Buy Low - Sell High - Athletics Nation

Buy Low - Sell High

by Flash G on Jul 10, 2006 3:32 PM PDT Comment 14 comments

I am not waiving a white flag for 2006, but the reality is that Oakland does have a league-worst offense. Some of the current players are not long-term solutions. Therefore, I think BB needs to start dealing some players that currently have a higher value than they may have in the future. In the spirit of "Buy Low - Sell High", these are the position players that I believe have some real trade value right now.

Payton
Scutaro
Melhuse

I believe Macha gives far too many PAs to certain less-deserving players. For example, Payton has received twice as many PAs as Kielty this year but hasn't been nearly as productive. Trade Payton now while he's hot. Besides, what do we do with Payton when Bradley returns?

Scutaro is a nice defensive player but so what? Ellis, although having a terrible year, is superior both offensively and defensively. When Ellis needs a day off, play Perez. When Crosby needs a day off, sub Ellis at short. If either go down to injury, call up Rouse. I'm sure there are teams that covet Scutaro's glove and flexibility.

I belive Melhuse should play a lot more than he does. That said, I don't think he's going to get a chance in Oakland and he'll probably never put up "great" numbers. I think he would be an extremely valuable component to a NL team - backup catcher and left handed pinch hitter. Since Macha isn't going to use him anyway, why not trade him and bring up Jeremy Brown?

BB - please trade these components and get some future talent - our offense can't get any worse!

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Forget "Buy low, sell high"

The A's need to think long and hard about "Past performance may not be indicative of future results."

by Mission1929 on Jul 10, 2006 3:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What do you mean?

Scutaro - career AAAAer - check
Gamer - great talent who can't stay healthy - check
Hurt - incredible hitter, incredibly brittle - check
Payton - streaky hitter, complains about the incosistent playing time his inconsistency earns him - check

I'd say past performance has been pretty darn spot on.

Another project of Devo's

by devo on Jul 10, 2006 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Future is Now

Rather than thinking about who they should trade for "future talent," the A's should be thinking about what they can do to win now...this season....in 2006.

Here's what I mean: we all remember the glowing predictions regarding the A's before the season started, and while many of us knew there were flaws in this team, most agreed that the A's had a good shot at going deep into October.

So...what's changed? Nothing, I say.

Has anything happened so far in 2006 that is truly suprising or unexpected? Lots of injuries? If that a shocker, you're new to A's baseball. Inconsistent hitting? Hardly...anything else would have been freakish. Several embarrassing performances from our 4 and 5 starters? Nope...that's why they're 4 and 5. As far as I can tell, nothing has happened in 2006 that we didn't all see coming and discuss - at great length - long before the season even started.

So why bail out now? Here we are at the All Star Break, in first place, with as good a chance (or better) as any other team in the league of improving our play in the second half of the season...and people are talking about what we can do to win in 2007. I don't get it.

by Mission1929 on Jul 10, 2006 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not giving up on 2006...

I think we can be better this year by trading away some players. I don't think trading Marco or Melhuse would get us anything back that would make an immediate impact this year. However, something must be done with Payton when Bradley returns. This team should not have two poor hitting center fielders and we can't trade Kotsay or Kendall.

Do you really think we'd see a drop off this year if we used Bradley to back up Kotsay, Kielty to back up Bradley, Perez to back up Ellis, and Brown to back up Kendall? I don't. I see it as a potential improvement.

by Flash G on Jul 10, 2006 5:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We used to call this problem "depth."

Scutaro, Melhuse and Payton could prove to be valuable assets if the A's find themselves in a pennant race, and I doubt if any of the three would bring someone better than we already have.

And John Q. Prospect won't be any help at all in late September.

by Mission1929 on Jul 10, 2006 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm just saying (mostly jokingly)

that past performance HAS been indicative of future results.

Another project of Devo's

by devo on Jul 11, 2006 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm ...

I can't imagine anyone out there covets Marco Scutaro (aside from his lovely wife ... and perhaps their neighbor's donkey) ... there aren't many teams out there who don't have a player capable of fielding a middle infield position at an acceptable level while barely hitting their weight. While he's a decent enough guy to have around, his trade value is Zero.

Melhuse is a great backup defense catcher for a team that has a poor hitting, defense oriented starting catcher. He has essentially no upside and while he's someone we can appreciate having, backup catchers don't carry much trade value either.

Jay Payton might have some trade value ... especially to a team like everyone's favorite trade partner, the Mets, who, like the A's, feature a talented, but brittle starting outfield. What's the value for a player like that? Well, there's a pretty much spot on comp we can use to assess it. Last year, Jay Payton was traded for an injured, washed up middle reliever -- now that's value.

Unless we just want to cut salary, all of these guys are worth more to us than anything they might return in trade. You don't rebuild a farm system by trading away nothing but spare parts.

Another project of Devo's

by devo on Jul 10, 2006 4:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree that nobody covets Marco but...

my point is that these guys will probably will never have more trade value than they do right now. These guys aren't going to make a meaningful contribution this year or in the future. In fact, it could be argued that they are hurting the A's more than helping them.

by Flash G on Jul 10, 2006 4:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I suppose it's accurate

to say that guys like Melhuse and Scutaro will never have more trade value than they have now. Kind of like saying to a lousy employee, "Nobody could do a better job than you do!"

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jul 10, 2006 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I agree ... they won't have any trade value

in the future either ... so, sure, their trade value has 'peaked' ... Payton and Melhuse are both positively contributing members of the club ... Scooter, not so much. The only return we'd get from him, though, is an open roster spot.

Another project of Devo's

by devo on Jul 11, 2006 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thou

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's light hitting utility infielder.

Green eyes come from yellow flecks of fatty pigment on a dark background. Some men think a green-eyed woman is exotic. The truth is she's got fat eyes.

by Furious George on Jul 10, 2006 7:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sadly, you could package

all three, and no team would give you a decent middle of the order hitter in return.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jul 10, 2006 4:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They probably lose value as a package.

by Flash G on Jul 10, 2006 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do we have anyone that fits "sell high?"

This diary got me thinking. Arguably the only players on the A's at this moment who could be labelled "sell high" are Barry Zito, Huston Street, and Dan Haren (although Zito's value is colored by his impending free agency).

This is a game to be savored, not gulped. There's time to discuss everything between pitches or between innings. ~Bill Veeck

by Steve in Napa on Jul 12, 2006 4:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs