DLD (3/28/09) Pitching, pitching, pitching
by AsFanInLA on Mar 28, 2009 11:32 AM PDT
31 comments
In what can only be considered a reversal of fortune, this year A’s fans are more worried about their pitching then their hitting heading into the 2009 season.
Who will be the A’s starting five this season? That is a question that AN has been asking over, and over, and over, and over (well you get the idea).
Scheduled staff ace Justin Duchscherer will not open the season with Oakland, and in fact will be undergoing exploratory surgery to see if he does in fact still have an elbow. Also, Gio Gonzalez is hurt and will not be likely to open the season on the big league roster. Mazzaro, Simmons, and Williams have been sent down to minor league camp. So who is left standing you ask?
Dallas Braden is the only pitcher that we know will be in the opening day rotation.
After that it is open to speculation, but most agree that Gallagher and Eveland are near locks to be in that rotation as well.
So who are the last two guys? There are three schools of thought on AN:
Save the service time, go with the vets/less upside youngsters!
Use more exclamation points!!!! (okay I might have made that one up)
Are there other options? Well, it seems pretty late in the spring to be thinking about a “F’n A trade” that might bring in an ace like Peavy or Halladay. So that seems unlikely. Trading for an unsigned vet seems unlikely as well based on Blez’s recent interview with Billy. Possibly the A’s could find a decent upside youngster that is out of options to trade for – as suggested by Ken Rosenthal in his latest regarding pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann.
Whatever the outcome, and whoever ends up pitching the first five games for the A’s the one thing we know for sure is that we don’t know for sure who that will be. The other thing we know is that we will have many more online articles and AN FanPosts that will speculate before the actual decision is made.
We can at least take comfort in the fact that the Angels get to open their season with similar doubts and concerns.
Nine days until we get to see real A’s baseball. Can we hurry up already?
(My first DLD, so hope it was not too far below standards, just wanted to have one to keep up some normalcy on AN).
Dump away.
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my eyes! my eyes!
so much Microsoft markup! Cut it out please, then we can get to dumping.
by colin on Mar 28, 2009 11:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
also, I followed the link about exclamation marks
and a grammar teacher at a college is actually endorsing the use of an exclamation mark inside parentheses to emphasize(!) words? Isn’t that some awfully informal usage to be teaching in a grammar class?
by colin on Mar 28, 2009 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bernie Pleskoff (scout) just told Marty Lurie
that something big is about to go down between the Reds and Angels. I only caught the end of the segment though, so I don’t know if Bernie named names.
The artist formerly known as HigherPie.
by vegAN ryAN on Mar 28, 2009 12:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Looking over the Reds roster it would seem the only major leaguers that might
make sense would be a veteran starter like Arroyo or Harang for prospects from LAAAAA. I suppose maybe Edwin Encarnacion, who has come up in other trade talks, but then where to you play Figgins?
by AsFanInLA on Mar 28, 2009 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm thinking Homer Bailey for Brandon Wood.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
good DLD AsFaninLA
too bad I having nothing interesting to add. It is a beautiful day here in the Bay Area, maybe I should go outside?
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
by micdog2001 on Mar 28, 2009 1:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
maybe you should come to Chicago
where it is in the low-30’s and raining. We’re supposed to get some good old late March snow tonight!
by colin on Mar 28, 2009 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Or, conversely,
come to SW Florida, where the winds were clearly demonstrated by a much thinner Ryan Howard earlier today. There are so many bloody tourists here right now, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting four of them. And my cousins are in town. I hate them. No, seriously, they suck.
"If I told you once, I told you a thousand times: get yourself a hacksaw and a roll of duck tape, and attach your ankle-bracelet monitor to the leg of a gator." -lemurspoker
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 28, 2009 11:17 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
rec'd, simply because it's so damn funny
"True fact: In a global thermonuclear war, the only human who would survive would be David Eckstein" -PT
by travdog6 on Mar 29, 2009 1:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Great 3-part
look at the decline in baseball franchise values.
"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin
by Hot Cup Joe on Mar 28, 2009 3:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
It is pretty good, although 75% decline from the peak seems high. It's not ridiculous though.
He makes a pretty good argument for it…it’s sort of like high priced art.
