Gammons: Huston Street R.O.Y. In "a Walk"

by Dog Days on Aug 28, 2005 6:58 PM PDT

A few excerpts from today's Peter Gammons posting on ESPN Insider:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=2145453

*OK, Huston Street should be a walk for AL rookie of the year. But has anyone noticed that next to Johan Santana (1.57 ERA) that Joe Blanton's second half ERA (2.11) is the best in the league among pitchers with 40 or more innings? For those who read "Moneyball" but didn't understand, Blanton was a No. 1 pick because of the work done by scout Matt Keough, whose work convinced him that, contrary to conventional scouting thoughts, Blanton had great makeup. Which the A's knew on the Cape from the previous summer. Someday someone will explain to me how some of the teams with multiple picks in the 2004 draft allowed Street to last until the 40th pick.

*The Red Sox went into Sunday's game leading the AL in on-base percentage at .359. The Yankees were next at .353. Toronto was third (.335), hence an 18-point spread between second and third. The difference between the NL leader Philadelphia (.342) and the trailer (Pittsburgh, .320) was 22 points. But the Athletics had the AL's best run differential.

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Street for ROY

Yeah, it sure looks that way, with Chacin and Cano struggling of late. How he slipped to the A's, I'll never understand. It's almost like he hit the national scene too early, becoming a household name as a freshman at Texas. And though his numbers were just as good his next two years, people forgot about the guy for some reason.

I look at Street as our closer and I think: just get to the playoffs, boys. Just get there. Give us a lead late and let Street go to work.

(Just for fun, I took a look today at some of last year's box scores, when Dotel let sure wins slip away in dramatic (and torturous fashion). One late season loss to Texas comes to mind, with Dotel giving up 3 in the 9th to lose it. Looking at those losses again, and remembering the nervousness that went into a Dotel appearance in the 9th, has made me appreciate Street all the more. The guy will be one of the best relief pitchers in years ... if he isn't already.)

by Crosbino on Aug 28, 2005 7:24 PM PDT reply actions

I agree

With Dotel it was always a nerve-wracking experience to see him out there, regardless of the outcome. With Street I feel that, save or blown save, there is no dangling, no teasing, no torturing involved. And of course he's saved alot more than blown 'em, which makes it easier.

by OaktownTribesman on Aug 28, 2005 7:41 PM PDT up reply actions

I remember that texas game

I'f i'm completely correct, i was already in Israel, it was crunch time, and i was treated to a live A's game on Fox Sports World since the game started at 11 am pacific time. I was so excited, then Dotel comes in and gives up lots of hits including doubles to texeira and delluci, who i'm pretty sure won the game with a double.

I don't know what i'm writing about.

by ohad on Aug 28, 2005 8:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Yup

You're right. And I also remember another game: I was watching a game in an Oakland Airport Bar sometime in July (I don't live in the Bay Area, so this was one of the few games I got to see at all), when Dotel was brought in protecting a small lead against the Rangers (again). It was me and maybe one other guy, both sweating bullets as Dotel barely (BARELY) held on to a save. I don't remember the details, but I remember he gave up a run and then put a few on with the tying run at 2nd. He somehow got the save, the two of us in the bar pumped our fists and I finally took a breath.

That's what life was like in the Dotel era. The single greatest accomplishment of this year is how dramatically Billy was able to overhaul the pen, turning a liability into a strength.

by Crosbino on Aug 28, 2005 8:14 PM PDT up reply actions

sad thing is

that Dotel was an upgrade from the pre-Dotel era.

by Apricot on Aug 28, 2005 9:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Exactly,

I was pretty pumped when we got Dotel last year. Despite the living on the edge ambience he provided, it was an upgrade none the less.

Royale with cheese.

by ak_A on Aug 28, 2005 10:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Pre-Dotel?

That whole Rhodes debacle is a blur ... Dotel's numbers were good, but I don't think anyone here is sad to see him go.

by Crosbino on Aug 28, 2005 10:05 PM PDT up reply actions

I think Rhodes only closed in May

but its all a blur ...

by green star oakland on Aug 28, 2005 11:01 PM PDT up reply actions

In May?

Yeah, that happens sometimes in the Tuolomne Pass when there's a late snow-storm up there.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Aug 29, 2005 6:43 AM PDT up reply actions

boo

you are a very bad man.

by Apricot on Aug 29, 2005 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions

Dotel

I still think he has good stuff. He also brought with him loads of emotions when he pitches that was just infectious. I think if we can re-sign him for cheap next yr, we should.

He could be one of our set-up men.

