DLD 1/4/2008 - Nizzle Swizzle ChiSizzle
by JediLeroy on Jan 4, 2008 10:14 AM PST
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PrintIn case you haven't heard, Nick Swisher was traded to the White Sox for three minor leaguers, two of which seem to have quite a bit of potential.
Some are happy.
Poppy, not so much.
The players are showing an extraordinary amount of trust in Beane.
When I heard about it, my jaw kind of dropped," A's closer Huston Street said. "But I think it sends a pretty clear message of the direction Billy's going in. To echo something (Eric) Chavez said before, I think we all trust Billy."
...trading the 27-year-old Swisher, who signed a long-term contract in May that could have kept him in Oakland through 2012, wasn't in the plans. That is, until White Sox G.M. Ken Williams began pushing hard for Swisher two weeks ago.
It's a risky move, but it could pay off in the long run.
Only the future will determine whether these were the nine right players, and for the sake of this team's future, they better be. Beane does not get a free pass on this one, not after creating the prospect of a desolate summer and anger among the few remaining faithful.
The old TINSTAAPP idea comes to mind.
Although there are a few categories of pitching prospects — particularly guys with good stuff, high strikeout rates and highish walk rates (think Homer Bailey) — that tend to improve more often than not, in general there is no systematic pattern of improvement after the age of 21 or so. Sometimes guys get better, of course, and sometimes they do so in a hurry — but you can’t take a young pitcher in a vacuum and expect him to improve the same way that you can for a hitting prospect.
Oh, and monkeys pay for sex.
Market forces also acted on the value of the transaction.
If there were several females in the area, the cost of buying sex would drop dramatically -- a male could "buy" a female for just eight minutes of nit-picking.
Monkeys get sex for nitpicking and I get to sleep on the couch. So unfair!
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Eric Chavez funnies.
From the SF Chron, via Rotoworld:
"I told Billy [Beane], 'I know what you're doing, if you want to move me, do what you have to do,'" Chavez said. "It's motivation to get healthy, play well and then see what happens. To be honest, with everything that's going on, there's probably no reason for me to stay around, it doesn't add up with what's happening." Chavez is signed through 2010 at an average of $11.5 million per season.
Chavez really doesn't get what Billy is doing at all. Beane is 'selling high/buying low'. In order for him to sell Chavez now, after three seasons of growing suckitude, he'd have to be 'selling uber-low/buying screw-all nothing in return'.
Choadvez continues:
"If [Barry Bonds is] in uniform next year, there's a 90 percent chance it will be with the Oakland A's," Chavez said. "It will be old, broken-down guys, me, [Mark] Kotsay and Barry, and a bunch of 19-year-olds."
I think my prediction is far more likely: that Beane will hope Chavez hits .270 in spring training and will then trade him for whatever he can get, knowing full well that his value will go down with every month (and drop in stats) that passes.
If Chavez doesn't come out of the blocks strongly, then we'll be stuck with him all year, as Beane hopes for a short spurt of form following the All-Star break so that he can finally lose him.
Of course, he might also return to form of year's gone by... but with no lineup protection AT ALL, do you really think that's likely?
Ellis was also quoted
in an earlier article as saying 2008 wasn't going to be much fun for him....wouldn't surprise me if he was also hoping to get traded.
finally found Ellis' comments
"I only have one more year on my contract," second baseman Mark Ellis said. "Obviously I want to win next year. But you've got to look at it from the front office standpoint, too. They're doing what's right for the organization. But as a player with one year left on my deal, it's not a lot of fun to look at this."
From an article in the CC times on Friday January 4
Chavez's comment
is like the "I'll let you go" of phone conversations. It's not really that you're letting the other person go as much as it is that you want to go, but it sounds better than "ya, I'm bored, so I'm going to hang up now."
Chavez plays it like he's being the good team player and offering himself for trade, but in reality, he just wants to play for a competitor. Reading between the lines:
I told Billy [Beane], 'I know what you're doing, if you want to move me, [please, please, please] do what you have to do [to get me off this sinking ship],'" Chavez said.
Yeah, I almost started a diary
about how much Chavy's comments ticked me off, but it really wasn't worth it. I just can't stand that part about, "There's really no reason for me to be here." WTF kind of thing is that to say.
I wonder if EC understands at this point that fans believe the A's just traded away the "heart and soul" of the team, and that if Chavez himself had been traded, no such comments would ever have been made. Especially now.
Haven't we all said...
Three years ago, this comment would have pissed me off.
But today, I'm like, "Dude, do you seriously think anyone wants an $11.5m a year corner infield defensive replacement?"
So, you'd prefer players
who simply mouthed off the standard platitudes, then.
