What to do in 2010 so we can be contenders
by Oaktown123 on Jun 26, 2009 9:12 AM PDT
48 comments
I've been thinking about what to do so we can contend in 2010, since we probably won't succeed this year. Here is what we should do
1. Fire Bob Geren. He overworked the bullpen. Terminate his contract and hire another manager. Jump at the opportunity if Joe Girardi is available. In later years, maybe we could even get Ron Washington back.
2. Get a big bat. Bobby Abreu, anyone? To get him, we would hold onto Holliday until the end of the season and use him as trade bait. If Jason Kubel's contract expires and he's released, we could pick up him. He even said the hitters background at the Coliseum is good.
3. Move Brett Anderson to the bullpen. It seems like he gets tired around the third, fourth, and fifth innings. He could move to setup or long relief.
4. Trade Nomar, Giambi and O-Cab for better hitters. Maybe Nick Swisher could come back. Also, give up on Eric Chavez. He's basically done. If he plays next year, he'll get injured.
During the season:
1. Don't overwork the bullpen. We need our bullpen rested in case one of our starters gets tired.
2. Change Jack Custs approach to hitting. Of course, we could do that this year. Then Jack wouldn't be hitting the ball weakly.
3. Work the players like we did in 2002 and 2003. Back then, we were known for being healthy
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Cust's approach already has been changing, and it's not going so well for him
But I think that’s more to do with him swinging at more pitches earlier in the count than adjusting with two strikes like they originally wanted him to do.
I don’t think I’d call Abreu a big bat any more. He’s around .300 with the Angels with an .820 OPS but his power numbers are down. He still steals bases but the A’s don’t make use of speed very much.
Given the contracts Nomar, Giambi and Cabrera are on, plus their struggles, I really doubt they have much in trade value right now.
That’s all I really care to respond with.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
by Flashfire on Jun 26, 2009 9:19 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Realistically,
I’d take Travis Buck over Bobby Abreu, especially when cost is considered. Abreu just isn’t that good anymore, and is essentially another Cust in the field.
by MrMoneyBaller on Jun 26, 2009 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hear that, but sure don't see it.
He’s looked pretty competent in RF the times I’ve seen him, and he’s certainly sporting a 2009 batting line of .298/.395/.426, with 16 SB in 18 tries.
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
by Nico on Jun 26, 2009 5:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
But I want to contend NOW!
Sigh.
I'm here to talk about the past.
by 67MARQUEZ on Jun 26, 2009 9:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I still have hope this year
considering how atrocious we are and still only 6-7 games back all we need is a little luck and we can do it…
HILLIS
by robbo650 on Jun 26, 2009 9:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Brian Cashman is looking really smart this year.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
by Blicks on Jun 26, 2009 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, in the offense and defense department
not necessarily the pitching department though.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
by Blicks on Jun 26, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
No.
3. Move Brett Anderson to the bullpen. It seems like he gets tired around the third, fourth, and fifth innings. He could move to setup or long relief.
Uhh, fuck no. That’s Bill Bavasi/Steve Phillips stupid.
He has had all of 31 innings above A-ball before this season.
MLB hitters >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A-ball hitters
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
by Blicks on Jun 26, 2009 10:17 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
A-ball hitters=======A's lineup
HILLIS
by robbo650 on Jun 26, 2009 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree
I think you would be giving up on most of Anderson’s value by moving him to the bullpen. His arsenal of pitches profiles very well for a starter. He’s just having a tough rookie year, with a mix of bad luck and a few genuinely bad outings. But nothing that would convince me that he’s incapable of getting it together.
Don’t forget that a league average starting pitcher is pretty much as valuable as an ace closer. As evidence, here are the WAR values for Jonathon Papelbon and Joe Blanton from 2006-2008:
PapelbonCupcakes 20063.23.3 20072.25.7 20083.02.3I think that it’s much more likely for Anderson to become a Blanton-level starter (in fact, I expect much more from him) than for him to become a Papelbon-level relief pitcher.
by colin on Jun 26, 2009 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
arrgggh
AN totally killed my table!
Here is the non-html version:
=====
| | Papelbon | Cupcakes |
-————————————————————————-
| 2006 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| 2007 | 2.2 | 5.7 |
| 2008 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
=====
by colin on Jun 26, 2009 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
that does not look very good either
I lose.
by colin on Jun 26, 2009 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You can preserve formatting
by putting “@” on either side of any line. (That’s why you sometimes get weird results when someone types a bunch of characters for swearing, if it includes two @’s.)