I'm an A's fan, not a baseball fan.

by sf drift king on Aug 29, 2005 12:05 AM PDT up reply actions

Somewhere I read that Street's groin pull

struggles during his last year at U Texas caused his numbers to slip a bit, and his velocity to dip. Scouts may also have looked at his not huge frame and decided that he wasn't sturdy enough to be worth their time.

How wrong they turned out to be!!

by OaklandSi on Aug 28, 2005 7:35 PM PDT reply actions

That's correct.

His velocity was WAY down after his injury and most people thought it wasn't coming back. I believe it was down to 88 or so, where his fastball is normally 94-96? Something like that. A lot of teams passed on him because of the injury. His size was also a factor.

We win. :)

Street is a friggin physical marvel... -Mychael Urban

by rookieoftheyear on Aug 28, 2005 7:45 PM PDT up reply actions

You sum it up wonderfully

"We win."

We got :p and you didn't. So there. :D

What for?

by Squeaky on Aug 28, 2005 7:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Also

We took Huston in the 1st round. You never know where you'll find a great player. I mean, Rich Harden was a 17th round pick! Think of how many passed on HIM!

Street is a friggin physical marvel... -Mychael Urban

by rookieoftheyear on Aug 28, 2005 7:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Street for OAK

This is the first time in a long time that I truly feel relief when an Oakland closer comes in. Sign him for the next 20 years. Kidding. Sort of.

Kidding aside, Street really appears to have the makeup and stuff to be a consistent closer for the team for the long haul.

Unfortunately, barring a sweep against NYY at home over Labor Day Weekend with three saves for Street, it may be that he falls well short in the ROY voting given the East Coast bias, the lack of national exposure during the season, and the 'split the vote' makeup of the team.

On the bright side, if ROY takes years at Oakland away due to eventual contract costs, it's not going to bother me to see that trophy go elsewhere. (I know, I know, it didnt' keep Crosby from signing).

by oaktowngold on Aug 28, 2005 7:48 PM PDT reply actions

It's about time...

...although the "mainstream media" pick seems to still be Iguchi (barf)

Best Coliseum promotion of the year? 2005 Oakland A's baseball.

by baseballgirl on Aug 28, 2005 7:48 PM PDT reply actions

I Noticed

I've been touting Cupcakes for ROY for a couple of weeks now.

I think Street will win it.

I think Blanton should win it. He's been the best pitcher in the league for the last 3 months, for crying out loud.,

oaktoon

by oaktoon on Aug 28, 2005 7:54 PM PDT reply actions

Street will win in a walk

If things remain the same. He fills a major role on a team that is in contention, and he does it flawlessly.

That pretty much meets all the criteria. Before the season ends (again, if things remain about the same) he will be annointed and there won't be much debate outside of Chicago. And in the final vote he'll win by quite a bit. Come on, a closer on a playoff team with the lowest closer E.R.A. in the league, lower than Rivera's, who is being touted for the Cy Young. That makes it pretty obvious.

by RLangford on Aug 28, 2005 8:54 PM PDT reply actions

wait a minute...

if rivera is being touted for the cy young and street has better numbers than rivera, shouldn't street win the cy young?

i'm only half kidding...

If I weren't playing baseball, I'd be... "in the Ultimate Fighting Championship." -Rich Harden

by xbhaskarx on Aug 28, 2005 10:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Agree--

Every player (especially from a smaller market) needs a "hook". I think Street's ERA is the hook that will get voters' attention, and then a look at all the numbers will give him the nod. Especially if he cracks 20 saves, which he will, even more so if he cracks 25 saves, which he probably will.

Nico

by Nico on Aug 28, 2005 9:37 PM PDT reply actions

don't agree (or do I?)

(This is sort of like predicting the Oscars...)

I think Street or Blanton (or even Johnson) would be very deserving ROY picks. But the A's don't have a high enough profile. Iguchi has the whole "best team in the league" (for now) thing going.

Street or Blanton are going to need to hit magic numbers to make it. In another thread I argue Blanton needs 13+ wins minimum and mid/low 3 ERA. Here are the last three ROY relievers:

Gregg Olson, 1989 Orioles, 5-2, 1.69, 27 SV, 85 IP, 90K
Scott Williamson, 1999 Reds, 12-7, 2.41, 19 SV, 93.1 IP, 107K
Kazuhiro Sasaki, 2000 Mariners, 2-5, 3.16, 37 SV, 62.2 IP, 78 K

:P (to date) 4-1, 1.28, 17 SV, 63.1 IN, 63K

You know, now that I've looked up the actual stats, Street looks like he has a very good shot at it. If he can keep his ERA sub-2, and score 20+ SV, I think he will be at the top of the vote. The main question will be whether the A's Gang of Four rookies split the vote or attract more attention in a flock.

by Apricot on Aug 28, 2005 10:21 PM PDT reply actions

that's what I've been thinking

the A's ROY possibles may split up votes among them, possibly allowing someone else to win the honor.

