Fair enough, I'd say. All the guys above just aren't very good. It's not as if they aren't making the effort. It's just that they aren't very good.

Kendall, even those numbers the past couple of years didn't justify the salary.  And quite frankly, the complete lack of power and frequency of weak ABs doesn't justify his game calling.  Mr. DP has had some nice moments sure, but shoving your face into the plate may get you a round of applause but it hardly makes up for the craptastic offense.  For most of the season he had the worst offensive numbers in all of baseball.  Seriously.  That's not easy to do, but he did it while making the most money on the team.

Crosby has nearly three full years of experience at the major league level by ABs (nearly the same as Swisher).  Yes, it's been broken up a bit by injuries, but that actually counts against him in my book.  Now that Mr. Glass "Bones" is healthy he's showing poor plate discipline and a futile unwillingness to make adjustments all of which make his ABs frequently predictable... frequently bad.  If there were a better option, he'd be gone by now.  Luckily for him, there hasn't been.

Kotsay I partially agree with.  He's been slowly getting worse each year after a great first year.  Mostly this is because of injuries, but the problem is he's reaching an age where it's difficult to separate the decline from age versus a decline from being out for so long.  Odds are it's as much, if not more so, the former than the latter.

Chavez I mostly agree with you on.  My only problem with him is there seems to a lack of life with him.  I'm not talking about being a fiery personality, I just want to see some energy and right now he's just going through the motions.  But that's a consistent problem all across the board for the team.

Swisher is getting slack because he's still one of the best offensive performers on a this ridiculously poor offensive team.  Third in homers, first in RBIs, solid OBP & OPS.  He's a had a horrible July and following a poor June.  No denying that.  But based on everything we've seen from Swisher this is simply a slump.

Most of these players could easily be ignored if the offensive as a whole was performing

Let's not forget that in the Kendall deal we unloaded two pitchers who are so bad that they are no longer even contributing and together were making even more than Kendall, Rhodes (60-day DL) and Redman (0-4 11.63 ERA).  We were able to get rid of these guys AND get Pittsburgh to pick up a chunk of Kendall's contract which they, not the A's, gave him.  All in all still a great deal all things considered.

I disagree with you a bit about the Crosby injuries, many of them were quite flukey and having consistent ab's is how you really get going at the plate (albeit he has done nothing to prove that this year).  Like I said I am 100% certain the A's will do something about this in the offseason, in the meantime try and hit your way out Crosby, because there are no other viable options at SS.

Your problem with Chavez is the problem I think a lot of people have with Chavez and that is the visibility and/or physicality of his emotions.  I addressed this in the original diary but that is just not the way he operates.  That may work for you and me and other guys on the team (Swisher) but it simply is not how he lives as a person.  I don't blame him and I think as I said earlier the unassuming leadership IS reacted to by the other players.  Let's also remember he has a young son who doesn't need to see his dad on tv throwing the bat after a strikeout or cussing out the ump after a call.  Plain and simple that isn't how Chavez does business.

I completely agree with your final statement:
"Most of these players could easily be ignored if the offensive as a whole was performing"

is that he's the best hitter on the team, and everyone knows it. It's not just "potential" with him-- he hit 36 home runs last season. You don't do that by accident. No question his "junior slump" is troubling-- he seems to be trying too hard. I've never seen someone swing so hard he falls over as often as Swisher does. I think he'll eventually realize that we don't expect him to hit a home run every time he goes up there, and start doing a lot better.

Chavez is an enigma as ever, but his power hasn't evaporated. As long as that's the case, he'll be a valuable contributor, even if it's from the lower third of the lineup.

Kotsay is a guy who's clearly on the downslope. He can still contribute, but Chris Denorfia will have that job by next spring.

The other two are not defensible. Kendall hasn't gotten nearly enough criticism for "calling bad games" when the A's lose big, and his offense has been unquestionably the worst in the majors. The A's could designate him for assignment tomorrow, call up J.D. Closser (I'd say Jeremy Brown but they seem to be converting him to a corner infielder, which makes a lot of sense) and be a better team. Not "as good." Better. His value is actively negative.

As for Crosby, I've already discussed him at length (see "The Crosby Paradox") and concluded that he needs a total overhaul to have any chance of success.

At some level I'm quite guilty of being down on the usual suspects, as noted above.

However, I think the big frustration with Kendall and Chavez and Crosby isn't so much that they can't hit so much as it is that every at bat seems exactly like the last at bat.  Crosby is probably the most obvious suspect here.  Yes, it's just his second full season, but, guess what Bobby?, here comes a breaking ball three inches outside!  You might want to, you know, stand closer to the plate, or maybe shorten your swing, or maybe take it to right ... or maybe swing like a banshee for strike three and hit .215 this year.  Kendall's the same way - giving every indication his goal in most ABs is a weak fly to right - unless there's a runner on, in which case he looks like he's trying to hit a ground ball to the second baseman.  Hey, Jason, you have to swing harder than that, because the outfielders and now 175 feel from home plate.  

But there are just no adjustments whatsoever, so you don't even get the sense that there's hope.  That's where the frustration comes from, I think.  

I dont care how they got there contract at the time or wheather it was worth it at the time. Or how they did 2 years ago.  I think all our pitchers are worth the money with the exeption of Loiza, but Postion players that are WORTH the salary they are getting paid today:

Swisher- worth every penny
Stewart- too bad we didnt sign him for 3 years at 3m
Ellis- just about maxed out on Salary vrs. value
Johnson-Avg player at bargin price.Still worth it
as a backup, platoon player or pinch hitter

Buck-does anyone have anything bad to say?
Cust-gold mine of value and why Piazza is notplaying
Susuki and any other rookies- all good
Scuturo- worth it as a capable backup at two postions and his "clutch"

NOT worth it

Crosby- would be worth it at league min as a backup with potential, but not any more at this point
Kotsay- we overpaid him for 3 years why?
Kendall- if a player could be worth money NOT to play he would be on top of that list
Piazza- still worth it to another team but not us
Kielty- worth league min but don't know if he has much potential at this point for the money.

jurys out- Chavez.  he does have 15 hr and 46 rbi's and plays + defense. all his negative's are bad, but his contract is cheap comparitavly and He is still worth it in my book.

So rather than working on getting rid of guys or bashing guys who ARE worth it: Johnson, Chavez.  
Lets DFA, trade, bench or talk shit about guys who are NOT: Crosby, Kotsay, Kendall, Piazza, Keilty.