Well AN - here is my first foray into a fan post - spurred on by  67Marquez.  Partially in response to his question - "What are we gonna do now?"  I wondered whether a topical DLD is better than a random one.  I'll leave you to decide, AN.

You could see a movie or just skip to the short version or the 30 Second Bunny Theatre Version.

I know some of you have been neglecting your reading...so here are some suggestions for these long winter months 

• The Big Book of Baseball Brain Teasers

• Generation A's Fans: A Family's Long Love Affair With One of Baseball's Best Team (there is an AN connection with this one!)

• And if you want to wow us all with your Baseball acumen there's always this

If you have been putting off all those Honey - Do - This projects you can get your inspiration here.

You can waste a lot of time over at You Tube and might find gems like the newest version of baseball (Go here if you wanna play) or freaky stunts that also involve the tools of baseball.

But I caution you that with all the time off you might be tempted to get into a little trouble.  Just don't do what they do in Florida (really?) or Minnesota. And here's an after story of what happens when the po-po need some bucks!

So - tell us AN - what WILL you be doing in the off season??  Have fun!

Where is the grass greenest? Staying in the same city, we mean.

A simple question. No simple answer. The frog in my pocket and I are in a speculative mood today.

I wrote about this a while back (other markets, within the Bay Area, and San Jose's actions), it's time to do a Ken Korach style reset on the whole thing.

"We are in the top of the 4th inning, the score is Oakland..."

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AN will have to find another shortstop to covet this offseason and come up with multiple trade scenarios for.

Hardy was dealt to the Twins for Carlos Gomez.  I guess the Brewers will look elsewhere for pitching help, but the Michael Weurtz+ for Hardy deals won't happen now.

I'll put this out there, though:  Would you have traded Rajai Davis for J.J. Hardy?  Davis is probably better than Gomez, but older and doesn't have nearly as favorable of a contract situation.  I would have, without thinking twice about it.

Also, like the Akinori Iwamura to Pittsburgh trade and the Jeremy Hermida to Boston trade, this seems to have happened very quickly (what, it's day 2 of the offseason!) before free agents have filed, nontenders, etc.  Is this a sign of how the offseason is going to look?  There have already been several articles (I'm not linking to Olney's ESPN Insider stuff, sorry) that claim a large number of guys will be nontendered creating a flood of non-superstar type players in the FA market.  It's shaping up to be a strange offseason, huh?

Hey AN, it's been a wild ride for six years, huh?  Who would've thought that this little typepad site called Athletics Nation: Baseball Country (oh yeah, that's what it was called because I didn't know how to use the typepad naming function) would become a company filled with 219 other blogs based on the AN model?

So I figured it might be fun to have a FanPost up to discuss the highlights (and if you'd like, the lowlights) of AN over the years.  I'd say some I have two huge highlights for AN.  The first my first interview with Billy Beane.  I think Beane agreeing to the interview made me realize that this was something different and special enough that the team was taking notice.  Plus Beane was just that character in Moneyball to me and it started one of my most enjoyable parts of my job.  Every time I interview Beane it's a treat.

The second has been the friendships I've developed with so many people from AN.  And seeing them over and over again at events like AN Day has been the biggest highlight of this experience.  I truly love my friends I've developed from AN.  This whole SB Nation experience wouldn't have been possible without you.

So here's a huge thank you for that.  Happy birthday, AN!

Help spread the word and join our Facebook group to keep the A's in Oakland where they belong. We are now at over 7,500 members and counting!!

http://www.facebook.com/letsgooakland?ref=ts

Please don't forget to click on the link to sign the petition at either the FB page or the link provided below and remember to PASS IT ON by clicking the "Suggest to Friends" link at left, and invite everyone you know to join us. Help us keep the A's in Oakland! This information will be used to present to MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig through Oakland City Officials and their new Ballpark Committee to show that we still have the great fan base that we once had.

http://letsgooakland.com/

Thank you so much for the support and Go A's!!!

OKLND. It wouldn't be the same without the A's.

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Fellow ANers,

MLB.com compiles all statistics from the Winter Leagues (AFL and the Three Caribbean Leagues), and compiles them organizationally.  They seem to keep it updated everyday, and its a great one stop shop to see how the A's prospects are doing.  Its been especially fun watching Desme's AFL line, and box scores recently.  Anywho, here's the link.....

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=oak

Keep it, save it, love it...... at least until the end of winter ball.....

Here are some updated stats for some key prospects as of 11/5/09.......