Chavez actually speaks his mind-- and he's usually right. It might seem like a good thing that he would desperately want to live and die an Athletic, but such situations usually (see: Bonds, Barry; Bagwell, Jeff) don't end up well in this day and age. The last thing anyone wants is another Scott Rolen situation.
I guess I'd just prefer...
that he accepted the situation that he's in. I'd prefer to see him say, "I'm looking forward to the challenge. I know I've still got a lot of work to do here," or something that shows he's still in it for the duration of what he signed on for in the first place. That's only platitude if he's lying through his teeth. His contract isn't "'till death". He's only got three years left on his contract, and hell, they could actually be fun.
To you it might be speaking his mind, but to me it sounds like he's looking for a way to weasel his way off what he thinks is a sinking ship (not to mix metaphors). When he signed his contract, there was risk accepted on both sides. Chavez sounds like he's not getting what he expected out of the deal, but doesn't sound like he understands that he's not the only one.
I'd say "ferreting,"
since many ships actually carried ferrets to hunt rats, but that's somewhat beside the point.
I suppose that if many players said that, it would basically be code language for "get me the f*** out of here"-- but Chavez is, as I said, someone who speaks his mind honestly. I think that if he was asking the team for a trade, he'd have said so.
Chavez has a full no-trade clause impending. As of September 1 of next season, he'll be a 10 and 5 player. I think this was just him telling Beane "Look, don't feel like you have to deal me now because I'm going to have a full NTC soon. I'll waive it if you need me to." It might even have the perverse effect of causing him to remain in Oakland longer than he would if he was determined to stay if at all possible.
Lineup Protection: The Myth That Wouldn't Die
There are plenty of reasons to think Chavez will not return to prior form. The shoulder surgery... the OTHER shoulder surgery... the back surgery...
The performance of other hitters in the lineup is not one of them. Heck, if anything, it might improve his hitting. Chavez has the most trouble dealing with guys who just attack him with high fastballs. If people are pitching around him, he might end up with BETTER hitting numbers.
But I really don't think the change from Cust to Ellis hitting behind him is going to make any difference either way.
You're right on the last bit.
Man,
Poseidon or whoever sure didn't like this trade, going by the weather.
Got to go with
Ernest Borgnine and Shelley Winters.
Now I'm going to be humming a Maureen McGovern song for the rest of the day.
Chavez wisdom
I don't pay much attention to Chavez quotes much, as he doesn't have much of a track record on saying anything helpful, but this is a head scratcher.
I really feel, no skickering in the back, that Beane and his player loyalists are sandbagging. I think they can compete in 2008 (based on Beane comments in the past that he doesn't like to not compete in any given year for the sake of rebuilding) with what is essentially a core group of veterans from 2005-06.
This must also play into a strategy which, after the Swisher and Haren deals, must have every organization in Baseball ringing Beane and Forst this week offering up the most fanciful deals...but they're coming to us. And the next couple deals just might involve major league talent.
Eric Chavez
making comments there folks. I don't know who would be willing to trade for him, Milwaukee perhaps?
Makes alot of sense to me...
Milwaukee is looking for a solid 3B or LF....namely left handed, good defense, solid OBP and power a plus. Sounds like a perfect fit. He would fit nicely going to the NL hitting 5th behind Braun lets say (Fielder/Braun/Chavez). They are willing to put Braun and his horrid defense in LF for the right 3B. Wouldn't need to be the main guy or even 2nd best hitter, team is ready to take the next step in a weak division...
Now what would the A's require for him? His salary is reasonable, even for the Brewers. Maybe the A's chip in a small amount for 08' and maybe 09'. Brewers will NOT trade Hart, Weeks, Hardy or Gallardo so no pipe dreams. Melvin has done a very good job in Milwaukee and isn't a fool. I'd say along with taking the entire contract or most of it, getting Manny Parra(or Villenueva) and Chris Capuano would be a good start with a prospect thrown in. Both are middle rotation guys and after all, we need someone to pitch for us in 2008. Cappy can rebound and by mid-season or next winter, flip him to another team if he regains his value.
After all, it sounds like the Brewers had serious interest in Rolen, why not Chavez?
Capuano is hurt
The guy was throwing 83MPH cheese by the end of last season.
There's no way on the planet the A's should go anywhere near that.
Just like Chavez
No one should go near him, with 3 surgeries....some risk involved for both sides.
Last I saw Cappy pitch he was doing more than 83mph, IIRC his last outing was a pretty decent one. No question he had some issues last season that Maddux adn co. couldn't figure out. I still expect him to bounce back to being a solid starter assuming there isn't a lingering injury issue.
Doesn't he have a no-trade clause for Milwaukee?
I know he sounds like he'd waive it, but still.
He does...
