How about a lively debate on the A's All-Star selection?
by OptimistPrime on May 26, 2008 4:54 PM PDT
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Here we are on the edge of summer and with Major League Baseball starting to rev up the All-Star game marketing machine, I was wondering who would get the nod as our lone All-Star representative.
I am assuming it is safe to say no one from the team is going to get voted into the game. I would also assume it is a safe bet that it means a pitcher would get selected by the American League manager.
Who do you think would/should get selected from the A's at this point? Has anyone stood out more statistically?
Personally, I don't think anyone of our position players has captured the imagination of the baseball world. I would love to see Ellis get recognized, as he is perennially one of the best gloves in the game, but he is not setting the world on fire this year with his bat, as he has in the past. Emil has cooled off in the RBI dept.
Street is having a resurgence of late, but a slow and unimpressive start to the season plus the dominance of other closers would probably keep him from consideration. Duke with his near no-no...Harden if he stays healthy...Smith?
I would have to say, if it were my choice and it had to be made today, I would probably take Harden. If he can stay healthy and make all his starts between now and the end of June, with the consistent dominance he has displayed of late, it is an easy choice. If he characteristically goes down between now and then, perhaps Duke? Shame about Santiago Casilla. If he had stayed healthy I think it would have been great to see him in the game.
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Lets look at it.
From out offense, who is actually having a good year?
Frank Thomas? He’s been good with the A’s, but his OPS is still about .800 for the year.
Jack Cust? Probably our best bet on offense, but his low average will cost him as will his K totals and low (for him) HR totals.
No one else really deserves mention, really.
As for the Pitching, thats a different matter.
Eliminating the Bullpen, which only really Closers get picked, and Street doesn’t have the eye-popping stats to make it, that leaves the Rotation. The setup guys won’t get picked because they’d only make it in the event there was no standout in the rotation, but we do have some.
So we have Harden, Duchscherer, Eveland and Smith as possible All Star candidates. I doubt Harden will be chosen, and if he is, the A’s will make him withdraw due to the very real injury risk.
That leaves Duchscherer (already an All Star once, but no appearance), Eveland and Smith. There is a nice chance that all or two of the three could be chosen, but since the All Star game usually avoids Rookies and goes with Veterans, I’m pretty confident that, barring the A’s making him back out of it, Duchscherer will be our rep for the All Star Game.
And if he doesn’t completly bomb by then, I think its fair to say that Cliff Lee will be the Starter for the All Star Game.
francona picked Duke last time
And the one hitter was against the Red Socks (they’re the ones who spell it wrong).
Joey Devine
perhaps?
"Never in your wildest alcoholic dreams could you conjure up a game like this!" Ken Korach
by jackcustismyhero32 on May 26, 2008 5:22 PM PDT reply actions
Looking at the stats for pitchers thus far, its really amazing how many have such low ERAs. Is it because they are doing well, or because the hitters have sucked?
There are 8 starters with a 3.00 ERA or lower, 27 (with Blanton being the last) with an ERA under 4.00. And you have to go to 40 to find a pitcher with a 5.00 ERA.
Last year, no pitcher had an ERA 3.00 or Under, 21 had under 4.00 (with Blanton being the last) and the 33rd pitcher had an ERA over 5.00.
How bout this stat?
Of the 13 pitchers on our roster to pitch more than 9 innings for us this season, 12 have ERA’s under 4.00 (with Blanton being the last). Embree is at 4.15.
"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton
Howbout ERIC CHAVEZ...
he’s actually on the ballot. The system is so flawed and biased it’s not even fair. Anyhow, I was thinking it was going to be Casilla for sure, but thats not happening. I would probably say Smith now, but the A’s may not be crazy about sending a rookie out there. Who knows at this point we still have over a month for things to shake up. One thing I do know is that Harden is the last guy we need to send out there…
What about Barry?
"Barry who?" Forst said, and I felt like I was in the middle of a knock-knock joke.
It's rather amazing to think that we're
1.5 games out of first place (1 in the loss column) and there’s no one who seems like a very logical ASG selection. Partly that’s because two starters and one reliever with great stats (Harden, Duke, Casilla) have missed time with injury, but it’s still remarkable to be that competitive and have no one stand out as making particular sense.
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
Seems to me that every starter in our rotation is a legit AS candidate ...
so are Devine, Brown and Street …
If they played for the Red Sox or Yankees, Duke, one out of Eveland and Smith, Devine and Harden (if he stays healthy and pitches well through the selection date) would all be All-Stars.
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
WPA weighs in...
Santiago Casilla, by a hair over Dana Eveland. Cust is a somewhat distant 3rd, and Huston Street a surprising 4th.
I could see either Casilla or Eveland getting the nod, really.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
I don't see Casilla being considered
if he doesn’t pitch between now and when selections have to be made.
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
Casilla has no shot
They won’t take a non-closer unless he’s a) really, really good, b) has pitched in 30+ games and c) is from a high-profile team, or d) his team has no other good choices. casilla goes only 1-4 on that list
True - he is right up there for the league's lead in OBP
Of course over the next two weeks he could go 38/50 with 30 HRs or 2/50 with 30 Ks.
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
Wow
I think this is actually close to a no-brainer.
It will be whichever of the two lefties has the more compelling stats by the end of June.
Plus Harden if he keeps it up. But the lack of innings for both him and Duke makes it unlikely that they will get chosen. And with all the impressive numbers as Zonis indicates plus the one player to a team requirement it’s a stretch to see two pitchers from one team. Obviously no position player is close to qualifying—Thomas and Cust have very outside shots if they stay hot.
but I think that the overall body of work being amassed by Eveland and Smith will make them the likeliest choices.
Smith or Eveland are my Choices
Frankly, I think the whole All-Star selection process is a crock of sh*t- the selection process will always be dominated by the strong East Coast teams and most fans are too ignorant of anyone other than the “Stars” to pick anyone but the usual bunch. That said, since we small market fans have one annual selection- my vote would go to either Greg Smith or Dana Eveland. For rookie pitchers to do so well , I think both would deserve All-Star nods, ignoring their win-loss record of course, which they have no control over.
The greenmachine
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