pen and played it during games? Wonder why you didn’t get any game time…
Thanks, and go As.
Hmm, Desme reference.
and now i’m sad
Thanks, and go As.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
You can that a winter meeting? THIS is a winter meeting!
what the duck?
Kemp -> Padres
Thanks, and go As.
2011 mikev is pissed
I’ve officially lost track of who’s on what team, and I don’t think I’ll bother trying to figure it out until March at the earliest.
OK I laughed.
Thanks, and go As.
Pretty impressive to get your pro se petition approved for hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court. Even more so if you’re not a lawyer and you wrote it yourself. In your second language.
Too bad no one can find him to let him know.
Website for a 2024 San Francisco olympic bid headed in part by Larry Baer expects the Coli to be around for another decade.
Well, that’s been his plan for years.
Excellent, long history of UFO, your favorite metal band’s favorite metal band. Guitar rock god Michael Schenker, wildly inconsistent albums, transcendent live moments, and a catalog of ridiculous rock anecdotes. Several times assaulted by fans with projectiles. Found their guitarist when the original guy left his passport at home. Substance abuse that made Ozzy feel like a lightweight. Couldn’t pay hotel bill because a hooker stole their money. A Cleveland ice center gig which was the inspiration for the scene in Spinal Tap where the band gets lost in the tunnels on the way to the stage. And some critics’ choice for the greatest rock guitar solo ever recorded. Great read.
So, Gray should be the only above average player on the 2015 A’s
I know that you know this, but just because N players are all projected to earn 2 WAR or less does not mean that it predicts expects no one to exceed 2 WAR (unless it’s a dumb prediction).
Yeah, I know. It’s just that the projections are pretty unispiring
It’s a bad sign when I am this bored by the A’s in December.
They look dull. A bunch of pedestrian players, which I might be able to stomach, with a pedestrian (at best) farm system, which is just depressing.
I know, many of us were pretty gloomy before 2012, but a series of bad trades – some made for understandable reasons, others still mystifying to me – has rendered this team really average, barring some fine diamonds in the rough.
And it’s the A’s, so there probably will be some. But not enough.
Yeah, I know we’re rooting for laundry. But it’s like we’re rooting for ill-fitting, unstylish laundry we found on the street.
Tagline the last graf
Well Reddick, Norris, Semien, Lawrie, and Kazmir all project as slightly better than 2 WAR, but they all round down on the depth chart. It sure would be nice to have a guy who could project as 5-6 WAR, right? Maybe at 3b?
Compared to the depth chart for last year, the A’s are about 8 WAR worse.
Second base/whatever MIF position Semien isn’t playing is a hole. Semien might be a problem himself since he may not be able to defend at either position. In any case, the entire infield is a question mark since Lawrie has those injury issues we’ve talked to death about and Davis probably sucks…
The optimistic take on the back of the rotation is that it’s “high variance”.
Looking at the free agents left, Asdrubal Cabrera still makes sense and perhaps taking a flyer on someone like Beachy/Medlen/Morrow/Johnson. Jake Peavy could be a decent mid tier option. But they’re running out of options. Darn, Headley would’ve been perfect.
Lowrie -> Astros. 3 years “over 20M guaranteed”
Thanks, and go As.
Both Lowrie and Headley seem like bargains to me. If we are planning on spending money to get budget back to last year, what’s left besides Moncada?
I don’t think the budget goes back to that level
It’s all based on a quote from SuSlu saying they would. Given how sure the quote sounded, it would be a bad PR move to just not spend.
Although they apparently tried for Headley:
Also:
It could very well be possible the A’s were the mystery team with a $65 M offer (if one existed). It happened early in the process, when the A’s were “aggressive.” They absolutely were a mystery team. It makes the JD deal look a ton better. If they were, it would be definitive proof of people not taking money from the A’s for better markets. I doubt we find out what the A’s offer was.
I approve of their pursuit of Headley and I would love to know what Oakland’s offer was.
They should “leak” it as more proof that they can’t sign big FAs and put pressure on Selig (LOL) to do *something* about a stadium.
Thanks, and go As.
Hmmm…is there a particularly credulous blog operator they could leak something like that to? Someone who would passive-aggressively hint at it constantly while calling anyone who asked for a source an idiot?
I can’t tell you but you just have to believe me.
