They used to call him “Keebs” but I always thought Simon was a pretty good comp too.
A.134/.241/.165 with the Brewers in the early part of last year earned him the rest of the summer in Colorado Springs and his eventual release. The Jays brought him to camp as an NRI and he was called up a few days ago. His 6-for-12 with 2 2B and 1 BB in 3 games, 1 at 3B and 2 at 2B, already puts The (Near) Face of Baseball as the #8 mugshot in B-R’s Top 12 by WAR of the largely anonymous Jays.
The Jays have a couple lefties in the bullpen but their starters are all righthanded:
Friday night: Aaron Brooks vs. Marcus Stroman
Saturday afternoon: Mike Fiers vs. Matt Shoemaker
Sunday afternoon: Brett Anderson vs. Aaron Sanchez
Ex-A’s report: in addition to Sogard; there’s just one more:
Billy McKinney: The A’s first-round choice in the 2013 draft went to the Cubs, along with their first-round choice in the 2012 draft, in the Samardzija/Hammel deal in 2014. After a lot of time in AA and AAA in the Cubs and Yankees systems he got a long look in the Jays outfield at the end of last season and has been their primary right fielder to open this season. He’s off to a bit of a slow start at the plate though, at .207/.281/.328.
I look forward to Sogard hitting 2 HR’s in the series. I’ll take one off Fiers and one off Petit for 1000, Alex.
Speaking of, who’s been watching Jeopardy? If not, I suggest you do. The reigning champ is probably pushing the show’s profitability into the red.
Yeah, he is just insanely dominant.
11 wins, all but one a runaway before final jeopardy, including the four biggest single-day totals ever.
On the scounting side, he seems to know almost everything to start with, is fast on the buzzer, and is as aggressive a bettor as the show has ever seen (which he can afford to do without being reckless, given the other two tools).
There have been other impressive contestants with long win streaks, but no one who has seemed unbeatable like this. (I can’t even decide if the best chance of it happening would be someone else managing to find the daily doubles and beating him at his own game, or him finding them as usual but getting unlucky and missing two or three of the doubles plus final. Either one seems like a very long odds parlay.)
The five tools of Jeopardy:
1. Buzzer speed
2. Knowledge
3. Betting
4. Personal anecdotes
5. Penmanship
I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was less about speed and more about timing. That you had to wait a certain amount of time after the clue has been finished otherwise it locks you out for a bit.
Yes but there is a light that comes on, visible to the players, indicating when it is ok to ring in. So you can think of it as either speed (wait to see the light and then ring in as fast as possible) or timing (anticipate when the light will come on based on the reading of the question).
I think you need both — he has to get unlucky on daily doubles / final jeopardy but there also has to be someone who is quick enough to hang with him on the regular questions.
i never thought about accumulating early dollars to be able to bet big once you hunt down the DD.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/04/23/jeopardy-winner-james-holzhauer-keeps-dominating-does-it-matter-if-he-broke-game/?utm_term=.6162bbdf4164
Hmmm, he’s a “professional sports gambler.” Interesting.
The power of nerds compels you!
DV aside, Samardzjida deal hasn’t been too bad in actual outcome. It was still a lot of potential at the time, which is should be judged.
DV included, phew
The distance between first and second in the AL East is bigger than the distance between first and last in all but the NL East.
Let the kids play?
Aw, cute
Sogard leading off.
The numbers still say playing Profar and Grossman against RHP, while Pinder sits on the bench, is the right thing to do, but it sure feels wrong. Same with Morales/Canha.
Should probably drop the song altogether. Just to be on the safe side.
Yes please. Such an obnoxiously bad song to begin with.
All the hamate does is “break” as far as I know.
Triple play please
Aaron Brooks DFA please
Might as well swap him with Gio. Not that Gio is doing particularly great.
I couldn’t find FSU in the lot but from this seat I could easily nail ptbnl in the white mane with a french fry or something.
Also, Brooks sucks.
Sorry I missed you!
This strike zone is a mess.
Ugh, I should have gone to the Snoop Dogg show.
In the games of his I’ve seen, Brooks seems like he has decent stuff, but just leaves pitches up way too often.
A night of weak-ass outs and now we get Rodneyed, the final indignity.
LOL at the final pitch. Oh well.
Laureano was not amused.
I wanted to say hi to Mr. and Mrs. ptbnl after the game but they were bolting the premises while I was making sure Laureano didn’t go all Milton Bradley on us.
Yeah – we had to get home to the teen alone.
Sorry you had to suffer that game.
Obvious benefit of Clear, which I signed up for last night, was 8 people in that line on a bobblehead day vs. thousands in the regular security line. There’s no anal probe or even a walk-through metal detector; they just glance at your bag and you’re in.