One thing he didn’t mention is that if year-to-year cash flow is going to become more important, then revenue sharing may take a hit. That may force the Pirates to care about their team quality and the A’s to care about marketing.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I know I'm in the minority
but if the A’s have five million bucks to spare, now would be a good time to call Pedro Martinez’s agent.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
by jeepers on Mar 28, 2009 5:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I have no problem with that.
I’ll root for Pedro.
What the hell? My morality’s already highly dubious for embracing Giambi again.
"If I told you once, I told you a thousand times: get yourself a hacksaw and a roll of duck tape, and attach your ankle-bracelet monitor to the leg of a gator." -lemurspoker
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 28, 2009 11:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
i'm all for signing a veteran to fill our starting pitching void
but i’d prefer a veteran who, IMO, doesn’t suck
"True fact: In a global thermonuclear war, the only human who would survive would be David Eckstein" -PT
by travdog6 on Mar 29, 2009 1:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not convinced he sucks just yet
He still strikes out lots of batters, and he was impressive in the WBC this spring. He also hit 90 on the gun with regularity last year, so his arm’s not completely shot. He won’t be the Pedro of old, for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he could put together a season with an ERA In the high threes for whomever decides to sign him. I’ve seen him will together too many good outings when he didn’t have good stuff to count out a Pedro with a chip on his shoulder.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
by jeepers on Mar 29, 2009 9:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Esteban can pitch as long as he did,
I’m thinking Pedro can pitch until he’s about 70 or so.
"If I told you once, I told you a thousand times: get yourself a hacksaw and a roll of duck tape, and attach your ankle-bracelet monitor to the leg of a gator." -lemurspoker
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 29, 2009 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hmmm.....Esteban.....
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
He was entertaining, at least.
Scary and drunk most of the time, but entertaining.
"If I told you once, I told you a thousand times: get yourself a hacksaw and a roll of duck tape, and attach your ankle-bracelet monitor to the leg of a gator." -lemurspoker
by Leopold Bloom on Mar 29, 2009 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
well suck or not
he’s asking $5mm right now which is out of our price range
"True fact: In a global thermonuclear war, the only human who would survive would be David Eckstein" -PT
by travdog6 on Mar 29, 2009 12:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The trouble is that all non-sucky veterans already have jobs.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
very true
maybe odalis perez?
"True fact: In a global thermonuclear war, the only human who would survive would be David Eckstein" -PT
by travdog6 on Mar 29, 2009 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bobby Crosby for whoever is blocking Price
You heard it here first…
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
by nevermoor on Mar 30, 2009 12:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Niemann or Hammel, but Crosby's not cheap.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 30, 2009 8:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
'90s flashback : Eric and Eric
Now that Eric Chavez’s boyhood pal Eric Munson is in the A’s system, it’s a good time to link to this made-for-TV miniseries series of articles about the two Erics’ early years, for those who haven’t read it (or haven’t read it in a long time). It’s in 12 parts, and the pages aren’t linked, so you have to go into the URL and change the last numeral to get to the next page.
It’s long-winded and in a somewhat cheesy romantic style, but it’s good background on our veteran 3B and our newest minor-league acquisition. It was written about 10 years ago, when they had both just arrived in the majors. The author is a relative of Chavez’s then-fiancee, now ex. (Come to think of it, I’m not sure if he ever married her; anyway, it’s definitely not the current wife (Diego’s mom Alex), nor even the long-time girlfriend before that.)
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers."
by iglew on Mar 28, 2009 9:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm really worried about the pitching!
To me we have no ace. #1-5 starters are all about the same. We don’t feel we have a better chance to win no matter who is on the mound.
by fansince1980 on Mar 29, 2009 9:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I have a bit more confidence in Eveland and Gallagher than the others. Not a whole lot though.
It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver
by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
YES, our rotation
looks like we have 5 – #5 starters…….ugh.
I am excited though….
I think they all have some interesting and potentially season boosting upside…..
A lot is going to have to go our way (team health and consistent offense) for us to have a chance at the AL West title.
"RIP: UserID: 553"
by Masaryk on Mar 29, 2009 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I want to believe
I think this years club will at least be fun to watch as they will score some runs but try as I might it’s hard to see a divisional title with this rotation.
I hope I’m wrong but this team kind of reminds me of the A’s teams in the early Art Howe years that could slug but had to win games 8-7 and ended up losing more than they won.
I guess we’ll find out soon but it sure would be nice if we had at least one experienced pitcher who you’d feel comfortable with as the opening day starter.
by sirbed on Mar 30, 2009 4:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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