...that I have just set up Bobby Crosby to be the AL MVP, yeah?

in the other thread, but in the end Rene Descartes said it best:

                               Crosbito ergo suck

.

but.

"Bobby Crosby, even during his healthy year(s), didn’t show even a flash of this quality"

Isnt quite true. In 2005 after he came back in June he was hitting above 300 for a good 2 months. He got hurt again late in August and wasnt heard from again since then. But he has good for those two months.

I want to write like bbg.

good stuff.

This is a tough one for me, because I'll support a player unless he's flat-out dogging it (not to suggest that Crosby doesn't have your support, bbg).

At the same time I've cringed way too many times when Crosby has strolled to the plate in a critical spot of a game. Then again I've done the same with Senor Glove de Oro.

While I agree that a healthy Harden outdistances a healthy Crosby, and is more important to our overall success, I'd like to reserve judgement until BC can actually get in a full (for him) season.

Let's not forget what injuries can do to a player's confidence also. And surely Crosby knows what's being said about him; that can't help either.

Some players have the makeup to rise above such things. It doesn't appear that Crosby is one of them.

in the poll.  Doesn't sound real.

guys who look like they've got all the tools but somehow just never seem to be able to put it all together. I think maybe Crosby's major league lineage and all the support from the A's organization may be working against him, making him feel like he's destined to do well, instead of like a guy who's got to scratch and claw to hold onto his job. And remember this about about Geren and the orginization, if they ever publically give up on him he'll have no trade value at all, even though it's not like he has much now.

if anyone, in that probably no front page writer has been as negative about Crosby's past, present, and future as I have been. But I stand by the analysis because 1-2 good months scattered in among failure does not warrant a lot of praise or hope. Remember Kevin Maas? I didn't think so. How 'bout that Colby Lewis retiring 24 in a row? Uh-huh.

Crosby is a poor hitter with poor mechanics and a complete inability to adjust. As a result he consistently hits between .230-.245 with a putrid OBP. The guy's a good fielder. Unfair?

True, he has had high expectations and failed to deliver.  His defensive lapses to start last season combined with the spiking when he was turning it around at the plate definitely was the last straw for much of AN.  His inability to hit the ball all over the field or adjust to where he's pitched is a problem.  But, I do believe he's a team player.  We were devoid of power last year, and he clearly didn't want to adjust his approach.  You would think that Ty would teach the situational hitting, but for whatever reason, we never saw the results.
Would he benefit from a change a scenery?  Luckily, he didn't have to change teams in order to get it.  I still see talent to explode at 28.  Will new strength coach preach flexibility and will he develop a veteran savvy to not hurt himself on the field?  (Not sacrificing his bare hand, adjust his stride beating out a throw to first, swinging too hard).  In the post-steroid era, his 20 HR power at SS could be enough to scratch out a decent career even at a lowly .240 BA.

You know, with all of Crosby's "Free-Time" over the past 3+ Seasons, you would think that he might learn something just by watching.  But he hasn't.

During the Angels series last year (When his hand/wrist was broken), I noticed he was FINALLY standing closer to the plate.  He also layed down a nice bunt to get something started.  It was great to see.

So, while most baseball players are making adjustments on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. Crosby makes an adjustment every 1600+ Plate Appearances, and 490+ Games.    

{sobs profusely}

{posts to youtube}

I wondered what Billy Beane was using for an AN handle.

I don't think he's hot, either.

I don't blame Urban for being wrong. Most of what you say about Ellis applies to Urban as well. He might not be as adorable, but he too is

an unreliable witness. What is he supposed to say? "You know, Crosby kind of sucks at the plate"?

Mychael Urban works for mlb.com. It's his job to talk up the team. On occasion when he does speak his mind more openly, like when he said whatever it was on KNBR that got him into trouble, he gets smacked down and they take away his column until he remembers his place.

Some people here might hold that against him, thinking he ought to stand up to the man and not be pressured by his employer to write pap. I don't agree. Writing pap is his job. There's lots and lots of places to find a more critical perspective, but Urban writes for "The Official Site of the Oakland Athletics", where such criticism would be inappropriate. Urban shouldn't tell the truth about Crosby any more than Geren should.

damn pitchers?  They throw that ball too fast!  Slow down, he's just a boy!!!

The longest strech he has played between injuries?

It seems like he is always been on the mend..  How are you supposed to develope when your just trying to get healthy all of the time?

Because even in his healthy, "good" Rookie-of-the-Year season, he wasn't actually very good. He certainly shouldn't have won the ROY that year.

He was decent but not world-beating in the minors (and he was never exactly playing with older competition). He won the ROY in a weak rookie class when he wasn't the best player anyway. He has horrible plate patience and discipline. He can't hit anything that doesn't travel on a relatively straight trajectory. He's an ok defensive player, but not good enough to justify being one of the worst offensive regulars in the entire sport.

It's not that he was hurt/bad last year that makes me think Crosby is a turd. I've never seen anything from him to suggest he's any more than one of the 5 worst starting shortstops in the game. He's in Izturis' world, and that's a very bad place to be.

Nobody can convince me that starting Donnie Murphy at short everyday in 2008 would be a worse idea than having another go around with Crosby. Murphy has been almost as productive in his minor league time, is just as good defensively, and he hasn't failed so horribly in the Majors over half a decade.

I expect the players and manager to defend Crosby. I'd actually be upset if they bashed a teammate to the media. But that doesn't mean the guy isn't a complete waste of space on a 25-man roster.

that when all is said and done, Marco Scutaro will have had a better career than Crosby.  I stand by that assertion.

I think Crosby is more talented (by quite a bit), but less diligent, passionate and intelligent than Scutaro -- hence his failure.  And unfortunately, those aren't usually things that change.

That said, I would LOVE to see Crosby make me look like a complete fool on this one. I'd be happy to break my vegetarian diet to eat this crow.

"overrated", "undisciplined", and "for-the-love-of-everything-sacred-and-holy-in-the-game-of-baseball-should-not-be-batting-third" ?

This entire post is a thinly veiled attack on me, isn't it?

I dunno if it's just me, but last season he seem like the player I remembered.  He has always had a long, slightly uppercut swing in the past, but last season I think he tried to change his swing too much and lost confidence.  It seemed like he was trying to go the other way too much and lost the feel for his swing.  I hope he fixed over the offseason, so that he doesn't have to think about his swing anymore.  Thinking might not be his strong point...
I could be totally wrong on this, I'm slightly questioning these distant memories.

is tomorrow.  Don't think its Nico...too bad, tough act to follow....hard to go wrong with a Crosby thread! always a crowd pleaser.  Heck even Rick down at Tatsuda's market this evening was chattin it up.

1.)  i am a charter member of the a's could do without bobby crosby club anti-fan club.

2.)  if bobby crosby weren't signed to a long term deal, would he be on the a's?  i think the answer is no.

3.)  the hot streak that bobby crosby had in june 2005 was during interleague play.  he was playing against teams that didn't know his weakness...the slider.  as soon as he went back to playing against the american league, he sucked again.

4.)  great work by bbg.