Athletics Nation

Nah,

gotta go with the Shamwow guy. Anyone that can hit me with “You’re gonna love my nuts” on national television and not even crack a smile…

Leopold Bloom - April 23, 2009 reply

Ahh, he got arrested for beating up a hooker not too long ago.

Link

NateHST - April 23, 2009 reply

I know.

And that adds to his appeal in my book. Can’t have enough scandal for your pitchman. I’m thinking he could develop a nasty heroin habit too, maybe get arrested for soliciting in the men’s room or something.

Leopold Bloom - April 23, 2009 reply

didn't said hooker put him in the hospital as well?

Yeah

check out the link.

NateHST - April 24, 2009 reply

So...this didn't happen a week ago because...?

Better late than never, I suppose. Maybe the team has decided to start playing with a 25-man roster, just for kicks.

21 --> 22

buck, chavy, and nomar don’t count.

(20 if you don't count rajai davis or giese, and i'd rather not)

Stupid move!

They should have sent down Davis and Eveland and called up Deno and Gallagher. Unless Gallagher complained about not making the starting rotation and Deno played for team Italia against the mafia’s (woops, A’s) issues, and that’s why they will never be called up. YOU WILL NOT COMPLAIN! Just a conspiracy theory. Thoughts?

A'sfansince1970 - April 23, 2009 reply

I'm assuming by 'called up'

you mean ‘from the bullpen’.

In Gallagher's case, I mean.

so instead of sending gallagher down... they should have called him up? wouldn't he need to be sent down first?

My thoughts: Right now, the A's, as an organization, are in a bit of a state of disarray.

Like, changing courses daily based on what might have a good idea last week.

This comment deserves a facepalm.jpg

Here you go

I second that motion

doctorK - April 23, 2009 reply

I second that emotion

^^

nice

Davis is out of options

if they take him off the 25 man roster he has to go through waivers.

Crap! Seems like our whole team is out of options!

ATLDuck - April 23, 2009 reply

Cahill, Anderson, Outman and Eveland

are all better options to start MLB games than Gallagher? I find this very, very hard to swallow.

my_cat_max - April 23, 2009 reply

TWSS

travdog6 - April 23, 2009 reply

Zing!

saw that coming

gulp

my_cat_max - April 23, 2009 reply

twss

scatterbrian - April 23, 2009 reply

They may be skipping the 5th starter spot and replacing Outman.

Possibly with Gallagher himself, after he gets a start or two at AAA.

I can only hope

You're kidding

Gallagher is a way better option than Outman and Eveland. Eveland and Outman should become left handed relievers.

Rocky632 - April 23, 2009 reply

Prob a Lefty for the pen will be called up.

Why not just

switch Outman for Gallagher, send down Rajai, and bring up Denorfia.

That solves about 4 different problems.

You have to DFA Rajai

I don’t have a problem with that, but they might.

He has some usefulness in the field and on the basepaths

…but marginally.. how much better is he in these skillsets than Denorfia? Not to mention Denorfia isn’t an absolute crime against humanity at the plate.

Rajai can’t even bunt for crying out loud. I never thought I’d complain about an A’s player’s inability to bunt, but someone with Rajai’s skillset should’ve learned to drop a bunt sometime in his career.

Gallagher is prob not streched out.

I assume thats why hes heading to AAA.

Oh right.

3 innings so far this season. I forgot.

That was brilliant managerial decision-making, by the way.

Yeah I dont know what they were doing with him up here in the pen.

He was a reliever last year for the Cubs

but Bob Geren wasn’t his manager last year.

swatnick - April 23, 2009 reply

Yes.

But that cause its not to smart to throw 21 year olds into starting rotations…..

Rack 'em!

oaklandSMASH - April 23, 2009 reply

You pay extra for this in Bangkok.

As a matter of fact, judging by their dress, I think that is Bangkok.

Leopold Bloom - April 23, 2009 reply

I had a friend while in the Navy....

who managed to find the sleaziest, skanky places possible in any third world country. The raunchier the better as far as he was concerned. What’s more, he had no difficulty locating them either. They were like beacons that he homed in on with the precision of a guided missile. This dude did things that made even sailors slightly sick to their stomach. This cartoon reminds me of some pictures he showed me while in Thailand, which resulted in me vowing to never hang out with him while in port.

alox - April 24, 2009 reply

that makes too much sense

Man, Sean Gallagher just gets worse and worse to have around

Hope he can fix whatever’s broken.

walk off bunt - April 23, 2009 reply

Oh, and as for who I'd bring up

Cameron, personally.

walk off bunt - April 23, 2009 reply

Why does this organization choose to dick with players this way?

Honestly, what the fuck was the point of having Gallagher with the big league squad for the past, oh, ENTIRE WEEK if they were just going to send him down anyway without making an appearance?

Yup.

walk off bunt - April 23, 2009 reply

Baseless speculation on my part

but Beane really seems to screw around with players he dislikes or pisses him off. Halsey, Gaudin, Gallagher, heck, maybe even Milton Bradley and Jeremy Giambi all got the same treatment.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case since Beane has been characterized as having a rather volatile temperament. Whether or not it’s good for the overall team….

Well, what I'm beginning to wonder is how much of this is Beane and how much of this is Forst.

Albeit with Beane’s blessing, that seemed to be a lot of what was happening last year with the exception of some of the BIG trades.

True...

It is walking like a duck, eh lenscrafters?

Troubling thought.