Thanks, and go As.
Justin Upton?
Thanks, and go As.
They have the cash to do so, even if Atlanta insists on attaching Chris Johnson to the deal.
I wonder how much a Pomeranz/Upton+Johnson deal would appeal to the Braves?
Interesting
If the A’s sign Kate Upton I’d probably watch more games.
That seems really cheap.
Thanks, and go As.
I would have loved this deal for the A’s…
I wouldn’t want him to play SS though.
Thanks, and go As.
True. But his bat would have made him a viable upgrade at 2B.
yeah for sure. I would have totally been down with Lowrie at 2B and, say, Didi Gregorious at short.
Thanks, and go As.
Solid deal for the Astros.
With Lawrie at 3rd and Lowrie at 2nd. Just imagine the play by play. A few people’s heads would implode on 5-4-3 double plays.
Heh.
That’s a lot for 50 innings.
Thanks, and go As.
The last time he made it to 50 innings was 2011.
It’ll be like Don Mattingly’s successor getting an Ace at the deadline!
Good for Brett and Brandon that they get to play together in LAD. But, yeah I would not touch this with a 10 foot pole.
10 million bucks for Brett Anderson? I think I’m going to teach my son how to pitch left handed.
Gross overpay if there ever were one.
Obligatory
The swizzle stick is my favorite thing about this picture.
He’s started each of the last two seasons “healthy” and threw 768 pitches in 2013 and 663 pitches in 2014.
$10M divided by the average, 715.5 pitches, comes to $13,976.24 per pitch.
appropriate.
The troubled life and the strange death of Brad Halsey
Wow, thanks for posting that. For all the warning signs evident in retrospect it’s kind of amazing that none of this came to light during his playing days.
Seems like he didn’t get into drugs until after
Thanks, and go As.
I doubt that’s true, since he arrived at one of his Independent League stops with addictions to painkillers and Adderall, classic abuse drugs facilitated by pro sports trainers. And people who use drugs to self-medicate the effects of mental illness generally do so for a long time, certainly longer than it takes to start visibly fucking up. I’m not saying the A’s or MLB should have seen the signs, just that pro sports are especially badly suited to helping people with mental health and chemical dependency issues.
I guess health is an expensive skill. $12MM/2yr vs. Butler’s $30MM/3yr
Id still rather have morse at 2/12 than butler at 3/30
I’m meh on both.
I wouldn’t spend my money on either, but if you want a RHH DH Im not giving butler 30 mil I can give to Yoan.
From what I understand, Yoan is a lump sum signing bonus. So $6 M for Morse vs. $10 M for Butler doesn’t really impact the cash available for Moncada.
I mean, Butler is 29 vs Morse being 33 (and given their similar skillset, that’s a HUGE difference). And Butler is very healthy while Morse has played more than 140 games once.
Butler’s the better player, but I agree he’s a very strange fit on this team.
He’s CB shaped.
Bucknor?
Morse hasn’t played for an AL team that can DH him, though. Well at least since he was a SS.
Butler to SS confirmed.
Thanks, and go As.
True. Also, while health indeed is an important skill set, I find it to be less dominating aspect for a player with no defensive value, slotted to serve primarily as a DH.
Morse’s WAR is affected by his horrible defense twice. Once, in the evaluation of his efforts on the field and second time in the fact that he lost a lot of PA, being often lifted for a defensive replacement. If you look at primary DHs with a similar wRC+ in 2014, the best comparison is David Ortiz, who had 2.4 fWAR in 140 games.
Even if you grant Morse the PA of Butler, Steamer sees 119 wRC+ for Butler, 112 wRC+ for Morse.
I know. I’m not completely sure of inner works of Steamer, but Oliver does not take any health/injury information into consideration, except as for playing time estimates. Morse’s injuries in 2012 and 2013 are well documented. And only in well-injured 2013 (out of last five) was he below his estimate of 112 wRC+. The other four years are: 133, 148, 113 and 133 again last year.
The 112 wRC+ is the product of 80 wRC+ in 2013 and the age curve. I am taking over on that.
Both Morse and Butler are players who could age very, very quickly. I don’t think it’s ridiculous to predict a year for Morse similar to his 2011 when he was 30, not 33. Anything more than 3 years ago starts becoming ancient history.
