Chop, Chop: What Is Chavez's Role and Can He Stay On the Field to Fulfill It?
by emperor nobody on Feb 8, 2010 6:12 AM PST
57 comments
Employee #3 contemplates whether to tie his shoe and risk further catastrophic injury, or just chill.
57 comments | 0 recs |
A's 2010: Projecting The Bulls & The Bears
by Nico on Feb 7, 2010 7:00 AM PST
56 comments
Let's start with this post: I'm projecting that reading it will be a bear because it contains a lot of bull.
Apparently, later today some violent people will be inordinately interested in a ball that isn't even round, while some truly excellent commercials will be constantly interrupted by a "football break." Janet Jackson isn't even performing at halftime and I am not especially keen to see the boob of any of the members of The Who, fine a band as they may be. So today I choose to ignore Colts and Saints and to focus instead on bulls and bears.
56 comments | 0 recs |
BREAKING NEWS: Bengie Molina Is Slow (Plus Other Stuff)
by Nico on Feb 6, 2010 7:00 AM PST
148 comments
So it all started when someone suggested that Bengie Molina was a better hitter than Jack Cust, and I set out to show otherwise. Showing otherwise, it turned out, consisted of mentioning that in almost every meaningful category (OBP, SLG, HRs, OPS), Jack Cust's worst season was better than Bengie Molina's best season.
That's when a statistic jumped out and caught my eye: Bengie Molina has 3 career stolen bases. How is this possible? They've done some rather extensive studies on Bengie Molina's speed, including one study in which Molina was observed in a race with a one-legged blind nun, a 93 year old with a walker, a snail on ice skates, Betty White, and continental drift, and came in only fourth.
One stolen base I could understand -- that would mean that one day, Molina broke for second base and the catcher was unable to contain his fits of laughter long enough to make a throw. But 3? How could this be?
My theory is that one day, somehow Molina woke up with an extra burst of energy and just knew he could do something special, so he "seized the day," and after singling, he promptly stole 2B, 3B, and home. Now some of you will point out that Molina's 3 career stolen bases did not all come in the same season, but really that still makes sense as you can't expect Bengie to get from 1B all the way around the bases in one year.
Anyway, Cust has 4 career stolen bases, so there.
But the player I really want to talk about right now is Jamey Carroll. Join me after the jump.
148 comments | 0 recs |
Would You Rather? Defense/Offense, Chavez/Fox and 1B/DH/OF Playing Time
by baseballgirl on Feb 5, 2010 8:00 AM PST
109 comments
Last Friday, we took a look at the PECOTA projections for the 2010 season. These have now been corrected (and almost reversed); the A's are tied for second with the Angels (both under .500), with Texas in the top spot in the AL West and Seattle in the cellar. There is still only a 10-game gap between first to last, so from all accounts, it's going to be a close race. As many users pointed out last week, there can be up to a +/- 10 game swing with regards to Runs Scored vs. Runs Allowed, so it is possible that the AL West truly is up for grabs.
The A's certainly have the pitching to compete, with their stacked bullpen and two potential ace starters, and Spring Training is set to showcase the race for the fifth starting slot between Mazzaro, Cahill, and Gonzalez. But the big questions look like: How will (and how can) the A's offense compete? How in the world can the A's fit the best offensive and defensive options on the 25 man roster?
I think the key to creating the best offensive lineup lies in the combination of three positions. Barring an injury or a trade, these players are locked into their starting jobs, at least to begin the season:
Kurt Suzuki: C
Kevin Kouzmanoff : 3B
Cliff Pennington: SS
Mark Ellis: 2B
Rajai Davis: OF
Ryan Sweeney: OF
Basically, that leaves potential offensive substitutions to be made at 1B, DH, or the outfield. And considering how many players are competing for playing time at those positions, it is a very real possibility that one of the three A's power threats may not even make the 25 man roster.
109 comments | 0 recs |
Players that Make us say "Wow!" (Among other Things)
by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 4, 2010 6:33 AM PST
106 comments
Just think, only one more month of Thursdays about the past, then we can March Fourth and celebrate the return of baseball (sort of) and some dude's birthday all at once. How cool is that?