This organization is abysmal when it comes to injuries

and dicking players around.

What a waste having Gallagher pitch 3 innings in 14 games and not being sent down to stretch out until now assuming that is the reason he is sent down.

Trainman - April 23, 2009 reply

Viva Denorfia!

OptimistPrime - April 23, 2009 reply

Gallagher

With all these young guys they will need to cut down on innings either at the beginning or end of the season. It seems that Vin Mazzaro and Gallagher (and Gio?) are starting very slowly and will probably be the August / September staff once Anderson and Cahill are shutdown.

niallmack - April 23, 2009 reply

If they bring up Denorfia

We may never see Buck again.

NateHST - April 23, 2009 reply

If they don't bring up Denorfia

We may never see Buck again.

travdog6 - April 23, 2009 reply

Buck?

There is a guy named Buck that plays for us? Does not compute…

adragon - April 23, 2009 reply

Buck=future prospect

not ready for primetime

OptimistPrime - April 23, 2009 reply

Buck=potential allstar

most top prospects improve on their rookie seasons and his was a damn good one

Buck = Andre Ethier

With maybe a tad bit more power potential. Solid but not spectacular player.

NateHST - April 23, 2009 reply

Andre Ethier with more power would be a very spectacular player.

Rocktopus - April 23, 2009 reply

So would I

UncleLeo - April 23, 2009 reply

What? Really?

You must be a very fine player as you are right now, otherwise I’m not sure what you’re saying.
Power, alone, does not make a spectacular player.

Rocktopus - April 24, 2009 reply

Buck = Ethier???

Really? Then why is Ethier the everyday #3 hitter in a lineup that includes Manny Ramirez while Buck hasn’t seen an AB in the last century in a lineup that has yet to produce 5 team HR’s?

If Buck = Ethier, maybe we should at least trade Buck to the Cubs for Bradley so we could get a guy who’ll play every day….oh, oops…my bad. ;)

oakballnack - April 24, 2009 reply

Ethier's their #3 hitter now because

he got consistant playing time with the Dodgers every year since the trade. He was able to take his lumps early on and has now emerged as a more complete player. Meanwhile, Buck hasn’t had that opportunity due to injury(hello, concussion) and mismanagement by Geren and the front office. Just because they’re at different points in their careers right now doesn’t mean the two don’t profile as similar players.

wasn't gallagher having mechanics issues?

i thought i remembered hearing that at the end of spring training. they should have sent him down earlier. let him work the kinks out and get some regular work. i’m sure he’ll be in the rotation soon after he gets things right in AAA.

guy incognito - April 23, 2009 reply

I think his intake manifold was busted

CarGon's Jock - April 24, 2009 reply

That Harden trade

get’s better every day.

LVElephant - April 23, 2009 reply

Chill

Aderson

Donson

LowcountryJoe - April 23, 2009 reply

If we still had Harden he would be on the DL with the rest of our "good" pitchers

adragon - April 23, 2009 reply

He would also be in the last year of his deal

and we would have nothing to show for it.

Hmm, not saying I agree with the OP

but what are you basing that on? He’s currently healthy and productive. Unless you’re saying something in Oakland magically causes him to be injured or something?

We can't disprove that, based on the past two years.

LoneStranger - April 23, 2009 reply

"The Larry Davis/Oakland A's medical staff effect"

Heres my letter to Beane and Geren, i guess they got it!

Dear Bob,

Bat this lineup against RHP (with full health)

Cabrera – SS
Cust – DH
Holliday – LF
Giambi – 1B
Chavez – 3B
Suzuki – C
Ellis – 2B
Buck – RF
Sweeney- CF

and this one against LHP

Cabrera – SS
Sweeney – CF
Holliday – LF
Cust – DH
Nomar – 3B
Giambi – 1B
Suzuki – C
Ellis – 2B
Buck – LF

Buck should get more AB’s than Powell
Stop putting catchers at 1B
Dont bring the infield in in the early goings of a game when outs are more important than runs.
Dont ask/let people to bunt with a 3-1 count.
Show some emotion
Get a nickname.

Mr. Beane,

Use your magic to get something like this to work out:
package Crosby and Eveland and offer a package for maybe a B prospect, while eating however much of the salary.

Call up Mazzaro and Gio, and if you dont want gallagher to pitch, send him to AAA to do w.e it is you want him to work on.

send down geise and call up jeff gray

Have a pitching staff like this:
Braden
Cahill
Anderson
Mazzaro
Outman/Gio (duke when he gets back)

Bullpen:
Outman/gio
Casilla
Bailey
Zeigler
Wuertz
Springer
Gray

Thanks guys!
lets try winning :D

supermarc589 - April 23, 2009 reply

thats a nice letter and i agree with most of it...

but it aint gonna help you beat me this week in the battle of 2-0 teams in fantasy!

FYI

Against LHP you have 2 LF but i assume you mean to have buck in RF

robbo650 - April 23, 2009 reply

I like it, Marc...

…but Suzuki should be batting higher in the order IMHO

Technotofu - April 23, 2009 reply

Cabrera

Cabrera should not be leading off against RHP. I’d swap him with Buck

DeJay - April 24, 2009 reply

Seriously

Did Buck complain too? Why is he getting NO playing time? He’s better than this or at least better than the way he’s being treated. I don’t get it.

A'sfansince1970 - April 23, 2009 reply

It's about damn time...