But this isn't the Brewers of spring 2004 when he signed the extension. I'm sure he thinks as highly of Milwaukee as playing in Moscow but I'm also pretty sure he misses watching Kendall hit double play grounders.
Its a great fit for the Brewers, at least. Only thing for them is they project LaPorta to be their LF by sometime in 09', so not sure where that would leave Braun, Chavez, etc. I'm not so sure their posturing for an OF is partly to motivate Braun to get his butt in gear defensively at 3B too.
I realize why most teams are avoiding Bonds like the plague but Bonds is a perfect fit for the Brewers. 1 year contract, lefty with OBP, left fielder...c'mon Brewers! As a Brewer fan 2nd to the A's, I can only imagine a 3-4-5 of Fielder/Braun/Bonds in the NL.
And as someone who hates Milwaukee with passion
But why
Any reason to hate the Cream City? Its not all that bad.
It's all Selig-based.
didn't Swish also recently buy a house in the EB?
I know Haren and his wife bought a house here, but I have a vague recollection that Swish just did too.....man, hopefully they can rent it out to current players (who are they?), because trying to sell a house in this market sucks....
Oh, and by the way, can someone turn the rain off?
It always seem to me
The Chavez doesn't like high pressure situations so I have two trains of thought. He might be relieved that there isn't pressure to win in 08' or he could be feeling the pressure of being one of few established players on the team. I know he has had injuries but every since he became the highest pay player (besides Kendall, blah) he hasn't played very well.
Shit!
And here I've been nitpicking for free lo these many years!
I've held my tongue on the trade until now . . .
but it's now time to pour a strong shot of 200 proof truth: the trade might work out really well, or not too well at all, or somewhere in the middle.
Thank you, Joe Morgan.
Or should it be 'Captain' Morgan?
It's Raining...Iguanas!
in Florida. They're dropping from the trees like frozen oranges, but, apparently, still alive.
"We have found dozens on the bike path after a major cold snap," Robert Yero, the park manager, told the Miami Herald. "When they warm up in the sun, they come back to life."
Ah, to be cold-blooded. Maybe this is why Billy Beane lives in warm climates.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jan 4, 2008 12:40 PM PST reply actions
that wouldn't explain the shorts and high-waters
Well, that's what I said.
"He needs to stop bleeding at crime scenes if he thinks he's going to get away with it," Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said.
Break into a house, run past the TV
and right to the piggy bank.
Thats where they keep the big bucks... and the chucky cheese tokens.
That guy's mug shot
looks oddly like it came off Gameday.
Two boingboing links for monkeyball
and for all other fans of obscure movies by famous directors, and smoked meat.
- Late tonight Turner Classic Movies will air Otto Preminger's rarely seen psychadelic film "Skidoo."
- HOWTO make a trashcan meat smoker for under $50. Because real BBQ does not include tomatoes.
Thanks for the post!
I have never heard of "Skidoo" but after doing some cursory research, a late 60's psychadelic movie starring Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, Cesar Romero, Frankie Avalon, and Mickey Rooney sounds fascinating!
I'll be there...
it's awful, but fascinating
The '60s are one of my favorite Hollywood decades, because the studios were in utter turmoil and had no idea how to capture/recapture market segments. And they made a lot of really, really, really bad, gargantuan, anti-entertaining movies.
Having seen the MST3K episode...
with "Manos: Hands of Fate" (1966), I can't imagine a worse (and therefore more entertaining) film.
Just push the button, Frank
by LawDaddy on Jan 5, 2008 9:48 AM PST up reply actions
and I have *never* added tomatoes!
I do cheat with this, though. So, yes, the kludge-smoker plans will come in handy.
The funniest part
is identifying the other players around the table.
Storm impact:
The San Francisco Zoo is closed because of downed trees that pose a potential escape risk with animals.
LOL @ comment:
How about those wind gusts. It was like a blow dryer out there.
That person needs to get a new blow dryer.
Congrats!
In the 20 hours since you posted this
you've probably come to the realization that you now need to totally re-kidproof your entire home.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jan 5, 2008 4:21 PM PST up reply actions
I kidproofed my home recently
I just sprinkled dried kidsbane around the baseboards and window casings. It's kept the kids out so far, and you know how they always try to crawl inside to nest inside the walls during the rainy season.
LMAO
It could be like that movie with Kate Hudson when she thinks she is making the cirlce around herself to keep the voodoo folks away when she is really locking herself in. Maybe the kids will come in and be stuck inside!
right under the ALL INVENTORY REDUCED!!! banner
street and ellis on there, blanton is not
amateur a's kremlinologists may read something into that.
has anyone kept all the banners from the last few years?
The real need
How about a guy to teach Crosby how to hit a slider outside.
This must say alot about Doubleplay Dan Johnson's value, he can't even be a throw in a house cleaning trade.
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