Of all of them I think Street has the best shot, esp if he finishes strong. I don't believe he has escaped notice as much as we might think.

by OaklandSi on Aug 28, 2005 10:35 PM PDT up reply actions

We need a huge sign

at the Coliseum that simply says " :P "

Then it can become the internationally-known sign for Huston, a symbol that catches on in a way that Prince's symbol never did. With the starpower from his new symbol, Huston could win not only the RoY but also MVP, Cy Young and Viagra Comeback :Player of the Year!

"Every time he opens his mouth he makes a fool of himself," La Russa said. "He's a village idiot."

by rubin sierra on Aug 28, 2005 10:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Wow, that's not the best company

Look at all of those relievers now...

Hopefully Street has better fate.

by fadedash on Aug 29, 2005 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions

potential for greatness

Right now he should be the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, and we A's fans should be overjoyed that we have this youngster who's pitching like Dennis Eckersley locked in as our closer for the foreseeable future.

However, we shouldn't take it for granted. He is capable of greatness, yes. Indeed, you can't pitch much better than he's pitched for the last four months. But greatness is attained by degrees, one game at a time, and then one SEASON at a time. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's hope, let's root as fans for a great career to unfold in front of us. Root for it every game.

"Every time he opens his mouth he makes a fool of himself," La Russa said. "He's a village idiot."

by rubin sierra on Aug 28, 2005 10:33 PM PDT reply actions

How many closers

have won ROY, if anybody can tell me thanks a bunch, Gammons insight is always needed as he brings so much inlight with what is right with baseball, if Blanton had gotten some run support in those times that he has gotten shut out he would have least been top 5.

You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club wont be worth a dime.-Babe Ruth

by doublehustle22 on Aug 28, 2005 10:55 PM PDT reply actions

two top-level comments up

I outline the last three reliever ROYs I could find.

by Apricot on Aug 28, 2005 11:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Again

Not to beat a dead horse, but Street's pitched 60+ innings, and Blanton's nearly at 150.

Most of Street's saves-- no knock on him, it's true of every closer-- have been realtively easy 2 or 3 run margin affairs. Blanton's been lights out for 6-7 innings every 5th day-- often in huge games.

He's the 2nd best pitcher in the league since the AS break-- to Santana-- and the best pitcher in the league since late May.

If he wins a big game or two vs. LAA and Cleveland-- for example-- then I think his chances of winning the RPY will increase dramatically.

oaktoon

by oaktoon on Aug 28, 2005 11:47 PM PDT reply actions

but there's a difference

between "should" and "will"

blanton should be ahead of street for RoY, dj should be ahead of swisher, and the only non-a's in the running should be gomes and chacin (and not iguchi, cano, etc).

but in reality, it will be the other way around in both cases for the oakland candidates.

and that's not meant as a criticism of either street or swisher, either of whom could have won RoY over crosby last year...

If I weren't playing baseball, I'd be... "in the Ultimate Fighting Championship." -Rich Harden

by xbhaskarx on Aug 28, 2005 11:53 PM PDT up reply actions

These things have a way...

of working themselves out in the final month.

I think Cano has basically played himself out of contention-- OBP of .305, now hitting 8th.

Chacin is fast doing the same thing.

Swisher's numbers are good, but not great, and he missed nearly a month;

Iguchi is a good choice but I guarantee you there's some bias against another "Japanese proven veteran rookie" getting the award. And the White Sox aren't as good a story in the 2nd half as they were in the first.

Johnson can't win because he missed nearly the entire first two months of the season, unless his numbers are really ridiculous.

It may narrow pretty rapidly to Street and Blanton if Blanton wins two big games in the next ten days. Street's an obvious favorite now, but I think the baseball world is starting to catch on about Blanton and the situation could change quickly.

oaktoon

by oaktoon on Aug 29, 2005 12:03 AM PDT reply actions

It's kind of cruel

to realize just how brutal the lack of run support has been for Blanton. It really looks like he has the Curse of Huddy -- Foulke practically kept him out of the ASG singlehandedly with the blown saves, and now Blanton's lack of W's is pretty much what will keep him out of the minds of sportswriters.

