The Lasting Impact of Trades

“Significant move”: Adrian Beltre signs with Rangers
“Insignificant move”: Guillermo Moscoso DFA’d
“Insignifcant move”: Guillermo Moscoso traded by Rangers to A’s for Ryan Kelly
End result: The A’s get the pitcher who pitches the fourth most innings in 2011.

Beane is saying it is difficult to lure free agents, that’s a statement of fact. The playing field is not equal in baseball by any means. Brian Cashman has a completely different modus operendi than would Beane or Friedman, etc as one would expect. Can’t remember, I think it was Dave Cameron, who wrote the Yankees are limited by roster space, not by payroll. That’s totally a different way of doing things.

The performance is there, he won before, you simply cannot as a small-market team compete every year. It is cyclical. People can trot out the MInnesota Twins yet conveniently forget the late 90s, or the Cleveland Indians who have had rebuilding processes, and lets not forget that before their recent run Tampa Bay was the laughingstock of all laughingstocks.

You can’t ignore market conditions and say they don’t matter. If they didn’t matter New York wouldn’t have 85+ wins every year along with Boston. Ultimately yes, that might not turn into championships but that is more due to the SSS PaulThomas speaks of earlier. They have endless windows of opportunity in those markets. To lose with a Yankee or Red Sox payroll takes huge effort. We are trying to compete with a 1/3 that.

one would think we were perenial 100 game losers the last 5 yrs. For the most part, I think if you ask any reasonable A’s fan, they would tell you going into each of the last 5 seasons that we were going to be competitive. 2012… I’m not so sure. This currently constructed team could really stink up the joint.

I know with Scott Sizemore he said the organization had coveted him for a while.

CAN YOU POP SHIPPING PEANUTS? NO SIR YOU CANNOT.

GOOD DAY.

Scutaro was the utility player who played exceptionally well when Ellis was on the DL.

Scutaro was made “expendable” because both Ellis and Crosby were back so he was going to be an expensive backup. (Unfortunately we hadn’t realized yet how much Crosby was going to suck.)

Then when you get reliable follow-up in the comments, edit your post to include them.

I’m sure there are people out there interested in this besides just AN.

this last year was BRUTAL partly because it seemed like some thought we might have a good year. Maybe I was the fool to believe them! I will have no such expectations going into 2012.

I want the A’s to try to win next year. What a stupid aashoke I am.

We could get Kansas City just as easily as Cleveland.

I am incredibly, incredibly wary of “it’s okay, we’ll just suck til we have a new stadium, then we’ll be AWESOME” plan since rebuilding is absolutely HARD to do on an exact schedule.

If they were adamant that our system is in such dire straights that rebuilding in a traditional fashion has to happen regardless of a new stadium, I could appreciate that. But the fact that it’s reliant on a new stadium happening? That does not sit well with me at ALL.

The roster should NOT be determined by the stadium situation, it should be determined by what’s best for the team in both 2011 and in the long run.

didn’t Billy do a rebuild in 2007/8 with the promise of contention in 2012? Now we have to wait several more years for contention after yet another rebuild… I can see how this can be frustrating for some die-hards to the point of exercising pointless criticism of the team. I understand the team’s dilemma but I don’t have to like it. All the trades we made several years ago was suppose to set us up to contend in 2012. And the only way this happens is if our combination of youthful prospects (Carter/Taylor/Allen et al) along with our AAAA players (Miller/Kai’lui/Sweeney) live up to their once highly projected potentials, which will be a long shot to all happen in the same year, but that’s the beauty of this game. Because of this “potential”, I’ll most likely renew my season tix, and who knows, if all the kds miraculously start playing like the players scouts once thought they were, we could catch lightning in a bottle and surprise some folks and we won’t have to wait several more yrs.

I am one of the “collaborators” that Ricky T is talking about and I appreciate what he is saying. It is a very worthwhile discussion and we don’t debate this issue often enough on here. Don’t take disagreement so personally he is making a fair point and keeping it light-hearted.

We all want the team to win a lot of games, I’m pretty sure of that. Whatever your opinions on the excuses used that relate to the stadium, lack of fan support and how much that’s the fault of the team or anything else, it’s clear that we’re at the point where there HAS to be a final decision on the future of a new ballpark and where the A’s will play whether it’s yes or no.

If that means we have a few more poor years while the new place is being built, it’s not the end of the world. If it pisses you off that much, I suggest you find something else to focus your energy on until the team is good again.

Making fun of my stupid job is easy, as I don’t know what you guys do. I’m not here to fight, unless your last name is Wolff. :p I was bombastic in the beginning here, and I now realize the tone the front page is different, so it was my mistake. I’ll stay in the Lounge where some people actually like me. :) We’re all here because we care about the A’s, so I don’t want to lose sight of that. I wrote this morning that I’m a snarky A’s fan, which is true. Many of the points you all make are valid, but it always seems to be one excuse with the team, real or otherwise. I’m fed up with the losing and the prospect of a rebuilding plan makes me sick. I like AN and met many AN’ers during games at the Coliseum last year and at a couple AN parties recently. I will keep a lid on my rage, as I realize this is not the place for it. The pre and post games shows I do are not the place for it, either. Maybe I’ll yell at my cat. :)

That’s a big jump for Yorman. I gather he must have had a good 2011.