It’s hard to control the line spacing, though. You may need to double space.
| | Papelbon | Cupcakes |
+------+----------+----------+
| 2006 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| 2007 | 2.2 | 5.7 |
| 2008 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
by iglew on Jun 26, 2009 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
i totally agree
he needs to make better secondary pitches behind that 94 fastball. He could be as good as CC in my opinion.
by Jessse on Jun 27, 2009 12:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"Bill Bavasi stupid"
Ouch. Please, Hammer, don’t hurt ’em.
by Joey C. on Jun 27, 2009 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oaktown123, did you/they take down your other outstanding fanposts?
I’ve had much time to contemplate A’s and the Movie Major League and I wanted to contribute my thoughts, but I can’t seem to find your post. Let me know.
by 33SwisherSweet on Jun 26, 2009 10:30 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I don't know
I haven’t asked but I haven’t gotten any word about it.
Ian Anderson
by Oaktown123 on Jun 26, 2009 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sorry I didn't really answer the question in the previous reply
But it was taken down. I don’t know who did it, but I know it was taken down.
Ian Anderson
by Oaktown123 on Jun 26, 2009 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Taken down? What's up with this censorship?
by 33SwisherSweet on Jun 26, 2009 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
OK, 33SwisherSweet, you can't have it both ways
You can’t complain about the “lame content” and then complain when the “lame content” is taken down. Moderators have exactly two choices when they see a fanpost that doesn’t meet the CGs for fanposts: leave the fanpost up or take the fanpost down.
We left it up, you complained about the declining content on AN. We took it down, now you complain about censorship.
Maybe next time we should take down every other word?
Good grief.
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
by Nico on Jun 26, 2009 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Macha wouldn't have run AN this way
bring back Ron Wahington!
by cityplANner on Jun 26, 2009 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And this is where IMO a little bit of smackdown
(not from you, but from other non-admin/mod/whatever community members) would go a long way, even if it’s rude or condescending.
by oblique on Jun 26, 2009 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
Let’s face it, sometimes those sorts of threads can tangent off to better things, but we should be allowed to police ourselves on that front. BUT, if we’re not allowed to do that, get rid of them.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
by DMOAS on Jun 26, 2009 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
One question
Do you know about the post I did comparing All-time A’s to “Major League” and “Major League 2” characters? If you do, it got 3 recs and was a recomended post. Why did they take that one down? If you know, tell me. Thanks.
Ian Anderson
by Oaktown123 on Jun 26, 2009 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I just scrolled through to identify fanposts
that didn’t meet the “fanpost” standards in the Community Guidelines, because multiple users complained that a flurry of these types of fanposts were appearing and those users (including SwisherSweet33) expressed a strong desire to see them not be there.
That fanpost, while maybe well intentioned and/or well received, did not meet the stated requirements for a fanpost and so it was a casualty of “the people have spoken.”
What the community needs to understand is that the mods can only either allow all fanposts – whether good, bad, in-depth or insufficiently in-depth – or they can delete the ones that don’t follow the stated guidelines.
And either way is not going to be perfect; either some “lame” entries will be left up, or some “liked” entries will be taken down. Neither of which, by the way, is the end of the world.
Finally, Oaktown123, if you want your “could go either way” fanposts to be left up, you probably need to establish a better track record of the ratio of “thoughtful fanposts that expand upon an idea with data, theories, analysis, examples” to “lists, or sentences that are really comments more than fanposts.”
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
by Nico on Jun 26, 2009 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Using Fanshots also wouldn't hurt
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
by Flashfire on Jun 26, 2009 1:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just messin' around Nico.
I prefer the censorship approach – ‘espnification’ of AN is not preferred.
by 33SwisherSweet on Jun 26, 2009 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
LOL - good to know
I took you to be serious and was like… ?? Then my head exploded. Then I got hungry and ate a salad.
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
by Nico on Jun 26, 2009 2:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thanks again Nico for doing such a great job on/with AN.
Your hard work and insight are greatly appreciated by readers such as myself.
by 33SwisherSweet on Jun 26, 2009 4:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I vote for a whole new offense.