Gallagher needs to be stretched out into a starter so he can fill in when the org decides they’ve had enough of Outman and Eveland. This should have happened at the beginning of the season, but what do I know? Still, seems like the right track to be on…

Maybe they’ll start playing Buck on a semi-refular basis? Maybe Denorfia will get a chance to prove he’s better than Rajai? Maybe Cust will start batting second??? Nah, I’m just daydreaming now…

ZeroIndulgence - April 23, 2009 reply

Harden

Wasn’t he usually healthy and productive for us in April, and then would get hurt? I’m just saying, he always looks so good in April!

A'sfansince1970 - April 23, 2009 reply

He rarely even made it through April

Helloooo 1st - April 23, 2009 reply

Gio?

With Outman throwing out of the pen (replacing Gallagher) I would have to think Gio is joining the rotation.

HRH - April 23, 2009 reply

Could be as well.

Making room for Mulder?

Blind speculation, but the A’s are supposedly interested. If a deal was imminent…..

swizstick - April 23, 2009 reply

I hope you are the winner.

drink409 - April 23, 2009 reply

me too.

Count me in.

But from everything I’ve heard, he’s willing to sign around now, but won’t be quite ready for another week or so.

danmerqury - April 23, 2009 reply

If that was the case

We would need to clear a 40 man roster spot. Not just send someone down to AAA.
But I am in the sign Mulder boat.

HRH - April 23, 2009 reply

Does anyone know how Mulder is doing? His pitching mechanics were supposedly God awful and leading to those injuries. I really don’t know about this. If we bring him in, let’s also bring back Hiljus.

ATLDuck - April 23, 2009 reply

yeah, and Vida Blue too!

Sauerbeck as well

DCinWC - April 24, 2009 reply

I think with all the nagging injuries to the regulars

that the A’s will probably call up an infielder. Petit, Pennington, maybe even Barton (although he is probably not doing well enough to get a call up). They can put Outman in the pen (with Blevins gone, it would be nice to have a lefty in the pen), and then when they need a 5th starter they call up Gio. By then one of the regular position players will have been put on the DL to make room, or they send back the guy that got called up.

The only way Denorfia gets called up (IMO) is if Davis gets DFA’d. We just don’t need another OFer on the roster to not get playing time (see Buck, Travis).

AsFanInLA - April 23, 2009 reply

This seems logical to me

Since they don’t care about using Gallagher’s spot anyway, might as well bring up somebody that’s not Landon Powell to play 1b/whatever else needs to taken that day.

I don't recognize AN anymore...

this feels a lot like Lookout Landing the past few years.

that's cuz we're playing like the mariners

Why dis the Mariners?

I sort of wish we were playing like them.

alox - April 23, 2009 reply

Flash G said that AN feels a lot like LL the past few years...

i should clarified that the A’s are playing like the M’s played the past few years, not this year.

what does this even mean?

masochism

we torture ourselves with our fanatacism for the A’s and we get repaid with heartache. and that spills out in our ramblings on AN

there's truth to that, doctor...

Baseball and baseball fandom are recreational activities that are supposed to help us relieve the stresses of our daily lives, not exacerbate those stresses.

The fetishism of ideal fandom, “to live and die with your team,” causes people to take baseball way more seriously than they should.

I don’t enjoy losing, but I don’t torture myself with it, either. If the game’s not close and the A’s aren’t looking good on a particular night, I’ll turn off the radio or the TV or leave the ballpark early and go do something else. There’s nothing wrong with that.

FAIRWEATHER FAN!!!!!!

I kid, I kid

It means that we're starting to see a lot more criticism of management and a lot more negativity in general

I’ve not seen a lot of “Fire Geren Now!” comments prior to this week but that’s always been an ongoing theme at LL prior to this year.

Also, we’re now seeing more criticism of BB and the way he’s putting together the team. Obviously LL had been all over Bavasi for years.

There just seems to be a greater sense of despair on AN now than I’ve ever seen and it reminded me of reading LL.

i think it circles back to the thought that we're passionate fans, had our hopes lifted..

by the free agent signings which seemed to promise more offense and instead we got more of the same.

Criticism of management is not a bad thing if it's done constructively and with reason.

Obviously, that doesn’t include “Fire Geren Now!” or “Geren sucks” comments.

However, questioning some of management’s moves backed with logic, for example, the management of Gallagher and Geren’s lineup decisions, is perfectly appropriate. Heck, isn’t that part of what this site is for? This shouldn’t be confused with baseless negativity.

At the very least, it makes for a far more interesting site than one in which everyone’s just blindly positive and unwilling to question anything all the time.

Completely agree

My comment wasn’t a criticsm of the site, its content, or its contributors. Instead it’s an observation that the tone has changed. I think the mgmt criticisms are well founded and worth exploring. I espeically liked Zonis’ comment about revisiting the offensive philosophy.

Flash G, I can't speak for everyone but I'd attribute it to the fact that

usually the team’s moves seem intelligent and sensible compared to so far this year, when so many moves seem indefensible.

The mariners have terrible managers

McLaren was widely regarded as one of the worst in the league. Wakamatsu clearly didn’t learn anything at the A’s as he’s on pace to bunt 50 more times than anyone else in the AL.

Geren is a terrible manager too. Always has been, I guess it just took a team where decent players are competing for innings and at-bats for people to realize it. Macha was reviled on this site for every little thing, despite being a good manager, though admittedly he did not do a very good job of dealing with the press.

swatnick - April 23, 2009 reply

Whether a manager is good depends on

what you think the manager’s role is.