Should the A's spend this offseason, or save?  Should the team sign a few established veterans with question marks, or simply let the kids play?

AN seems divided.  The community is struggling to reconcile its desire to be competitive and spend an available $10-15M, with the painful realization that a.) much of the organization's best internal talent is still 1-2 years away, b.) the team had the worst attendance in baseball last year, and c.) the team, as presently constructed, will not make the playoffs in '10.

There's one very unique way, and one very unique target, who allows the A's to reconcile those two stances. This post will discuss that offseason strategy after the jump.

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Due to demand, I have removed much of the introductory text from the threads, as well as the stats for those whom have been voted onto the list already, in order to make it easier for people to scroll all the way down.

If you have any cases for prospects, keep them coming!

For Reference: Scout's Mid-Season Top 50.

Prospects up for Vote:

Dustin Coleman, SS, Age 22

2009 Stats		G	Bavg	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	SB	R	2B
STO (oak)	A+	26	.220	.304	.330	1	8	2	14	4
KAN (oak)	A	93	.254	.345	.410	8	42	18	56	22

 

Pedro Figueroa, SP, Age  23

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
KAN (oak)	A-	18	10-2	3.23	86.1	89	31	76	0	1.39
STO (oak)	A+	11	3-4	3.56	56.2	62	35	67	0	1.48

 

James Simmons, SP, Age 22 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
SAC (oak)	AAA	23	7-7	5.72	119.2	139	47	81	0	1.55

 

Ben Hornbeck, SP, Age 21

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
MID (oak)	AA	1	0-1	16.20	76.2	5	4	1	0	2.70
STO (oak)	A+	21	5-4	3.52	3.1	64	32	111	1	1.25

 

Anthony Capra, SP, Age 22

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
STO (oak)	A+	9	2-2	3.12	52	42	21	67	0	1.21
KAN (oak)	A	18	4-7	3.24	100	70	40	103	0	1.10

 

Sam Demel, RP, Age - 23 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
MID (oak)	AA	27	0-2	0.61	29.1	23	9	26	11	1.09
SAC (oak)	AAA	28	2-3	3.62	32.1	27	21	33	3	1.48

  

Brad Kilby, RP, Age 26 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
OAK	MLB	11	1-0	0.53	17.0	10	4	10	0	0.82
SAC (oak)	AAA	45	4-2	2.13	63.1	40	24	77	2	1.01

 

Henry Rodriguez, RP, Age 22 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
SAC (oak)	AAA	37	2-1	5.77	43.2	38	38	71	4	1.74
STO (oak)	A+	3	0-0	0.00	5	3	1	11	0	0.80

 The List Thus Far

A's Community Prospect List

1. Chris Carter, 1B, Age 22 - 76% (of 5) - Video

2. Brett Wallace, 3B, Age 22 - 79% (of 5) - Offense Video  / Defense Video

3. Adrian Cardenas, IF, Age 21 - 75% (of 5) - Video

4. Jemile Weeks, 2B, Age 22 - 36% (of 8) - Video

5. Grant Desme, OF, Age 23 - 29% (of 8) - Video - OmahaHi's case for Grant Desme

6. Grant Green, SS, Age 21 - 32% (of 7) - Video

7. Josh Donaldson, C, Age 23 - 31% (of 7) - Video - DesignatedForAssignment's case for Josh Donaldson

8. Corey Brown, CF, Age 23 - 37% (of 8) - Video

9. Michael Ynoa, SP, Age 17 -  40% (of 8) - Video

10. Sean Doolittle, 1B/OF, Age 22 - 41% (of 8) - Video

11. Arnold Leon, SP, Age 20 - 46% (of 8)

12. Tyson Ross, SP, Age 22 - 23% (of 8) / 42% (Runoff) - Cal Sports Profile Video

13. Fautino De Los Santos, SP, Age 23 - 34% (of 8)

14. Max Stassi, C, Age 18 - 45% (of 8)

 (Bonus video of Rashun Dixon)

 