"Their Triple-A rotation, led by Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson, could be better than some big-league rotations; Michael Ynoa is the best Latin American prospect of the decade; 2008 draftees Jemile Weeks and Rashun Dixon bring much-needed tools to an advanced group of hitters." - BaseballProspectus.com
by Syphon on Jun 26, 2009 10:38 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I like the Anderson to the bullpen idea.
And then after that we can turn Braden into the closer and have Bailey replace him in the rotation (after Casilla comes up to fill Anderson’s vacant spot of course).
"You're just jealous. You wish you had a rally animal..." -CardinalWraith
by Boonee on Jun 26, 2009 10:59 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
+1
I was thinking that Cahill would make a good bullpen coach—he’s smart, can add total pitches thrown. He was going to go to Dartmouth.
by asyouwish33 on Jun 27, 2009 8:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
brain asplode
Don’t overwork the bullpen. We need our bullpen rested in case one of our starters gets tired.
I’m pretty sure the reason our bullpen is overworked is precisely because our starters get tired early (ie a lot of pitches thrown) and don’t last 6-7-8 innings.
They’re kinda mutually exclusive.
by cityplANner on Jun 26, 2009 11:03 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Your brain is not the only one that exploded.
"We were shit, pathetic," Guillen growled early in spring training. "We hit too many home runs."
by lenscrafters on Jun 26, 2009 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Your brain waited to explode until that?
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
by DMOAS on Jun 26, 2009 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ah man!
Trade our bad hitters for better hitters?? Ingenious! This could be the theme for Moneyball 2. And Anderson to the bullpen is a bad idea, too.
by NateHST on Jun 26, 2009 12:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Nomar, Gimabi and Crosby for Pujols!
Geren is a great manager.
Cust should play in the field more.
Now is a good time to be looking for a job.
by asfaninpismobeach on Jun 26, 2009 1:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
And if that's not enough, add Rajai and O-Cab!
They’d get five for one. How could they say no?
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
by iglew on Jun 26, 2009 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Oaktown123 is pulling an Andy Kaufman on us, I will give him a standing ovation
If so, he’s taken it to the level of performance art. Rebuilding Season had some great satire, but Oaktown123 is really sticking to his vision and not letting anyone else in on the joke.
Bravo, good sir. Bravo.
by cityplANner on Jun 26, 2009 3:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Am I the only one who was confused
About the “trading Holliday at the end of the season” thing? Um, his contract will be up, he’s going to want a big contract, and people are going to actually want to give people up to get him?
by MrMoneyBaller on Jun 26, 2009 3:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
why not?
Oakland has traded Rajai Davis plus cash to Matt Holliday for a season of Matt Holliday’s bat in the lineup and glove on the field.
by fruitattack on Jun 26, 2009 4:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Can we do that again?
That’s the epitome of a F’in Trade, when we still have Rajai on the team even though we traded him! Let’s do it again, except for a 3B bat!
by Kaiser99 on Jun 26, 2009 6:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
First of all
I wouldnt consider Abreu a big bat. He has like 2 homers this year, and his HR rate has dropped every year the past 4 years. Plus… he’s old and plays bad defense. Kubel is interesting, but i am inclined to think just a one year wonder. Anderson to the bullpen is a terrible idea. He has top of the rotation stuff. He has less than 20 starts at the Major League level! Give him some time. Remember Haren was 1-7 with a 4.87 era in his first 9 starts with the team in 05, and he had a lot more seasoning than Brett did.
Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel. - Yogi Berra
by SoCal As Fan on Jun 26, 2009 4:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
There's not much the A's can do other than hope
In particular, hope that some of the bats in the minor league system are going to be ready to contribute next year. Next year’s pitching staff is going to be scary good—quite possibly the class of the AL—so it will be a matter of whether or not the team can hit at all. There are too many holes to fill via free agency or trade, so offensive growth will have to come organically.
I’d like to see Holliday re-signed, actually, rather than traded, for at least next year. It would behoove him to do so, as he really hasn’t had the kind of season that’s going to get him paid next year.
That said, if the Cardinals are willing to give up a whole bunch for him, you’d have to take it. As long as he doesn’t get traded for peanuts, I’ll be happy with any outcome (traded, re-signed for one year, allowed to walk for draft picks).
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
by jeepers on Jun 27, 2009 9:17 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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