Based on the discussion here on AN, I’d say that about 50% believe that the manager’s most important function is to express whatever emotions the fans are feeling.

I just don't feel that Geren has made very many smart decisions so far this year.

Nothing personal against the man, but I just don’t really care for his managing style. Good point ,though, iglew.

If you're talking about the snarky negativity

well that’s been present every time the A’s are on a cold streak. It’s hardly a new phenomenon.

If you’re talking about the site becoming more stats-oriented, well, I’d actually argue that it’s becoming less stats-oriented ever since a certain poster was banned and most of the other stats-oriented people decided to stop posting.

Other than those two facets, I really have no idea what else you could be talking about.

AN has become the kind of running dialogue that you and nico had earlier today.

it stopped being about baseball and became about word games and semantics. not exciting to read.

perhaps it was last night...i read it earlier today

word games and semantics aren't intrinsically bad...

when they’re funny and punny and right on the money…

...and hardly all that AN is about

shrug

I guess you could see it as whatever you like from your perspective.

Personally, I felt it resulted in a more in depth look at how well Trevor Cahill was really pitching…but I guess that’s not exciting.

perhaps it was a bad example

but there’s a lot of discussions that devolve from baseball into personal attacks and nonsense

I feel like that has always happened

Looking at the ANcillary terms, most of them derive from random non-sequiturs. Fortunately those conversations are easy to ignore if they don’t involve you or something you’re interested (I often do) and you can just z-past them into what you’re actually talking about.

Yup - it's been there from day 1

in a “plus ça change” way.

Wordplay is nothing new to AN.

It’s just more prominent in the absence of the baseball discussion of old.

Rocktopus - April 23, 2009 reply

Don't recognize?

C’mon, there’s “FIRE GEREN” just like there was “FIRE MACHA.” There are the vitriolic, hateful, and fairly deplorable insults about how fat Eveland is just like there was about Blanton. There are the completely unwarranted conclusions about both good and bad performances based on very little sample sizes. Still the same ol’ AN.

On the serious side, it seems the anger and negativity displayed toward the players and management is more noticeable lately. Especially in some of the game threads. Kinda bugs me a lot.

Joey C. - April 23, 2009 reply

Maybe you're right. I've been here a long time and things just feel a little different

I can’t confirm your observation about the game threads. I stopped reading those a long time ago because of the things that you mentioned.

I know I've been more negative about all that lately,

It reflects management of a quality (i.e., lackthereof) that I haven’t seen before.

its noone's fault...

AN is a victim of its success. the more readers and posters by definition lower the level of the discourse.

There's also the interesting fact that at every moment on AN,

it is always true that it sucks now but was way better before!

I have to say that I don’t find the level of discourse to be lower now than it was six months ago, or higher – just different, and not really even that different.

AN has that in common with Saturday Night Live

It seems like virtually everyone will tell you that in the good old days SNL used to be funny but now it isn’t any more.

But everyone has a different idea of exactly which season was the good old days. Typically, it’s whatever season corresponds with when you were about 20 years old.

(Me, I’m from the Eddie Murphy generation. See, now that cast was really funny. All these news guys … lame.)

LOL....

Your comment and observations are right on the money. And SNL was funny back in the day…

alox - April 23, 2009 reply

Uh....the Eddie Murphy generation?

Wow, it takes some real balls to admit to that. I don’t mean to be snarky, but that period of SNL is widely considered the worst period of the show’s history and nearly led to the cancellation of the show entirely.
Granted, Eddie Murphy was funny, but the only memorables from the rest of the cast are Joe Piscopo, Charles Rocket, Gilbert Gottfried, and the lesser Belushi brother.

Rocktopus - April 23, 2009 reply

Don't forget Robin Duke and Denny Dillon!

Wait -- on second thought, maybe you should forget them

Wait - were they believed to be

key RFers and #2 starters at one point?

I've never heard of Charles Rocket, nor Denny Dillon.

And neither Jim Belushi nor Gilbert Godfried were on SNL when I watched.

The cast members I remember from when I watched were Piscopo, Duke, Tim Kazurinsky, Mary Gross, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, and Gary somebody (I can picture him but don’t remember his name). Maybe a couple of others, but those are the ones I recall right now.

And yeah, I’ve got balls. I’m already on record saying I like “Reba”.

Gary Kroger

He ended up hosting one of the revivals of the Match Game in the 90’s…

Gaijin_Suketto - April 24, 2009 reply

Andy Samberg is funny

How is MadTV still on the air?

JediLeroy - April 23, 2009 reply

MadTV was cancelled last season, or the season prior

rktse - April 24, 2009 reply

Thank god.

The worst decision Comedy Central ever made was to replace old SNL episodes with MadTV, as if they were somehow interchangeable. Just like they tried to replace Chappelle with Mencia. Unforgivable.

Rocktopus - April 24, 2009 reply

As to your first statement...

… that criticism is valid to a certain extent. I’ve been around here for 3-4 years, and I very fondly remember sitting in my anthropology class watching a feed of the playoffs between the A’s and Twins on my laptop, typing like crazy on the game threads, seemingly after every swing. And I loved the sense of community, the sense of being connected with and accepted by just about all of the regular posters, especially because I was a relative newbie.

Even with all of that, I still remember some of the old hands then complaining about how different things were as compared to the Long Long Ago. With how often this place picks up new people, and how often present members develop new relationships with each other, the whole shebang is usually in flux. It’s somewhat reasonable to pine for a certain era of AN. I just wish more of the old hands would decide to stick around, or at least pop in occasionally.