I've been rooting for Blanton since he was in the minors, but damn, I realize now that I seriously underestimated this guy. I expected him to be a solid starter, but he's gone well beyond that.

I think Blanton's value is extraordinary for this club, but Street's got the flash and attention along with his absolute brilliance to get him the votes. I think he's gonna get the ROY, and he damn well deserves it. Blanton does as well, though. I never expected that, early in this season, and I'm so happy to see that he's truly a great pitcher.

Personally, I'd rather just see 'em make out the ROY trophy to all four of them. They've all earned it. :-)

"While I was there, it didn't always seem perfect, but when I look back on it I just might think it was perfect." --Eric Byrnes

by Kyli on Aug 29, 2005 12:54 AM PDT reply actions

I'll be overjoyed

if the 4 A's split their votes and somebody else sneaks in with the award. Seriously, who cares when we're looking at a pile of young talent? Look at all the guys who have won ROY and gone on to absolutely nothing. The Dodgers once won 4 ROY's in a row - well how about 4 legitimate ROY candidates on the same team?

by boilerdan on Aug 29, 2005 5:59 AM PDT reply actions

Street

Street will definitely win, hands-down. As good as Blanton is, voters are just not overwhelmed by him. He doesn't have a great number of wins, strikeouts, or a microscopic ERA. He gets the job done without much hype, and we all know hype wins awards.

Street on the other hand has a trainload of hype, with production to back it up. The whole "one year removed from college" thing. The ESPN column. The ERA lower than Rivera's. The gaudy K ratios. The insanely good looks and remarkable maturity (writers tend to develop man-crushes too). The fact that he's the closer, the go-to guy in the bullpen. All these factors add up and make Street the leading ROY candidate. Guys like Blanton, Swisher, DJ, Chacin, Iguchi are holding their own, being productive, but none have been DOMINATING like Street in a pressure-packed role.

by OaktownTribesman on Aug 29, 2005 6:28 AM PDT reply actions

You're Probably Right

But I don't call the best ERA in the league since June 1 "holding his own". I don't call an ERA of 0.95 in August "holding his own". I don't call the 2nd best ERA in the league (to Santana) since the AS break "holding his own".

You are proof that even A's fans don't appreciate just how good Blanton has been. The truth is that Blanton has been more dominating the past three months than Street, given the number of innings and the fact that at the beginning of the game every Blanton start matters whereas while most of Street's appearances do, the 2 and 3 run lead situations are a bit simpler.

oaktoon

by oaktoon on Aug 29, 2005 8:14 AM PDT up reply actions

Agreed

but try to get beat writers to pay attention to run support, or anything other than W, K, ERA, maybe Saves.

by boilerdan on Aug 29, 2005 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Exactly, dsward--

pitchers, on small market teams, who have sub-.500 records at the end of August, are not in serious contention no matter what die-hard fans of that team might know. Voters won't notice a pitcher's "August ERA" and they will notice a pitcher's W-L record and K/9IP ratio. Fair? No. True? Yippers.

Nico

by Nico on Aug 29, 2005 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions

I disagree, Nico

If he beats the Angels this week, Cupcakes will move into serious contention for this award.

oaktoon

by oaktoon on Aug 29, 2005 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions

No

Here's why not: Cupcakes is the 4th starter. That's not a high profile role like the closer. And besides, he plays for the A's, a small market team on the West Coast. I'm sure that many of the voters have never even seen Cupcakes pitch or if they have, they don't remember it. Blanton may have an awesome lights-out month of August going on, but nobody other than A's fans and the A's beat writers are paying attention. When the votes are cast, they are gonna look at that mid-3.00 ERA and evenish record and say "Hmmm, pretty good." But then they'll look at Street's Rivera-esque numbers and instantly remember the "good face" and cast their votes before you can say "Cupcakes".

by OaktownTribesman on Aug 29, 2005 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Hmmm

I still get a little ansty with Street in there, just because he's a rookie. Kind of like with the Roethlistberger thing with the Steelers last year... waiting for the other shoe to drop and the first-year struggles to come around. Hopefully he's an exception.

But yea, considering he has the best ERA of any AL reliever, I think ROY should be a given unless he has a horrible September. knock on wood

by dchu on Aug 29, 2005 8:35 AM PDT reply actions

Big Ben

is gonna fall back down this year, trust me. Dear in the headlights in the playoffs was a sign of things to come.

"Remember the time you stole my bat? And you lied and said I never had a bat. Then why did I have the donut Jason? Why did I have the donut?"-Adam Milhouse

by pbruins92 on Aug 29, 2005 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions