Especially with the Braden for Foulke Scenario. Of course, the pen would/should improve dramatically with Devine back, but you mentioned in another thread that he had a set back. Do you know the extent? I haven’t been able to find any reports on that.

from one of the two or three best relievers so far this year to being worthy of an outright release.

Geren doesn’t know how to utilize one lefty properly. Two would be an utter disaster. If anybody should be released, it’s Embree. Why do people refuse to accept that he’s been quite a bit worse than Foulke this year?

As for LOOGYs, Marshall would be much more effective in that role. He was lights out at Midland, and his L/R splits at Sacramento (as of a week ago, the last time I looked) are a sign that he can get lefties out. But, again, Geren isn’t the type of manager who is capable of using a bullpen in this way.

I do think Ziggy should be the set-up guy though, at least until he starts giving up runs.

I think just about everyone here has given KF more than enough chances to show that he has something left. I think, now, it should be fairly obvious that he is finished. Nothing personal against the guy because I was rooting for him when he made the team this spring. Maybe the A’s could ask him if he wants to be released and see if he can catch on with another team instead of DFA?

Unless there is a place for him in the organization as an instructor of some sort. I think Foulke would prefer an outright release than hang around in limbo. He’s a pro and I like the way he conducts himself but it is definitely time for him to step aside. Another lefty would be good, so I’m in favor of bringing up Braden or Blevins.

Happy 4th to all! Go A’s!

My Yahoo fantasy sports news update just said Borowski was DFA’d. I wonder if it would be worth it giving him a shot as middle reliever or set up guy on this team? The guy’s career stats are basically a roller coaster, so there really is no way to predict what we’d get, but maybe he could be an option for a couple weeks until we get Devine back and Casilla can prove he can go an inning with giving up a HR.

Ideally, it would be Casilla if he can get his command back.

Generally speaking Ziggy is the second best option, but I would believe in the split more than you do. First of all, I recall that he struggled somewhat against them last year. Second, they’ve been hitting line drives off of him a lot more often as opposed to choppers RHHs hit and he’s gotten a tad lucky with those line drives. Third, pretty much every sidearmer from either side struggles against the opposite handed hitter. Chad Bradford, for example, has been a terrible pitcher against LHHs for his career, and his stats (and pitches) are remarkably similar to Ziggy’s in every other way. As such, in each game, I would put Ziggy in in innings with mostly righties and Embree in against innings where it’s mostly lefties, regardless of the order. I would bet that Embree has more success against LHHs than Ziggy going forward.

I also don’t think the way he’s being used now is the end of the world at all. If they need 3-4 innings of relief when ahead, then for one thing you need good performances in all of those innings and the order doesn’t matter that much. For another thing, the potential overuse of the best guys in earlier innings is counterbalanced by the fact that being more sure of shutting down the other team in innings 6-7 while ahead leads to better scoring opportunities for the A’s because they’ll face worse relievers from the other teams, which will a lot of times provide a margin of error for the later guys.

I also appreciate that you wrote ”...you have a 39.1 inning sample” instead of “sample size.”

According to SportsTicker

Lefties .324 (33/102), righties .174 (32/184)... I think that’s AA & AAA combined (50 games, 78 1/3 IP).

(Thanks, A’s Media Guide.)

while Foulke makes me a little tender, Embree puts me in as much distress as Rincon used to but not quite into the complete Billy Koch mode. Embree throws hard but very strait and has a not so nice habit of squaring up to the bat rather well. Someone can do just about as well as he does and gain experience for future benefit as well.

I agree that your ideas of bullpen restructuring would better suite the A’s currently.

Hopefully Devine keeps progressing. Devine / Ziegler / Casilla / Brown for 7th/8th innings, Street for the 9th, Gaudin / Blevins for long man duties / 6th inning…. Embree traded, Foulke released.

Chad Gaudin is good at baseball, so why not pitch him more often, and in higher leverage situations?

I feel bad for Gaudin. He deserves better than what he’s getting from the A’s this year. If I were a GM of a pitching thin team (read: most of them), I’d steal that guy in a heartbeat.