The punch line is that the Clear fingerprint sensor wasn’t working, so any of those thousands of people could enter there by claiming to be signed up for Clear.
Sorry, but FK that. I couldn’t be any opposed to shit like that service. Charging more money to bypass security theater is fucking BULLSHIT.
Thanks, and go As.
I respect a general opposition to Lexus Lanes. To clarify, the ballpark version is free. You do give up a set of digital fingerprints and an e-copy of your driver’s license so there may be privacy concerns. I already gave all that to the TSA private contractor who was processing Precheck registrations (not free). As with anything that’s pitched as “free” I assume a marketing tsunami will follow but Gmail handles that fairly well.
Chapman is personally handing out some extra bobbleheads out by the A’s bullpen. Nice cheer for that.
Also the RF bleachers have a 4/20 Green and Gold peace symbol next to Sogard’s glasses.
Jays got a run there because they sac bunted ahead of Sogard. Revenge of the Nerd.
Well that’s one way to get rid of the opposing pitcher.
Now we need to get rid of our own pitcher.
Fiers looks so dang hittable.
Gio just opted out and Keuchel is still on the market. I’m tired of watching this pathetic pitching staff hamper a playoff caliber core.
I fear getting Rodneyed twice in 24 hours and I can’t Denogginize with a 4 hour drive home.
At least the suck part of the bullpen is getting plenty of chances to work on things.
And again today. And they haven’t all sucked.
And then there’s Buchter.
The A’s usually aren’t this putrid when I visit. This is more like a Cal football game.
Rickey collapsed in a heap just before the finish of the Big Heads race.
My Matt Chapman bobblehead will forever be a treasured memory of this wonderful afternoon.
RODNEYED aaaaah
no ray, this isn’t necessarily good pitching
Also to complete the day the kid a couple seats down from me puked on the guy in front of him.
KENDRYSED aaaaah
Every trip to the ballpark is a chance to see something you’ve never seen before.
Drive home safe!
With the final nice tackle of the second dipshit by the 2B umpire. Thank goodness for smartphones so I could share this experience with you FKers not lucky enough to be here. Good night!
Wow, I have been fortunate to be away visiting friends. What an ugly series and pitching staff. There has to be some type of move made here.
Before any moves are made they have to try to salvage something from their $5 million by having Rodney pitch the first inning.
The pitching is apparently going to suck, so maybe they could at least shake the offense up a little. Get some kids up here, dump Morales and Hundley, sit Profar. Do something.
Are Mark Payton and Seth Brown’s AAA numbers a mirage? Quite possibly! Would I enjoy finding out more than I am enjoying the Kendrys Morales and Robbie Grossman experience? Most definitely!
Does Sean Murphy need more AAA seasoning? Maybe! Do I care right now? No!!!!
There were no other outfielders available this offseason. Robbie Grossman was the only one. Sorry.
Thanks, and go As.
hundley, a catcher, has a negative WAR.
On the Profar front, it’s a bit unfortunate that the one guy not hitting for Vegas is Barreto. I wonder how much of that is him being frustrated at getting cut for washed Kendrys.
Better news is that Jorge Mateo has come out of the gates on fire with the bat. I imagine he could play some 2B if needed.
Don’t know what management would be PO’d at Barreto about but it seems like they’ve sent him multiple messages that they are skeptical of his big league future, and I can’t blame him in the least for wanting a shot with another organization.
I’ve been inclined to just live with Kendrys until Olson is back, but that’s getting harder to justify. Sure, call up one of the probably AAAA guys, or just give more playing time to Canha and Pinder.
Pinder actually has more PA than Kendrys so far, but Canha has only been in 14 out of 23 games despite his 156 wRC+.
Not saying that Giles would be a great matchup for him, but I felt sick today that Canha didn’t get an AB.
So the Premiership is going to come down to Liverpool having played United when they were basking in Ole’s arrival, and City playing them now they’ve fallen apart again. It’s all about the timing …
other than liverpools eventual draw at newcastle
soaker, you can watch a former A golf all day tomorrow
I was wondering whatever came of Byrnes’ cross-country triathalon attempt, begun with a cross bay swim last opening day. He claims he made it.
(documentary coming)
That was hilarious. I thought Laureano’s throw was going to end up in the second deck.
No assist and no double play per rules 9.10(b)(3) and 9.11 but he did get the MLB play of the week for it.
Can Laureano pitch?
mound is way too close.
Thanks, and go As.
All right, who had Brett’s fifth start in the pool?
On the previous play I was surprised Brett got up unharmed after dive-rolling out of Kendrys’ way. A second play in the same inning was never gonna end ok.
