Cahill Looks Shaky In Bid For Starting Job
by baseballgirl on Mar 27, 2009 9:38 PM PDT
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PrintPadres 5, A's 2
I wish I had better news for A’s fans, but I really don’t. In case you missed it, Justin Duchscherer is having exploratory surgery and will start the season on the DL. This is even worse than it appears, since they don’t know what is wrong. No timetable will be assigned until that is determined.
Trevor Cahill had the chance to secure the fifth starter spot against the Padres' relatively anemic offense in tonight’s sell-out game, but he struggled early and often, and as much as I hate to say it; he probably would be best served starting the season in Triple-A. Despite pitching a scoreless three innings to start the game, Cahill didn’t look strong; he danced around control issues, and relied on his defense to get out of the innings. His luck ran out in the fourth, as Hairston’s 3-run homerun capped off a four run Padres’ rally. His final line ended up with 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO. It was a bad start.
Blevins threw an unusual (for him) scoreless Spring Training inning, but Hairston got to Devine as well; this time a solo homerun to put the Padres up 5-0 in the sixth. That was more than enough offense with Peavy on the mound, but it is worth noting that Springer shut down the Padres in a stellar inning (0 H, 2 SO), and Edgar Gonzalez redeemed himself in his two (2 H, 0 ER, 2 SO).
Jake Peavy, fresh off his WBC stint, was practically unhittable. The A’s could only manage singles from Holliday and Sweeney in his six innings. They would only double that hit total later in the game, but they made them count; Garciaparra and Cust went back to back in the eighth for the A’s only runs.
An interesting trade proposal was mentioned in the game thread; one that I thought I’d at least put out there: package up some prospects and trade for Peavy. After tonight’s game, Cahill’s start, and the Duchscherer news, that doesn’t sound half bad.
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pitching still a strength??
Our pitching (starting & relief) is looking a lot thinner than it did two months ago. An average innings eater would be worth serious consideration. Is Blanton available?
Gaudin?
"It's better to live rich than die rich" -- The Fat Lady
I think
That our entire pitching staff needs a change of scenery. Just get everyone back to the Bay Area ASAP and hopefully they’ll rebound.
"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin
I am shocked
Just, shocked, that the A’s are entering the season with a patchwork rotation.
You, you mean, Justin Duchscherer is hurt? WHAT?!?!?!?! HOW?!?!?!
Well, at least we picked up …….. Edgar Gonzalez, to help this situation.
RagingHarden: Yeah if you get 20 starts out of me I'll be shocked. Like, I'll wreck my drawers.
Haha, lol
"I know they're the defending World Champs, but they are the whiniest team in baseball" -Rays announcers
by baseballgirl on Mar 28, 2009 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
It should be interesting watching Cahill
In a perfect world he would have time to work on harnessing his stuff in AAA, but I don’t think the A’s have that luxury.
I was watching some clips of Cahill back in the futures game and man does that fastball have som nasty movement. Hopefully he can learn to control it in the big leagues. I guess the good news is that he has shown he has the stuff to get MLB hitters, out it’s just a matter of improving his control.
Peavy said earlier in the off season that he will not accept a trade to an AL team
Chicago. Where the Dead can Vote. Where the Voters of Tomorrow are found in the Obituaries of Today.
Ask him again in May when the Padres are tanking
"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin
by Helloooo 1st on Mar 28, 2009 1:23 AM PDT up reply actions
Operating assumptions
— The A’s pitching staff is bad.
— Cahill and Anderson, if they are indeed on the team, will struggle. That’s what rookie pitchers do, especially when they’re pushed into the starting rotation before their time.
— The other starters are likely to be mediocre at best.
— There’s an excellent chance that Duchscherer never will pitch for the A’s again. If the doctors find something, he’s probably done for the year. If they don’t, he is out at least six weeks, with no solution to the problem at hand or reason to think he will be able to pitch without pain.
I'm hoping for 120 IP and a 4.50 ERA from each.
Hopefully Mazzaro and Gio can contribute as well. It’s going to be patchwork.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 27, 2009 10:37 PM PDT up reply actions
I agree 100%...
and still maintain that the A’s can’t contend unless the Angels have a surprisingly bad year.
"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." -Yogi Berra
Yeah, I heard...
"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." -Yogi Berra
What if the Angels have a not-so-surprising bad year?
At least until Lackey and Santana are back, their team looks pretty weak to me.
