DLD - 11/07/2009 - How to Keep Yourself Occupied in the Off-Season
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
-
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!
4 comments | 0 recs
Greener Grass, Episode 4: The Biggest Off Season (Potential) Decision Doesn't Involve Free Agents
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..."
16 comments | 1 recs
Hardy to Minnesota. What's with the early offseason trades?
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?
70 comments | 0 recs
Happy 6th Birthday, AN!
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!
40 comments | 0 recs
Let's Go Oakland: Keep the A's
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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29 comments | 0 recs
Organizational Statistics: Winter Leagues
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.......
| BATTERS | CLUB | LEAGUE ↓ | AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SB | CS | OBP | SLG | OPS | SF | SAC | HBP | GIDP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown, Corey | PDD | AFL | .309 | 16 | 68 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | .356 | .603 | .959 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Desme, Grant | PDD | AFL | .386 | 17 | 70 | 21 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 0 | .463 | .857 | 1.320 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| # | Weeks, Jemile | PDD | AFL | .309 | 13 | 55 | 12 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | .387 | .527 | .914 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Carson, Matt | AGU | DWL | .254 | 14 | 59 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | .290 | .356 | .646 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| # | Valdez, Alex | ESC | DWL | .364 | 8 | 33 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | .417 | .636 | 1.053 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Carter, Chris | GSV | LMP | .212 | 8 | 33 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | .257 | .606 | .863 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| # | Wimberly, Corey | OBR | LMP | .240 | 7 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | .296 | .240 | .536 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Denorfia, Chris | ZUL | VWL | .222 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .300 | .500 | .800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gil, Leonardo | CAR | VWL | .000 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| * | Padron, Raul | CAR | VWL | .294 | 17 | 51 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | .308 | .627 | .935 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Petit, Gregorio | CAR | VWL | .280 | 23 | 93 | 12 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 4 | .346 | .355 | .701 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| PITCHERS | CLUB | LEAGUE ↓ | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | SVO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | HB | BB | IBB | SO | WP | GIDP | WHIP | AVG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demel, Sam | PDD | AFL | 0 | 0 | 10.50 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6.0 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.33 | .375 | ||
| Friend, Justin | PDD | AFL | 2 | 1 | 5.68 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1.11 | .136 | ||
| Simmons, James | PDD | AFL | 1 | 2 | 3.18 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | .266 | ||
| Storey, Mickey | PDD | AFL | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1.83 | .346 | ||
| * | Ramirez, Anvioris | LIC | DWL | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | .333 | |
| Leon, Arnold | CUL | LMP | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13.0 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1.77 | .322 | ||
| Middleton, Kyle | ARA | VWL | 2 | 0 | 4.35 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 1.40 | .263 | ||
| Patterson, Scott | LAR | VWL | 1 | 0 | 1.69 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5.1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | .167 | ||
| Sharpe, Steven | ORI | VWL | 0 | 2 | 4.76 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1.24 | .244 |
9 comments | 0 recs
2010 Off-Season Blueprint
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.
111 comments | 7 recs
Community Prospect List #15
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)
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!
56 comments | 3 recs
My Rant Against The Champions And MLB In General
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
92 comments | 0 recs
DLD 11/5/09
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.
74 comments | 3 recs
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