Ugh, I feel like a Hallmark card. I’m gonna go kill an 18-er of Busch pounders and curse intermittently.

Joey C. - April 23, 2009 reply

I think the key difference between the 2006 ALDS and now

is that the A’s were doing really, really well then and have been doing really, really worse lately.

So true.

If there was actually decent baseball being played there might be something interesting to talk about. Watching the last couple years has almost been downright painful. I’m pretty sure you already have a template for the game and trade recaps.

“The A’s wasted a great pitching performance by _, while stranding 29 runners in scoring position tonight.” or “_ is going to the 60 day DL with a broken finger misdiagnosed as a hang nail.” or “Beane trades fan favorite and team star, _, for Charles Thomas, Dan Meyer… Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton…”

I digress. It just seems like nothing positive worth talking about ever happens lately. Whether it be stadium plans falling though, awful trades, stupid injuries, or underachieving super stars it just seems like everything is going wrong for the organization as of late. It’s fun to talk in the pre-season about what the new season could bring, but once the new season gets a few weeks end it all goes back to the same old stuff we’ve already been talking about the last fews years.

KMoAsFan - April 23, 2009 reply

I'm having fun watching the young guys -- Cahill, Anderson, Bailey,

Powell, Braden, Suzuki and Ziggy.

They’re not always good, but they give me hope. My expectations for 2009 weren’t to win anything, they were to set a foundation, and it’s going OK from that perspective. If they win anything it would be mainly because the competition is very weak, and that would be OK too.

You can’t seriously look at this roster and have expectations of a championship caliber team for this year. They’re not remotely as good as the Yankees, Rays or Red Sox. We need to appreciate them for what they are — which is young and promising.

Or the Blue Jays for that matter. Any one of those

4 would run away with the AL West.

I agree though, I wasn’t expecting to win anything this year – the opportunity is there because the AL West is so weak for the first time in a while – but I was expecting competent baseball to be played. We’re a few timely hits away from being way above .500, instead we’ve made multiple mental errors that professional baseball players (and managers) simply shouldn’t be making. That’s the source of my frustration.

Hopefully things will even out later on in the season, but right now watching the A’s is an exercise in patience.

I like the Jays but their rotation has taken a real beating

Romero is on the DL now, joining Janssen, Litsch, Marcum, and McGowan. Ryan’s there too now for good measure.

That lineup can hit.

I’ve not checked up on the rotation, but I don’t believe any of them are on the long term DL.

Marcum, Janssen and McGowan are likely not to be back

till at least June

That's just the thing

It’s hard to disassociate the actual quality of AN from your feelings about a certain period of AN when you felt most connected.

That being said, I miss Monkeyball.

On Lookout Landing, "TWSS" is banned.

good

doctorK - April 23, 2009 reply

I liked it back when

it was generally used in a subtle, clever way that makes you reread a post and think of it differently.

Nowadays it’s mostly used for blatant sexual imagery that was already obvious, and that’s just boring and stupid.

I could gladly live without it - just not original anymore

TWSS

no but i agree and my TWSS didnt even make sense like some I have been seeing lately.

robbo650 - April 23, 2009 reply

Actually, robbo,

yours is an example of a good “TWSS” (though I can see how it might be lost on those who are under 30 and have never been married). Subtle and wry. Like Monkeyball of olde.

The ones that are stupid are gross obvious ones like the “hard to swallow” earlier in this thread. Who didn’t see that coming?

Here’s a good rule of thumb: which is more brought to mind by the joke, life experience or pornographic imagery?

There's a difference?

TWSS

I knew that comment was coming.

And I was pretty sure it would come from you, Nico.

It was funny when it started almost twenty years ago

JediLeroy - April 23, 2009 reply

In Soviet Union, "TWSS" bans you!

That's What Soviet Union Said!

AN was more fun in the old days...

Losing has made many of us bitter…

Blez was and is a quality writer and a positive presence. I enjoy and have enjoyed his writings much more than any of the other editors, and even though it’s great that his business has blossomed and AN is on the back burner, the quality of the content has gone down accordingly.

There is also a significant undercurrent of regulars on this site who cannot and/or will not suffer fools, posters of below average intelligence, and the spelling challenged. Reading the rebukes from these regulars against mediocre postings is upsetting to me. Many of these posters are younger fans, and I fear that the negative replies to their enthusiasms might drive them away from the A’s, and more importantly, from the sport as a whole.

At least AN has

Poetic Interl…
Interesting statistical artic…

AN was more fun in the old days.

nevermoor - April 23, 2009 reply

Laugh. Out. Loud.

Joey C. - April 23, 2009 reply

... attention-grabbing headlines for Yahoo

How would you deal with "fools, posters of below average intelligence, and the spelling challenged."?

If you ran across a comment that, say, advocated wins and losses as the best and only way to evaluate pitchers, how would you respond?

To clarify, not trying to be confrontational or anything, just asking an honest question.

A humorous, yet educative link

i'd walk away

it’s no one’s job to patrol. i’d just let it go.

i came to this site to learn more about the use of sabermetrics in baseball. i’ve learned practically zip from the site.

it has rekindled my love for the a’s after i followed the a’s from ny for 8 years. for that i’ll always owe something to blez. plus i got to meet billy beane at an AN event a few years ago. my pops and i went shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer (as i tear up) and it was a great day. he’s fine now and totally recovered but what a special day. i want more of that and less of this.