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
Yeah and...
What if the Mariners have a surprisingly good year? Or the Rangers? The what-if philosophy doesn’t give much comfort. We needed our GM to add some veteran pitchers and he didn’t do that . That’s a bummer.
First of all, when the dust clears I don't see the M's or Rangers
being in the hunt. Just a look at their rotations should reveal why. Also, I really think Beane didn’t add a veteran pitcher because outside of Randy Johnson, whom he pursued, there just wasn’t anyone who made sense. Mayyyyyyybe Randy Wolf would have been unbad enough, but I’m sure he wanted more than a one-year deal. Pedro is neither a sure enough bet to be unbad nor affordable enough, nor does he even wish to pitch in the AL. Sheets isn’t healthy. And other available pitchers just stink.
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
I do agree with what you are writing mostly...
but there were trades to be made out there and I do believe Beane should have been pursuing avenues that would have ended in our gaining a veteran SP. EGads! We are hanging our hats on the hope that the Angels might suck too. Sorry ass way to start the season IMO.
Yeah, if your problem is talented starters getting injured
I don’t see how Pedro, at this point in his career, is a solution. He hasn’t been dominant for a while, and he hasn’t been healthy in a while.
He’s much more likely to succeed as a later-in-the-season pickup for a good team that wants to add depth (maybe at the 5 spot or 5+ spot) in the rotation. I don’t think he’s a good candidate for a team that needs him to take the ball every 5 days, pitch into the 7th, and be consistent.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
True - I wonder who would have been the perfect target
Someone who could be counted on to pitch well for one season in the #2-#3 slot, and who wouldn’t require a big haul of minor league talent to get.
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
and again...
He didn’t have to restrict himself to a guy who would only be with us one season. If he traded young talent for a keeper then that’s not exactly mortgaging the future.
Yeah but I think by 2010,
Beane feels that (5 of) the core group of Gallagher, Cahill, Anderson, Mazzaro, Gio, Simmons, plus your pick of Braden and Eveland, will form a cheap and effective rotation preferable to paying a veteran a lot more to pitch maybe as well. That money can be better spent on position players.
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
I think he's thinking like that too.
And perhaps in my older age I am growing impatient with the “wait for __ year then we’ll be awesome” philosophy.
So bear88 are you predicting a bear market for the A's this year?
I agree with what you are saying. I think that Anderson and Cahill would be better of in AAA getting good experience for a few months and then bring them up. We have not seen the first pitch of the season yet but right now I do not see playoffs.
I'm not making predictions yet
but I am not optimistic.
I don’t see the A’s as a .500 team.
Wacky idea that just occurred to me...
I’m not saying I support this, but what if we give Ryan Webb the 5th starter spot for a month? That way, we don’t need to waste a 40-man spot, and we can save Cahill’s service time. Given the other options, could Webb be much worse? Just throwing it out there…
not a bad idea
i really doubt that cahill would be a significant improvement over webb. i can’t believe this team hopes to make the playoffs.
"True fact: In a global thermonuclear war, the only human who would survive would be David Eckstein" -PT
realistic view-- interesting but not great
This time of year I’m usually optomistic about the A’s chances to compete. Seriously looking at the team it’s very unlikely this young group of starters will be consistant enough to do better than .500. At this point no scrub vets as late additiion starters can rescue the season so the A’s might as well break in youngsters. It’s a strong move for the future but this season is probably gone.
I really like the moves Beane has made adding hitters creating a ready to win now line-up. Kind of strange to ignore the starting staff. Duscher injury only validates Beane dumping Hardin. A’s organization and fans tired of injury-prone players. Anyhow this could still be pretty entertaining year — watching kids develop, seeing the A’s score some runs with big names in the line-up.
Maybe something magic will occur? I’ll choose to be optomistic until proven otherwise. Just not putting any money on magic.
Acquiring Peavy is out of the question
If Ken Rosenthal is to be believed, the A’s only have about $2 million of wiggle room to work with at this point; Peavy is set to earn $8 mil this season. Not to mention the price in young talent (something along the lines of Simmons, G. Gonzalez, Cunningham, and Cardenas) would be detrimental to the teams long term plans.
by CapgrasDelusion on Mar 28, 2009 9:15 AM PDT reply actions
Peavy for Crosby would work financially...
but I’m thinking shmaybe the A’s would have to add a wee bit more to the deal.
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
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