Upcomming Potential Prospects for Voting (no order):
Mattl Sulentic, OF	Anthony Recker, C	Shane Peterson, OF	Alex Valdez
	Travis Banwart, SP	Matt Spencer, OF	Gregorio Petit, SS
	Graham Godfrey, SP	Robin Rosario, OF	Tommy Everidge, 1B
Clayton Mortensen, SP	Ronny Morla, SP	Wilfredo Solano	Joel Galarraga, C
Nino Leyja, 2B	Paul Smyth	Conner Crumbliss	Pedro Figueroade, SP
Rashun Dixon, CF	Julio Ramos	Daniel Straily
James Simmons, SP	Ian Krol, SP	Yusuf Carter	Ryan Ortiz, SP
Brett Hunter, SP	Anthony Huttenlocker	Carlos Hernandez, SP	Ben Hornbeck, SP
	Reynaldo Mateo	Tyler Ladendorff	Shawn Haviland, SP
Mickey Storey, SP	Chris Mederos	Jon Meloan	Josh Horton, SS
	Conner Hoehn	Corey Wimberly, UTL	Dan Thomas
	Josh Leyland, C	Justin Souza	Andrew Carignan, RP
Jermaine Mitchell, CF	Jared Lansford, RP	Justin Marks	Jason Christian, 3B

If you have a prospect you want to suggest, from this list or not on it, speak up in comments!

So the evil empire did it again huh?  Bought themselves another World Series ring while MLB continues to sit back and allow the uncapped structure to ruin interest in at least 1/3 of the leagues cities. Once it became apparent that the 49ers "bought' a championship in 1994 and a year later the Cowboys did the same.  What did the NFL do?  Change the structure and invoke a salary cap.  Why is it that both sides,  the players and owners,  can't get together and come up with some type of agreement?  It is the only major sport without a cap and the interest in the league continues to slide partly due to it.

                          Let's breakdown the Yankees roster for a second shall we?

3B- Alex Rodriguez                           33 Million                                         Trade with Texas

SS- Derek Jeter                                21.6 Million                                       Drafted By Yankees

1B- Mark Teixeira                             20.6 Million                                       Signed As Free Agent

SP- AJ Burnett                                  16.5 Million                                       Signed As Free Agent

SP- CC Sabathia                             15.3 Million                                       Signed As Free Agent

RP- Mariano Rivera                         15 Million                                          Signed As International Free Agent

C- Jorge Posada                             13.5 Million                                       Signed As International Free Agent

OF- Johnny Damon                        13 Million                                           Signed As Free Agent

DH- Hideke Matsui                         13 Million                                           Signed As Free Agent

Total Team Salary: 208.4 Million

Only other players that came up through the Yankees system are Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlin, Brett Gardner and Phil Hughes.  Combined their 2009 salaries were 8.3 million,  less then 1/4 of Alex Rodriguez's salary.  Of the highest paid Yankees only Derek Jeter was originally drafted by the team. 

                                          In comparison let's look at other teams payrolls and highest paid players

                                                               Payroll                                   Highest Paid                               Salary

32. Pittsburgh Pirates                        25.2                                      SP- Paul Maholm                          2.5

31. Florida Marlins                              31                                         1B- Nick Johnson                         5.5

30. San Diego Padres                       37.8                                      OF- Brian Giles                             9.0

29. Oakland Athletics                         56.1                                      3B- Eric Chavez                           11.5

The bottom four teams in terms of payroll  combined payroll was 58 million less then the Yankees in 2009.  Even more astonishing the salary of Alex Rodriguez was more then the entire rosters of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Florida Marlins,  and only 5 million less then that of the entire San Diego Padres team. The Yankees payroll was 63 million more then the closest competitor,  yet another New York team.  

                           Even fans in cities like New York,  Chicago and Boston cannot claim this to be fair.  I wouldn't be complaining if i was a fan of the Yankees,  but as a observer of all four major sports i see this as an issue MLB must deal with soon.  Of course there are teams that break the mold and win despite a low payroll.  Our very own A's come to mind earlier this decade as do the Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins today.  But that is the obvious minority in terms of success in MLB.  While teams in smaller in the NFL like Green Bay,  Indianapolis,  New Orleans and Arizona can be successful it just doesn't happen as much in MLB,  this soley due to the fact that baseball continues to deny it's differential between large and small markets.  Do you find it odd that all four of the teams that played in the LCS were top 10 in payroll?  It is time that MLB does something about this sooner rather then later

VIncente Padilla shot by his shooting instuctor. What is not clear is how much Michael Young and Ian Kinsler paid the instructor, or if VIncente was just trying to learn how to be more menacing.

Bobby Abreu and the Angels decide to play 2 more (plus an option). With any luck, the Angels will think he is still an outfielder. $19 million.

"Here is $7 million, Chad Tracy, please don't play for us."

Mr. Williams, you have a diabolical plan right? Cuz how Mark Teehan improves your club s a mystery.

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