That's fine and I'm glad your father has recovered.

But I find this ridiculously hard to believe

i’ve learned practically zip from the site.

You’ve been here since May of last year according to your profile. Back then, guys like sal, andeux, monkeyball, devo, grover, rfloh, PT, etc were all posting frequently and regularly. And some of those guys rarely if ever come off as dickish in their responses. I mean, I guess I could sort of understand totally ignoring a stats-oriented post if it really comes off as assholish. But are you saying you ignored everything and anything by those guys entirely? If so, then it’s probably your fault you didn’t learn anything.

Huh, it’s interesting to me that most of those guys don’t post anymore, or post rarely. I think for the most part, the people who wished to just post whatever they wanted, who didn’t want a “patrol” correcting them, got what they wanted.

i go back way further than that but...

i didn’t re-sign up inbillywetrust immediately on the new version of AN. i waited for a while.

yes, i exaggerated a bit. i’ve learned quite a bit but i’ve had to teach myself the basics and i’m responsible for my upgrades in knowledge. it was a bad expectation on my part that there would be discussions on why certain new measures were better than others or that there’d be a tutorial on this stuff on the site. why isn’t there by the way?

at the end of the day i’m an A’s fan and that comes first. everything else is second and i’m grateful that AN has helped me with the first.

it was a bad expectation on my part that there would be discussions on why certain new measures were better than others or that there’d be a tutorial on this stuff on the site. why isn’t there by the way?

That was what the Staturday’s were for. Unfortunately due to circumstances, AN doesn’t have those anymore. Personally, I think that’s really unfortunate.

after all of this...

I want to say that it’s good to have you back around these parts, inbillywetrust…

My purple dreadlocked girlfriend and I sat next to you at that beautiful AN day and we all had a fab time talking ball, until her pale self insisted we go grab some shade…

I went by the handle “SPWC” back then, of course…

ah ha...

nice. good to hear from you bro.

i’m always around reading, but for whatever reason i’ve started posting again in the past week.

Some of those Staturday posts should be saved as reference materials here on AN

They were very informative, particularly Salb’s explanaitons of runs created etc…

The AN search function is incredibly good

If you search for “Staturdays” I’m sure you’ll find all the relevant FP posts.

Where did those guys go?

Serious question – I had a long hiatus from this site myself. Broke my routine when I took a raft trip through the Grand Canyon in September, then when I got back I found politics had gotten so interesting it completely usurped the TV-and-internet time I might otherwise have devoted to the remnants of the A’s sad season. I finally start poking around again in March, trying to catch up on developments, and finding a changed cast of characters here. OK, there’s always turnover as life moves on, but the folks you mention – like sal, andeux, monkeyball, devo – where’d they go? Is there a story there, or just the usual attrition? (I don’t ask about PT because I gather there was a banning there, not that I know that story either.)

Faust - April 23, 2009 reply

PT said something

at the wrong time and was banned for a month i believe

robbo650 - April 23, 2009 reply

Is there a story there, or just the usual attrition?

Some of each, I’d say.

I'm surprised by that.

As a British fan who started following baseball thanks to the Wednesday and Sunday Night ESPN games that were broadcast over here and supports the A’s mainly because Moneyball shone them in such a good light (I’m British, we love the underdog), I can safely say that I’ve learnt a lot from this site regarding sabermetrics and baseball in general.

Admittedly a lot of it goes over my head, but the content is certainly there on AN if one is willing to put the time in to digest it and learn from it.

Gallagher

Something significant happened this week: Outman looked like a different pitcher in relief. I have a feeling Geren went to Beane and said, “I need Outman as a reliever and he’s not working as a starter.”

So Gallagher becomes a starter and Outman a reliever. And Gallagher simply isn’t ready to start.

I think til the next time the fifth starter’s spot comes up, the A’s have another reliever in the ’pen, and then either Giese gets a spot start before Duchsherer comes back, Gallagher is ready to return, or another starter is brought up.

At least I HOPE that’s what they’re thinking.

that might be it.

they might be just stretching him to take Outman’s spot.

closetasfan - April 23, 2009 reply

Outman ramps up his fastball when he works out of the pen

making him much more effective. Hitters don’t get an extended look at him either, which is the benefit of coming in for an inning or two of work. To my eyes he doesn’t really have the stuff to be a ML starter, but he could be a heck of an arm from the pen.

Now if the stat guys were still around they could post how valuable that would be in relation to him being a mediocre 5th starter…

Finally

Athletic - April 23, 2009 reply

Gallagher should have begun the season in AAA

starting and getting himself straightened out for a possible return to the A’s rotation.

Better late than never?

I think Outman is well suited to the bullpen.

Wonder who they will call up or sign?

makes the management look great!

9Custs - April 23, 2009 reply

ElQuesoCapitan - April 23, 2009 reply

Bravo!

:)

I hope that some day we get an answer

about what the heck they were thinking with Gallagher for the past week or two. Maybe Blez or SuSlu or someone will get a chance to ask.

There are at least two ways in which sending him to AAA could make sense. If they’ve lost confidence in him it makes sense to send him down. Or if they want him back in the Oakland rotation he may need a start or two in Sacramento to stretch out. What didn’t make any sense was having him on the big-league roster but not using him.

no doubt.

Although, I wouldn’t expect a truthful answer from the management in regards to Gallagher, no matter who is asking the questions. Same goes for Buck.

