Bye Bye, Kotsay
by RLangford on Mar 7, 2007 7:55 PM PST
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PrintBack surgery and likely three months missed.
Milton Bradley should be the A's centerfielder--this is just me talking--with Swisher and some combination of other bodies filling the remaining two spots. Of all the A's likely injured--Harden, Chavez, Crosby, Bradley--Kotsay is, for me, easily the most acceptable. But the key is that Bradley remain healthy.
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Bradley, Stewart, Goleski, Swisher
We've got lots of bodies out there. When Kielty returns (which will be before Kots), that gives us another option.
Rotoworld says this
Mark Kotsay will have surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back and is expected to miss at least eight-to-12 weeks.
This is something Kotsay could have gotten done back in November had he been more aggressive about it, and considering that the A's are paying him $15 million over the next two years, they deserve better from the center fielder. Don't count on seeing Kotsay back before June, and it wouldn't come as much of a surprise to see him miss the entire first half. The A's will likely go with Milton Bradley in center field, Nick Swisher in right, Shannon Stewart in left and Dan Johnson at first base. Bobby Kielty will take over as the fourth outfielder once he's recovered from knee surgery. This would also seem to open the door for Rule 5 pick Ryan Goleski to make the team.
25 Man Roster Projection w/Kotsay out
C1 Kendall
1B Johnson
2B Ellis
3B Chavez
SS Crosby
LF Stewart
CF Bradley
RF Swisher
DH Piazza
C2 Melhuse
SS Scutaro
OF Kielty
OF Goleski
SP Harden
SP Haren
SP Loaiza
SP Blanton
SP Kennedy
RP Street
RP Duchscherer
RP Calero
RP Gaudin
RP Embree
RP Witasick
RP Halsey
Drop Halsey to AAA, add in Perez.
That bench is way too thin.
Please stay healthy Milton
A healthy Bradley and a DLed Kotsay actually makes me feel better about our chances. It is scary that we are one step closer to Two-Buck as our CF, however. I just don't think Swisher could handle more than 5-10 games in CF.
The Three Stooges
Wow, can't really get excited about any of those guys if it comes to that.
by BlameChannel53 on Mar 7, 2007 8:14 PM PST up reply actions
damn you kotsay
Travis Buck
What are the chances Travis Buck could head north when camp breaks?
With No Kielty
Until May 1st or so, someone is going to temporarily get a spot. Would the A's want Buck to spend a month as a 4th/5th starter before starting AAA? No idea, but I wouldn't mind him being on the team.
by BlameChannel53 on Mar 7, 2007 8:17 PM PST up reply actions
I would think not very good,
And someone up there is sure looking out for Dan Johnson, eh? His roster spot is suddenly looking awfully safe.
i don't see how this helps
what would help would be kotsay staying healthy, performing well and earning his money instead of injuring himself and having surgery before plays a single baseball game.
not only do bradley and stewart have to stay healthy, DJ has to figure out how to hit major league pitching. if all those things don't happen this team is in trouble.
It only helps if Bradley is healthy
Because Stewart and Johnson can outhit a gimpy Kotsay, and Kotsay was rapidly declining on defense as well. If Bradley does not stay healthy, things could get ugly quickly. Even the crappy version of Johnson is likely to outhit Kotsay.
by BlameChannel53 on Mar 7, 2007 8:25 PM PST up reply actions
Get up, horse, I want to flog you
Kotsay's back troubles obviously can't be blamed on the Larry Davis/Gerry Goldman axis of owies. But surely they're expected to monitor a chronic condition like that regularly, at least through October, if not the off-season. I have to wonder if they had any sense at all that his back was getting worse, and if so, whither the usual encouragement for players to get probs dealt with early in the offseason?
And if in fact the team did know, and did encourage a more prompt response, what does that say about the ability of the team and its med staff to get their players to listen to them? Or for that matter, what's it say about the of-late seemingly not such a team guy Mr. Kotsay?