But I still think Butler needs to get more credit for his durability. Morse missed only 31 games last year in the second healthiest year of his career. Butler has missed 21 since 2009. And Butler’s closer to his career year of 139 wRC+ than Morse is to his of 148.
I grant that Morse is cheaper and hence might have been a better fit. But I’m still taking Butler on performance.
Cheaper and with one less year and when you say
you probably shouldn’t be spending an additional 10m for one more end of the rope year.
I think we mostly agree. Although Butler will still be younger after these 3 years than Morse is now.
This is a very good point.
The FA market has shown a bit more restraint than I thought it would.
Early signs of going off the deep end, but the Headley and Lowrie contracts look downright reasonable.
“Giants lose another World Series hero” according to the headline at SFgate.
Meh, he’s no Cody Ross.
:(
Thanks, and go As.
Billy will trade to bring him back.
The Jays’ current NRI list also includes Jeff Francis and LOL Jake Fox.
Woah.
Thanks, and go As.
Needz. MOAR!!!
Can we trade Punto / Russel for him?
Thanks, and go As.
Who on the Padres is worth Myers straight up? Ross? Cashner? Alonso?
Steve Garvey.
Kevin Garvey
Chuck Garvey
Marcus Garvey
3 team, 11 player deal
Alvarez is one of the guys SD got for Huston Street.
I hope he crushes the angels
Hahn has a pretty tasty looking curve ball.
HAHN!!!
As a fantasy owner of his, I’m excited he gets to pitch in Oakland.
Over San Diego?
If they were using him as trade bait, I’m assuming that wasn’t an option.
BZZZZT
Alex: Soaker?
Soaker: Who is Gary Hart?
Alex: No, sorry.
Rice is bad for your Hart.
Boy, she had some epic 80s hair.
That had to take hours
Wow…I think I’m having a Jessica Hahn flashback.
Boy is Country Breakfast gonna be surprised when he shows up at spring training and finds a full set of catcher’s gear in his locker.
He’s going to be even sadder when he’s playing in the Mexican League in 2016.
help us out guys, looking at his fangrahps page, is he dan straily without the breakout 2012?
Hahn? It seems like he had a pretty good couple of months in the big leagues, if nothing else. Gets ground balls and strikeouts.
I’m sad, because I really liked Norris. However, he stunk post-All Star last season. His first half really had me expecting huge things, but now I don’t know what to think.
I’m surprised by this. I still had above-average-player hopes for Norris. Is Alvarez a stud? Are we going from 44% to 0% Catcher?
Norris probably is above average, but it doesn’t really seem like he can hit righties, he doesn’t frame pitches well, and his throwing seems to be getting worse.
Yeah, if the Wild Card game was an exposure of Norris, he could quickly become a near-worthless asset.
OK, so this is the team for the next few minutes anyway?
C: Vogt, Phleghley
1B: Davis, Jaso?
2B: Blah, Bleh
SS: Semien
3B: Lawrie
OF: Fuld, Coco, Gentry, Reddick
DH: Butler
SP: Gray, Kazmir, Hahn, Pomeranz/Chavez/Nolin/Bassitt
RP: Doolittle, Otero, Alvarez, O’Flaherty, Abad, Graveman, De la Rosa?
Package some of that young starting pitching for a big time middle infielder or corner outfielder, and you’ve sort of got something.
Fernando rodriguez too
He was just DFA’d
huh.
He cleared waivers so you were right all along.
I think he got released.
interesting
I like this Norris trade. Hahn has never not dominated at all levels of professional ball. RJ Alvarez is plain filthy.
Norris’s production against lefties will be really hard to replace even if you believe in Phlegm’s bat. But Phlegm will probably be able to make up some of that defensively. I watched a lot of Norris the last three years and honestly he seems pretty bad at all aspects of catching. If he moves to first, as he eventually will, his platoon bat is really not that interesting.
Like you said, the A’s are well positioned to make a big splash with all that young pitching. For the first time this offseason, I’m actually excited for what’s next.
I agree with pretty much all this.
You guys are helping.
Would you like me to totally put your mind at ease and weigh in on the trade, nevermoor?
Depend. Does WARP go high enough to count that curve?
I’ll help more. This is fucking filthy.
Thanks, and go As.
I’ll note this is the second time Beane took one of my fantasy players from SD. Gregerson turned out ok.
