Often times I get the feeling the majority of AN member's enjoy criticizing and ridiculing new members, or members who do not value sabremetrics stats as much as the majority of members. AN seems like a place where all the geeks and non-athletes of the world have found a place where their writing talents and number crunching abilities can shine.

Yes, Dylan Robinson's recent post lacked analysis and should have been a fanshot or a comment in a DLD. But the snooty comments and the my shit doesn't stink attitude by Nico and others is lame. Why did Dylan write this post? I dunno? Maybe because he's new, or maybe he's 12? Maybe he doesn't understand the criteria for posting a fanpost. Maybe he's just a dumbass. Who knows. But why take a shot at him? There's becoming a divide between the original members and the new members. I bet some of the old timers wish that AN no longer accepted new members.

Now I'm going to sterotype the majority of the AN members. They are non athletes who couldn't hit a baseball unless it was on a tee, and then would probably need 2 cuts to make contact. These same people make fun of anyone who doesn't share their view point. Yet, in the real world were the kids who always got picked last.

My point is this. I played and currently coach college baseball. I know and love all of baseball's nuances,and the information one gains from being around the game. For example, a batter knows a slider is coming when he sees a red dot on the baseball.. My scouting viewpoint is that Kouz  wraps his hands around his back when he hits; therefore he is not able to get his hands through the zone quickly enough.  Yet I feel that if I made a post to that effect I would get ripped by a pro sabermetrics member who would argue Kouz sucks because his war is this or his woba is that.

I have learned a panoply of stats that I was unfamiliar with, and have incorporated many of them into my coaching philosophy. But I'm a good coach because of my ability to teach the fundamentals of the game and understand the strategy and concepts of the game. Can the pro sabermetrics members coach a team or run a front office just because they can crunch numbers? No. Yet they constantly post comments regarding trades, roster decisions, and player values based solely on numbers. If their comments were made just in the context of an opinion, that would be one thing, but  the comments are made in the context of "I'm right and you're not". These know-it-alls can't run a fantasy team, let alone a pro franchise. It's that type of rhetoric that makes AN unberable.

I've been a member since 2004. I have been a fan of the A's since 1980. I come to this site to talk baseball and get info. That's why Blez started this site I believe. Now I don't post because I'm concerned with what possible wisecracks I could receive from my post/comment. For example, I made a comment that Cust was DFA'd before and he was most likely going to get cut again. That led to a flurry of snide comments that listed numerous players who had been DFA'd previously, yet returned to the team to excel. But all my point was that he was DFA'd once and it wasn't a stretch that he could be released.

It would be nice to have a site that allows free expression mixed in with a dose of reality. If you really believe Barton has more value than Big Tex, fine. But don't get put off when somebody disagrees with you. Money aside, do you really think BB would take Barton over Tex.

I'm not going to say I don't want to offend anyone, then proceed to offend...so I will just say sorry to those who I misrepresented. This is most likely my Swan Swong.