Coco is the opposite of Fosse on radio. He’s making Ken and Vince work hard to coax him to say anything.
In 24 IP, Mengden has 28 K, 8 BB, 15 H, 10 R (8 earned, 3.00 ERA).
If we’re going to discount all the goofy numbers some of the Vegas hitters are putting up, then Mengden’s look even better. Not that he’s suddenly going to be a major league ace or anything, but I wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do.
That was another typical Profar at bat. He’s swinging way too much and getting himself out on bad pitches.
And again.
Yeah, it really looks like he has no pitch recognition at all, and just swings at anything, usually managing to make some sort of weak contact.
And again.
Bad pitching looks worse when the team’s own hitters are having white-flag innings like that last one.
Morales is so done.
It’s been apparent in this series why the Jays were willing to eat quite a bit of money to get that dead weight off their roster.
His power seems to have left the scene, and it’s not like he brings much else to the party.
JFC
I’m still not a Phegley believer. All the swing adjustments in the world won’t help you if your eye is still shit.
Not to mention what a stark example of why having two shitty catchers sucks so much. There’s no reason for Phegley to even be hitting there, but because a PH had to be used for the other, even shittier catcher earlier in the game, Phegley had to hit.
I honestly don’t know how anyone can justify how poorly the front office constructed the roster this year anymore.
That was Coco’s first regular season game and he just didn’t have anything to say. He spoke in baseball generalities and I didn’t have the impression he’s watched much if any of the A’s on TV this season. Try following the team and learn the actual strengths and weaknesses of the players please, otherwise you’re doing nothing but distracting Ken and Vince. They said he’ll be in the booth for the remaining three games of this homestand.
A couple did a gender reveal with Kara and Stomper during an inning break today, popping a balloon to reveal blue confetti.
No idea who this person is but PLEASE LET IT BE TRUE.
Thanks, and go As.
I would still prefer one of the downtown sites IF they could pull it off, but … 85% dead sounds about right, so my money would be on something at the existing Coliseum site. Does he really mean renovating the current stadium, as opposed to building something new there? I’m not so sure about that part.
According to Matier the A’s have a deal in place to buy out the County’s 50% share of the Coliseum complex. Notwithstanding Kaval’s newfound love for deconstructed “Roman ruins” it is hard to believe the A’s are investing that much capital for land away from the site they plan to build their ballpark.
That could just be a good deal on valuable real estate though. They’ve put so much time and effort into exploring other sites, the “hard to believe” part to me would be tucking their tail between their legs and settling for a new building there. I think Fisher putting the team up for sale and taking a rich offer from somebody in Montreal is more likely.
We’ll have to agree to disagree and see how it plans out. It’s true that buying the Coliseum land could be simply a real estate/financing deal. Seems more likely to me, though, that it’s a stadium site Plan B in the face of an uphill battle for Howard Terminal.
I could have sworn I read they had wanted that site’s land even back when they were first talking about the Peralta and HT sites as a means of financing the stadium. With the land owned by the team, I would imagine if he were looking to sell, you’d get someone willing to build here just as easily as you would to build, along with all the politics involved, in Montreal. Plus the league would much rather have Montreal available for expansion rather than give it up. Especially with a site available and SF’s stranglehold to the south making future expansion in the bay area difficult.
This Lieberman character has always been weird, but clicking over to his blog suggests he’s gone over the deep end into some serious misogyny.
He throws a ton of shit into the fan and hopes a little of it sticks to his victims.
Doing anything that doesn’t include blowing up the Coliseum is a non-starter. No matter how much money they dump into that concrete bowl, it will never be anything but a relic of bad 1960s multipurpose stadium design. “Great stadium a la Anaheim”…hmmm, that place is the same age as the Coliseum, it was fully renovated after the Rams left and now the Angels are looking elsewhere anyway.
The stadium in Anaheim was a piece of shit a decade ago the last time I was there. There’s some prettish looking parts, I guess, but from a fan experience it’s on par with the Coli. That would be monumentally stupid, which is why the A’s likely do it.
I gotta say, if this is truly the case, I think Oakland is dead. There’s simply no way to make the Coliseum an attractive location even with a teardown. The only successful stadia these days are downtown ones.
I’ve been to Anaheim. It ain’t a gem. And it’s near enough to Disneyland that people can visit both. The Coliseum is near what exactly? If Howard Terminal fails, I’d expect the A’s to announce that they are moving by 2021 or so.
I get the pessimism, and I could be wrong but I don’t see it this way at all.
1. The A’s have been genuine in their Oakland ballpark efforts in the post-Lew era. They clearly tried hard with Laney and are still working hard (even today) for Howard Terminal. Coliseum as Plan C is most likely the next true step. These are not only the window dressing PR efforts of the old days.
2. Also likely, MLB has flat insisted they get it done in Oakland. Losing their second team in the 3rd biggest market would be a very big deal the league won’t let happen, at least not until many more cards have been played.
3. The Coliseum is the most freeway and transit accessible piece of land within 100s of miles. It includes inner East Bay real estate with friendly zoning which could be incredibly lucrative if well capitalized. And the A’s can get it for a relative song. Paying for your own stadium obviously always costs more than having some other city build for you. But the Coliseum land certainly has earning potential to help finance a park.
4. The definition of a “successful stadium” is changing fast. Sure you’d love to be an Inner Harbor or LoDo downtownish neighborhood, but the future may not be as location-dependent. Fewer tickets but more at the high-end, A’s Access types of cross-benefits, more ways to spend your fan dollar after already inside. And ticket sales in total are a smaller share of the pie. Whether or not the Coliseum brings in the elusive corporate sponsor dollar may be less a product of location in the long run.
None of which is to say a new ballpark near 66th and 880 is a sure success. But there’s some reason to think it could be, if you’ve got deep enough pockets to see it through.
1) I agree they have been super committed to the last two proposals. I don’t think they view the Coliseum as viable at all. They’ve even hinted as much a couple times. I think once they get that far down the list, their commitments to Oakland are no longer as ironclad. That’s where we disagree.
2) Sad as it is to say, the Giants own the market. The A’s barely (if at all) show up when they do polls/maps/whatever in region. I’m not sure having such a red headed step child is worth it to MLB. The NFL is leaving the market and there may very well be more Raiders than A’s fans. Now, there’s plenty of other factors in that move, but it’s a data point that the market is not so key that another league absolutely has to keep 2 teams there like LA/NY.
3) It’s got great access to transit. But even with that, the neighborhoods 2-3 blocks away from the Coliseum aren’t thriving. I don’t see any new money flowing in. That means that the whole shebang will have to be made by the A’s. I just can’t see the A’s making the area a destination. Maybe I just lack imagination. Maybe you can build whole neighborhoods that have trendy restaurants and clubs and parks and whatever else. The area would need to be a destination even without the ballpark. Do you honestly believe that is possible and I’m just missing it? That’s not facetious. I really can’t imagine it and would love to hear from someone who can.
4) Is it? I know the Braves are trying something different, but every other successful stadium to me still seems to be downtown. The best ballparks I’ve been to (Pac Bell, Wrigley, Fenway, Safeco, Petco) are all walkable to downtown. Now, maybe they can succeed by creative ways. But it seems like yet another hurdle to clear. And you set enough hurdles, eventually you’ll trip on one of them.
Not so sure about 4. The Phillies’ ballpark is in a sports complex with the football stadium and some other surrounding attractions, but not really downtown. The Rangers are sticking with Arlington, rather than a move into either Dallas or Ft. Worth. Kansas City is still out there. Mets & Yankees stuck with their outer boroughs rather than try to find a spot in Manhattan. Miller Park in Milwaukee is in kind of a residential neighborhood quite a ways from downtown, but they have a great system where numerous city bars/restaurants offer free van shuttles to and from the game. It would be great to have such a system in Oakland, go downtown/uptown and have dinner or a drink at a favorite spot, their van takes you to the ballpark, then picks you up after the game and you’re back where you started. The Coliseum location could continue to be viable with even a modest attempt to improve the surroundings. And, as seen in the case of the Twins, the downtown ballpark is great, but when the team sucked a few years after it opened the fans stayed away in droves.
beep beep
Sharks!
Amazing game.
Man, I had to leave around the time it was ending. They had that penalty and my thought was, “Well, I’ll hang around until the end of the penalty. Hell, they’ll probably drop a short hand goal to end it.” Not a minute later the break away hits. Laughed my ass off.
This morning (in Cincinnati) I parked behind a car with California plates and an Oakland Athletics license plate holder.
I thought about leaving a note like “that Blue Jays series really sucked, huh?”
If Anderson goes on the DL, the A’s won’t have a single lefthanded pitcher on the active roster.
Is that Fernando Rodney’s music I hear?
They must not think Wang or Blevins can help. Martini is already about 37 days into the IL stay so he could go to the 60 and Olson will probably be 60 days as well.
He did get Choo out. That’s something.
How much money have the Giants paid groups to be the opposition to the A’s ballpark proposals over the years? Is it in the 10s of millions at this point? They’ve sure done a great job.
If it did get to the point where Fisher considers selling to out-of-town buyers I wonder if the Giants would try to push it along/sweeten it by paying him for the permanent territorial rights to Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
First they would ask if we would just go ahead and give it to them for free.