Definitely seems like a good trade. I was worried about health more than anything else for Norris. Catchers don’t get unhurt easily.
I’m pretty far from excited about the team though; looks like a lot of frustrating 2-1 losses the next coup
But Seth Streich is a good prospect. I know we now have depth in the 4th starter market but the dude struck out over a batter an inning and has good command and a nice change up to go with a curve he can throw in any count. Im not saying that Norris is the bees knees or anything but this is a trade that would have been better if it was either for a position of need or done at the trade deadline where Norris would have had more leverage as there are always teams that need catching for the stretch run.
Basically the A’s have traded all of their valuable assets with the exception of Kazmir Gray and Doolittle and haven’t gotten a three first division starters in the entire process. That is a borderline criminal act.
doom, gloom, etc.
Thanks, and go As.
I agree with everything beane has ever done with the exception of Daric Barton not being freed, well just because. I also forgot 2007-20012.
Sure, 2007-2011 sucked, but at least it wan’t the 18,000 years you suggest!
And 2012-2014 buy Beane a bit of slack. The A’s have now had three distinct eras of success under Beane: 2000-2003, 2005-2006, and 2012-2014. The other small market success stories of TB and Min have had long stretches of terribleness to go with their small successes.
2012 shocked me. I had thought Beane and the A’s had finally been caught by the rest of the league. And maybe it was all luck that allowed the A’s to win the most games in baseball the last three years. And they’ve made some trades this offseason that I certainly would not have. But I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until they lose 90 games.
easy to forget about that. amazing, really.
I don’t think you can call 2005-2006 a distinct era of success. Basically he was still riding off of 2000 era. Or Why you think 05 was successful when we didn’t make the playoffs but 04 wasn’t
You are right that they have performed better than the whole.
That being said losing 82 games or 90 games or 100 games makes no difference to me.
2000-2004 was built on the Big 3, Tejada, Chavez, and Giambi. And yes I should have included 2004 in that.
2005-2006 were built almost entirely on trades. Zito and Chavez were still around, but Zito was no longer a stud and Chavez was starting to become injured.
One could argue that Beane’s early success was built entirely on high draft picks and a couple of lucky prospect breakthroughs. The 2006 team was almost entirely built by solid GM work.
I mean that Esteban Loiza acquisition was really solid GM work right there. Dude got lucky on the Hurt. Not much else happened.
lol
Thanks, and go As.
Their Pythag that year was .527 their real record was .574.
Shit was a lucky year.
Frank Thomas was worth 2.5 WAR that year. Esteban Loaiza was worth 2.4.
Haren and Calero were worth 5.5. Not many people would have the balls to have pulled off the Mulder and Hudson trades.
Well the Hudson trade was a terrible trade, right from the start. Mulder trade was a great trade absolutely.
Basically Beane built a slightly above average team of mostly old parts and got lucky. The Brian Sabean school of GMing.
The Hudson trade became terrible because Dan goddamn Meyer refused to tell anybody his shoulder hurt.
Thanks, and go As.
Actually agreeing to an old ofer with one season of flukey performance and a reliever who had never been able to hit the side of a barn, with the exception of one year and was already in arbitration, as the secondary and tertiary pieces made that deal bad.
I agree that the Hudson trade at the time compared completely unfavorably to the Mulder one. Cruz was a worse bet than Calero, Thomas was an absolute ton worse than Barton.
The only way it could have been salvaged was Meyer becoming an ace even better than Haren. And instead he came over and was promptly injured. I still think the Braves may have suspected injury when the deal was made.
Of course give Mulder and Hudson’s career trajectories, it looks even worse.
It’s also rarely noted that Mulder was traded with two years of team control left to Hudson’s one. That also affected the value of the trade packages received.
The top performers of 2006 by fWAR:
Hitters
Swisher (25)
Chavez (28)
Kendall (32)
Bradley (28)
Thomas (38)
Ellis (29)
Pitchers
Haren (25)
Blanton (25)
Loaiza (34)
Street (22)
Zito (28)
Duke (28)
Calero (31)
Basically, the most important half of the roster was in their primes except for Thomas, Loaiza, Kendall, and Calero. In fact (by fWAR) of the 4 most important players, 3 were 25 and 1 was 28!