Sometimes even when the answer is evasive,

you can still get some idea from reading between the lines. That’s more likely to happen the longer it recedes into the past, though by that time many journalists no longer think to ask.

You're focusing on the wrong guy

Like I said, and some others have said, this has more to do with Outman than Gallagher. If Outman takes Gallagher’s place in the ‘pen, then Gallagher needs to get sent down to stretch out. I suspect that’s something that happened this week, over the past couple of days.

I agree the A’s would be smarter to bring up Pennington or Petit rather than another pitcher.

sure

but it does not explain the A’s misuse of Gallagher. I think that was what I was getting at. And Outman is probably better served in the bullpen anyways….

No it doesn't

..and that part I still don’t understand.

speculation on who the A's might call up tomorrow

by Mychael Urban:

if a position player, Doolittle (that seems to be his top guess).

He also mentions starter Mazzaro and reliever Schroeder, but his article suggests that it might not be a pitcher.

interesting, O Si.

Thanks for the update.

Wow, that would be very surprising to me

because Doolittle doesn’t supplement what current A’s do — he duplicates it. With all the injuries, we don’t actually have enough 3B/SS/2B guys available, and Pennington or Petit would fill that role. We do, on the other hand, have plenty of left-handed guys who play either a corner outfield or 1B (Sweeney, Giambi, Cust, and Buck).

The A’s are already letting Buck’s butt fuse with the bench in the dugout. What would they do with Doolittle on the team? It would only make sense to me if they think Doolittle is such a good and advanced hitter that he’s already better than Sweeney or Buck. But in that case, why not send one of those guys down, too?

actually I don't know if Sweeney, Cust or Buck have ever played at 1B

Doolittle is quite a good first baseman.

The other issue is hitting. If the A’s want to do something about their offense they may want to see what Doolittle can do, and they may feel they already know what Pennington or Petit would do.

Giambi cannot play 1B on an everyday basis, and Nomar can’t back him up often enough….anyway, the way I might explain Urban’s idea is with the bat.

I know that Cust has been tried at 1B (unsuccessfully), and I read a report that Buck is getting a 3B mitt delivered

but I think you’re right and maybe there’s another explanation: they want to stop putting Powell at 1B and give those starts to Doolittle.

The other issue is hitting. If the A’s want to do something about their offense they may want to see what Doolittle can do, and they may feel they already know what Pennington or Petit would do.

What that says to me is that they don’t think the current hitters are just going to turn it on at some point — that is, they have real concerns that they need to change the roster in a significant way in order to have a productive lineup. That’s surprising to me, given the way Beane usually operates.

perhaps he was expecting Giambi to be in better shape

and Nomar to be healthier. I think the A’s had been expecting Chavez to be needing lots of days off at first.

I love the idea of Buck learning 3B.

If it works (a big if, I know), it solves two problems at once … a way to get Buck in the lineup, and someone to play 3B when Chavvy is hurt and Crosby sucks (ie, pretty much always).

It's a huge, Joel-Youngblood/Pedro-Guerrero-sized "if"

Barton has a better chance of learning 3B than Buck does.

I remember during Bucks rookie year Buan interviewed him after a game.

I believe he said that he spent some time at SS in college. I might be mistaken because I don’t see any record that he in fact played infield during his time at ASU.

miggyk2 - April 23, 2009 reply

Actually he played 20 games at 3B in 2005 for the Sun Devils

link

jakebmill - April 23, 2009 reply

Yay, Buck for 3B!

And Crosby to the bullpen!

He's already got the 3/4 delivery!

mikev - April 24, 2009 reply

Yeah it's much like the Barton plan.

I don't read Urban's article that way.

He clearly says he thinks it could be a position player, but I don’t think he’s really saying he thinks Doolittle is most likely. It looks that way since Doolittle is the only Rivercats position player he mentions in the article, but I think more likely Urban just wants to include a paragraph about how well Doolittle is hitting and he uses “among the top candidates” as a non-committal segue to introduce it.

perhaps you're right

although it seemed to me he was pointing toward Doolittle:

Thus, the A’s might opt to insure themselves against more time missed by third baseman Eric Chavez (shoulder), utility infielder Nomar Garciaparra (calf tightness) and 38-year-old first baseman Jason Giambi (occasional leg fatigue) by bringing up a position player.

Among the top candidates at Sacramento is first baseman Sean Doolittle, who had a big spring with the big league club and was batting .294 with two doubles, a triple, two homers, eight RBIs and a .400 on-base percentage in 14 games through Wednesday.

The only position player not in Sacramento’s lineup tonight is Pennington…

TBRMKane - April 23, 2009 reply

that is significant...

seems to be

ak_A - April 23, 2009 reply

If Pennington gets the call

and he performs alright you have to wonder if Crosby might be in jeopardy when May 2 rolls around and the A’s need a 5th starter. A few weeks ago I figured Croz would be an above average backup infielder, but now I think the A’s would be better off carrying a no-bat-and-some-glove type, rather than Crosby, who is no-bat-and-no-glove. The A’s could use a true super-utility type considering the frequent absences of Chavez, Garciaparra and Giambi, who I don’t doubt has to drink water at a truly herculean rate to atone for his sweatiness.

scromulus - April 23, 2009 reply

except that Crosby's salary is still alot to swallow

do the A’s think a team desperate for a shortstop might reconsider Crosby?

I don't think the A's should expect anything for Crosby at this point.

I suppose if he qualifies as a Type-B that might change things. Of course you’re probably right – the A’s will probably keep Crosby around in hopes that he can increase his value or generate interest from a desperate team.

The thing is he’s getting sporadic ABs and playing out of position. There’s no telling how low he’ll go. I figure that between his declining D and his and his consistently terrible O he is costing the A’s runs. If the A’s want to win they should pay him $5 million to stay away and give his bits to someone with a decent glove and the versatility to back up four unhealthy infielders (especially if he could do it all at once! That way Cust and Buck and Sweeney and Davis and Denorfia could ALL play at the same time!) Its time to chalk Crosby up as a sunk cost – no one wanted him when he was waived and the A’s already have a replacement.

scromulus - April 23, 2009 reply

Something Else

I think Beane is waiting on Crosby. The guy is a starting shortstop who doesn’t hit quite well enough to be a starting shortstop. But he is a major league player and he is a major league fielder.

At some point this year, there will be an injury to a starting shortstop somewhere else which could wreak havoc on a team. And that team will go looking for a replacement, which is where Crosby comes in because he’s a top-of-the-line backup replacement. At that point, they’ll have to give up a major prospect and Beane eats the salary, or they get Crosby and salary for practically nothing. It’s a win-win for Beane…and with Crosby playing multiple positions now, his tradeability will only increase.

that's what I think is the plan

that’s what I think is the ~~plan~~ hope

fixed

ohmangoAs - April 23, 2009 reply

Ya the Red Sox seem to prefer Nick Green. If Crosby can't beat out

Nick Green who would want him?

Remember, Angel Berroa was up in LA last year...

So don’t count a Crosby trade out.

Nathaniel Stoltz - April 24, 2009 reply

And they still didn't want Crosby

really?

Crosby comes in because he’s a top-of-the-line backup replacement

rktse - April 24, 2009 reply

I'm listening to the Rivercats game right now

all the announcers said so far was that Pennington has the night off tonight

dinner at applebees the last night?

ak_A - April 23, 2009 reply

occasional leg fatigue

Laughing out loud. Best euphemism for “out of shape”, ever

JediLeroy - April 23, 2009 reply

Doolittle? I thought the A's also had this Darique Bartonne in AAA...

rebus - April 23, 2009 reply

yeah and Barton is leading the cats in RBIs (10), but...

he has the lowest average at .143

jakebmill - April 23, 2009 reply

Hes Clutch!

LOL

jakebmill - April 23, 2009 reply

DFA Barton!!

Oh wait…

UOSportsDude - April 24, 2009 reply

People should be kneecapped if Doolittle is brought up.

I still think...

some sort of trade was in the works for Gallagher + Buck, otherwise none of these moves (or non-moves) made any sense…wonder who called and what we could of got?

ST - April 23, 2009 reply

Why would they not play if a trade was in the works?

The minor risk of injury? Not really worth it when you consider how poorly the club is playing.

New Player

Looks like Gallagher was sent down to make room for Tyler Patton.

McBain - April 23, 2009 reply

Link?

it's a joke

from the Onion Sports Network

Got it

So does that mean that Pattoning is going to the the AN rickrolling?

I hope its Gio

4.2 IP 3H 0ERs 1BB 8Ks Was on an 80 pitch count tonight.

Ooh! But then wouldn't they wait 4 days to send Gallagher down,

since Gio won’t be able to pitch until Tuesday anyway?

Well....

They’ve done stranger things recently eh?

Also Gallagher will start for Sacramento on Sat.

That's good.

If the stars are aligned, maybe by mid-May we can have a major league rotation of Braden, Anderson, Cahill, Gio, and Gallagher, all pitching like they belong in a big league rotation.

How long is Duke out for?

I kind of think they will call up a position player

and it may not be for long, either. The A’s dont’ need a fifth starter for the next two weeks, so I see the callup tomorrow as temporary.

Don't they need one next Saturday?

oh right, I added another week to April

even so, they may only call up a position player for a week.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2009_04_23_srcaaa_poraaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb

Gio Pitched well and so did Chad Gaudin for Portland

Rivercat hitters did not do well

Trainman - April 23, 2009 reply

We shoulda made a bigger effort to land Gaudin

Him in the rotation right now would solve a lot of problems and allow a lot more AAA seasoning for those who need it.

+1

TBRMKane - April 24, 2009 reply

Padres had priority on the waiver wire. A's would have had to trade for him....and at least part

of his salary.

I'm betting they will call up Barton.

BTW, couldn’t they put Nomar on the DL retroactive to his last game played? I think that would be a wise move, then they could call up Barton and a reliever, and Nomar would only be out for about 10 days.

oakballnack - April 24, 2009 reply

another reporter is guessing Doolittle

from Scott Sabatini of the Examiner:

The A’s may well bring a bat back up to replace Gallagher, especially with Josh Outman being skipped in the rotation because of off days. It makes sense when you have Landon Powell playing so much at first-base. Look for Sean Doolitte, who has had a hot bat all spring to be called up sometime today. Just a hunch.

another thing to consider

Doolittle is not on the 40 man roster. (BTW Copeland is on the 15 day DL and takes up a roster spot.)

It won’t be Doolittle. Him, Patterson, Denorfia, Barton, Petit, and Pennington are all in Sacramento’s lineup this morning. I’m guessing Captain Jack?

TBRMKane - April 24, 2009 reply

Baisley?

Baisley is no longer on the 40-man roster.

TBRMKane - April 24, 2009 reply

Baisley is in today's game's starting lineup

according to the Rivercats’ site