I have mixed feelings on this one
No way A's med staff takes the fall.
During the offseason, the player is responsible for his health. Most players don't consult the team doctors during the offseason and the trainers can't make them do so anyway. This one is all on Kotsay.
I agree. If only it were
Bad back not Larry's fault, of course
But if the "coulda been done in November" report is true, it's not a stretch to think the A's docs might've and should've have known something was up at ALCS time. So the med staff is either fairly clueless about the status of a known chronic condition, or is trusted so little by this player (at least) that communication has broken down. So no, I don't pin this on Larry and Gerry, but I do think it's legit to wonder if a well-functioning team/player medical relationship might've handled things better for all parties.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 7, 2007 11:09 PM PST up reply actions
<sigh>
This is why I was pushing for trading Kotsay during the offseason. Even if it meant eating a large chunk of his salary, dumping Kots during the winter would have been a good thing. Now we're left hoping the oft-injured Bradley can play CF.
My apologies for the multiple posts
Seems me old Sig was too complex for the new design.
Ah... progress!
I used my powers for good
Start with the Olsen twins
Do we really two of them?
by BlameChannel53 on Mar 7, 2007 8:36 PM PST up reply actions
Do we even need one?
point noted
Thanks Nico, I'll tell my sister not to come down for Chez Nico this year. (Though if you do see us both, she's younger and thus less important...) ;)
If your sister isn't coming,
I agree with grover's first post
but not his second.
Actually, web tech folk, when this page first loaded for me g's sigline had its old purple font. Now it doesn't. I mention this b/c the other multipost oddity I saw recently was a shippee post...who also uses a colored font sig line.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 7, 2007 8:31 PM PST up reply actions
the prophecies of nostradamus!
Actually, it is well-known that Nostradamus wrote extensively about the Oakland A's.
For instance:
Volcanic fire from the center of the earth
will cause trembling around the new city:
Two great rocks will make war for a long time.
Then Arethusa will redden a new river. (C1Q87)
This clearly refers to Kotsay (center of the earth) having bloody, painful surgery (volcanic fire) which caused great distress (trembling) around the East Bay (the new city). He further goes on to prophecize that the A's and Angels (two great rocks) will be rivals for a long time until Ron Washington (Arethusa) will go to the Red River area (near Arlington, hence the Rangers).
That guy knew his stuff.
He further writes:
The sterile synagogue without any fruit,
will be received by the infidels,
the daughter of the persecuted (man) of Babylon,
miserable and sad, they will clip her wings. (C8Q96)
meaning, that AN (synagogue) without Apricot's regular posting (fruit) will become popular with a wide new audience (infidels) and that either Jennifer or Sharon (hard to tell which) will get bummed out and lose their internet access. Sad, really.
Somewhere
FoolshGame22 is smiling. Or preparing a diary explaining why we should trade for Byrnes.
I've shown remarkable restraint...
have I not? ;-) For all the pounding I took from smug ANer's when I suggested dumping Kotsay in 2005, they all know I've been proven correct in my assessment. So, there is really no longer any joy in rubbing it in. Yes, Kotsay probably won't play the first half of this year (if at all) and the A's will pay him $7 million. Yes, Byrnes played a better defensive centerfield by every defensive metric last year. Yes, Byrnes will hit another 25 or 26 homers and steal another 25 bases this year at only $4.5 million, but, hey, Kotsay's grit and leadership is worth something, no?
Right there with you bro...
what I really want to know is what Beane was offered back at the trading deadline for Kotsay? I know the Yankees were desperate for a CF at the time and we said to be offering Wang or Cano but that Beane was holding out for both. I could have lived keeping Kotsay for the playoff push in 2005 (which ended up failing) but signing him to that extension, given his creaky back, was probably the dumbest move Beane has made - yes, even dumber than signing Rhodes to be a closer.
by Miggy on Mar 8, 2007 10:58 AM PST up reply actions
Good
Even if you're being generous, Kotsay was mediocre last year, and he was arguably mediocre the year before. Goleski doesn't figure to do much, but at least now we have a spot to save him on the bench with, and this opens up spots for Stewart/Johnson to get time, which I believe will be more productive than any combination featuring Kotsay would've been.