It was a very good but not elite roster put together with some very good 1st round picks (Swisher, Blanton, Street), one great trade (Haren, Calero), one franchise player in his last year of goodness (Chavez) and Beane’s specialty: a whole bunch of fantastic spare parts (the rest).
I think this is an unfinished act. Give it time to play out.
Do you find yourself willing to commit yourself to the rest of the presentation after a really bad Act 1?
I’m morbidly fascinated at this point.
Hell, I joined the cast when I was sleeping with one of the lead actresses.
Perhaps. The problem is that unless there is some inception type shit about to happen… its not going to end well.
We’re A’s fans. It hasn’t ended well since ’89.
And even that was somber.
But…
WE HAVE YOUNG PITCHING
I’m increasingly lukewarm on Upton
this
No longer a worry.
I don’t know about Kemp in CF and I don’t know what their farm system looks like anymore but a tip o’ cap to SD’s aggressiveness.
Upton/Kemp/Myers is one Hell of a switch from 2014. But what of Seth now?
I saw rumors of Myers at 1B, which would mean there is still room for Seth in the outfield. But who knows… plenty of time left until the start of the season.
Kemp isn’t a done deal and may not even happen.
Kemp to SD is official.
I think they will try Myers in CF. And yes, it’s been a fun offseason for the Padres.
A Taijuan Walker-Justin Upton trade would put the Mariners in 3rd in all MLB on Fangraphs projected standings.
In part, because Steamer uses 48 IP as a projection for Taijuan.
Some fun with fWAR depth charts. 2015 projected team fWAR:
Mariners 39.5
A’s 36.2
Angels 35.2
Texas 31.8
Houston 25.6
If Zobrist replaced Sogard’s ABs, we would add 1.6 wins. Of course, if we had simply kept JD, we’d be up about the same.
I must say, most quotes I read from Norris rub me the wrong way. From his celebration of this trade to the I don’t know why I’m not starting late last season. If anybody came back changed from the All Star game, I would think it was Norris.
So good luck in San Diego (and I mean that. They, like Seattle, deserve a good or at least interesting team.) But I’m fine moving on from him, even though he is Napoli-esque.
My lasting memory of him from last season was dropping that pitchout in the last inning of the play-in game.
Lasting memory from 2013 was him kneeling on the dugout steps, hoping for a chance to pinch hit while Vogt and Reddick struck out against Scherzer.
I do believe I am going to kill you both
The Padres deserve to be bad forever, and they will be.
Are you happy now, you ghouls?
Our long national nightmare is over.
actually, yeah.
Thanks, and go As.
I thought they had an available spot on the 40-man roster. It’s hard to keep track.
But … yes.
WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
DING DONG!
That’s a Fucking A move. Possibly THE move of the off season.
its the one that makes us all believe again
The A’s have absorbed their fair share of career-ending death spirals. Matsui is another relatively recent one that comes to mind.
Slusser bringing the hope:
Maybe if we trade Vogt and Jaso for one of ’em we can keep the whack-a-mole game going.
It could also be that he’s fucking terrible.
Thanks, and go As.
Yes, but nobody that writes for a living or talks about baseball will ever ever ever say that.
M-A, M-A-R, M-A-R-K, Ellis!
While Desmond or Zobrist would be welcome talent, I’m not sure I understand the logic of trading 4 years of Donaldson for cost controlled pitching, and then presumably trading that cost controlled pitching for 1 year of Zobrist or Desmond.
Depends on how much pitching is spent. If its Pomeranz that gets dealt…
We still have two more All Stars to get rid of.
Would a Kazmir for Desmond trade make sense?
Not for the Nationals. They’re rotation is pretty strong.
One of these is not like the others
Zobrist because he’s good? Or Craig because he can’t play middle infield?
Craig because count the ring.
Ben Badler discusses why Oakland is the most likely team to sign (eventual) Cuban free agent Hector Olivera.
Key sentence makes me sad:
Blood disorders are the new inefficiency.
literally
Thanks, and go As.
theth->theattle
Maurererer-> san diego
It’s a good thing A’s fans stuffed the ballot box to get Theth awarded the #FaceofPadres!
So, is “Erisbel Arruebarrena” Cuban for “Hiroyuki Nakajima”?
no. its cuban for Hiroyuki Nakajima Hiroyuki Nakajima Hiroyuki Nakajima Hiroyuki Nakajima Hiro