While I wait for the last annoying weeks of winter to melt away, at the same time looking forward to the day the A's are relevant again (Wait, you mean they aren't now? Blasphemer!), this particular morning seems ripe for reminiscing. But I don't mean that in an ancient history kind of way because, well, a labor of love is still labor. Sometimes.
I want something we can all play along to, not because I am lonely (well...), but because I am genuinely interested in what floats your boat. Or goat. (I know.)
Which is why YonYonson's comment last night (it's in there I swear) about watching a September '06 showdown between the A's and Angels struck me as particularly awesome, because it is not only the last time the home team was post-season good, it is also the last time they had players who were don't-dare-get-a-hot-dog-now special. Now that's not to say the A's haven't been a joy to watch these last three seasons, and sure there are players (Dallas Braden and Kurt Suzuki spring to mind) who impress in one way or another, but I'm talking about Big Hurt with a bat or Eric Chavez with a glove (sigh). At their finest, they commanded a different kind of attention.
These kind of players, when you watch them, leave you "helpless and in awe." Surely, Reggie did that. Rickey, too. But another one was Dave Winfield. He was scary. I also had an up-close-and-personal view of Dwayne Murphy in centerfield for many years that I tried (and often failed) not to take for granted.
So the early-am question to you, dear reader, is: what players, past or present, A's or otherwise, have done that for you? Let's limit this to players you've seen in person.
And a good day to all.
{Sigh}
106 comments | 1 recs
Of Rising Stars, the Angels as Champs, Buck's Plummeting Stock and Lew Wolff as Rachel Phelps
by baseballgirl on Feb 3, 2010 7:55 AM PST
166 comments
If you haven’t yet read about the ANTS (Athletics Nation Tanzania), you really should. I'm serious. Go read it.
Yesterday's live chat with CSNBayArea's Mychael Urban was interesting, to say the least. It was certainly heavy on the Giants reporting; I suppose understandably, but I raised my eyebrows at the answers to every A's question. Just to be clear, this is not set up to bash Urban; whatever season projections he gave certainly can't be as far off as some of the early PECOTA data, and I am wildly curious about a couple of his outside comments.
Urban answered three different questions about Buck during the chat, he offered an all-but-unsolicited conspiracy theory about the A's as the Indians in Major League, picked the Angels to win the division, and went off the map with the three A's players he picked to have a breakout 2010. It's a bit crazy-town, but it's the best chat to discuss that I've seen in a while.
166 comments | 0 recs |
Constructing an Optimal Lineup
by danmerqury on Feb 2, 2010 7:00 AM PST
203 comments
Is it safe to come out? Is Beane done? Well, now that we (maybe?) have a complete set of batters, we need an order to bat them in. Sure, there's a well-established conventional wisdom to this, but is it accurate? Is it really what's best for scoring runs? The introduction of heavy statistics into baseball has reversed and shaped countless managerial decisions in the last decade or so. Can it find an optimal lineup that gives us the best chance at scoring more runs? I'm sure a lot of you already know what I'm going to say in this post, but I'm going to take a stab at bringing the less sabermetrically inclined of us up to speed, keeping it simple and easy to understand. All figures come from The Book, by Tango, Lichtman, and Dolphin.
203 comments | 3 recs |
Athletics Net Gross; New "37 Man Outfield" Strategy Poised to Produce Elusive 162-Win Season
by emperor nobody on Feb 1, 2010 5:56 AM PST
298 comments
(Update by baseballgirl: To add to all of this, Buster Olney just tweeted this breaking news:)
Reds and Oakland completed trade of Aaron Miles and PTBNL or cash for Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales...
emperor's afternoon update: Willy Taveras and Dana Eveland have been DFA'd, with Taveras lasting even less time with the A's than the immortal Ryan "Long Live" Langerhans...yes, folks, Eveland is outta here!!
And as if all this weren't enough AP-wire-shattering news, the team also claimed Minnesota Twins' IF farmhand Steve Tolleson off waivers... Jane Lee tweets that to make room for Tolleson, Gregorio Petit has also been designated for assignment
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
298 comments | 7 recs |
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AL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles
|
97 | 65 | .598 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
Texas
|
87 | 75 | .537 | 10 | Lost 2 |
|
Seattle
|
85 | 77 | .524 | 12 | Won 2 |
|
Oakland
|
75 | 87 | .462 | 22 | Lost 7 |
(updated 2.9.2010 at 2:53 AM PST)
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