Just a shame we're still on the hook with him for two more years and a load of cash. Man I can't wait til he and Kendall are off the books now. (Which isn't to say I don't like either player. Kotsay had great moments for us and I like him a lot, and, well, I like Kendall a lot too. But they're hugely overpaid, not terribly productive and counted on to be productive with a lot of playing time, which is a pretty poisonous combination.)
Hopefully
Surgery will temporarily give Kotsay more flexibility in that area and allow him to regain some of his healthy glory and play out his contract. Most people I've known who have had back surgeries tend to do well for a year or two and then end up hurting again.
by BlameChannel53 on Mar 7, 2007 8:57 PM PST up reply actions
Continuing on,
Let the Era of Travis Buck begin!
All part of the plan...
Instead of witnessing his team's usual/perennial/inevitable struggles in April and May, Kotsay is gonna sit until June when the A's want to start playing baseball again.
You sly fox, Kotsay!
I'm not going to lie
even though his marginal utility isn't much higher than what he'd be used as this season, I'd like to see Marshall stick around as well as Goleski. But realistically, with Barton and Buck throwing their names in for consideration this spring and with the Witasick/Halsey/Windsor dilemma, the roster will probably shake out as follows:
For sure (21):
Kendall
Piazza
Melhuse
Ellis
Scutaro
Crosby
Chavez
Perez
Bradley
Swisher
Stewart
Harden
Haren
Loaiza
Blanton
Kennedy
Street
Duchscherer
Calero
Embree
Gaudin
DL (2):
Kotsay
Kielty
On the bubble (8):
Johnson
Durazo
Barton
Buck
Halsey
Witasick
Goleski
Marshall
So there are 4 spots left, and a backup outfielder is still needed, if not two. If I had to guess, the last 4 spots will go as follows:
Johnson: He's out of options and equal value will not be received in any kind of trade.
Goleski: #1 Rule V pick, he'll make the team with the lack of outfielders.
Witasick: Guaranteed contract, throws hard.
Durazo/Buck: It's a tradeoff here. Buck can go back to the minors if he makes the team, but you start his arby clock. Durazo doesn't have an arby clock but affords the team less flexibility. Having Buck on the roster also means that Swish is going to be switching positions on a more regular basis, if Garen cares about this. My choice? Buck
It hurts to see Marshall go, but it happens. So the 25 man looks like this:
C1 Kendall
C2 Melhuse
C3 Piazza
1B Johnson
2B Ellis
SS Crosby
SS Scutaro
3B Chavez
3B Perez
LF Stewart
LF Goleski
CF Bradley
RF Swisher
RF Buck
SP Harden
SP Haren
SP Loaiza
SP Blanton
SP Kennedy
RP Witasick
RP Gaudin
RP Embree
RP Calero
RP Duchscherer
CL Street
let's see how many ANers
have the typing skills necessary to write down the entire 25 man roster.
go!
I won't be back on AN til
the 2008. Decided to finally get all my fingers fixed, the bones replaced by graphite implants.
I'm very sorry to hear this
Kotsay has always impressed me as one of the smartest players we have, with excellent baseball instincts.
I understand where everyone's coming from about wishing he's had the surgery in November, but we don't have access to his medical records and the advice of the various docs he's consulted. I don't know much about back problems and thankfully have not experienced them myself, but what I've consistently heard is that they're very tricky to fix. Surgery can make the condition different -- not necessarily better. The decision to go ahead with the surgery might not be based on assurances of a good outcome but rather the lack of any other options.
I really hope that the surgery is a success and that Mark is back on the field playing without pain in the second half. But we have to consider the possibility that this is a career-ending decision he's made.
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