I guess that makes it official

it's just not easy to root for this fucking team..

Shit.

Make the rotation this year?

this just sucks.  I really loved having Swish on the team.  Setting aside talent, future performance, value, blah blah, he was one hell of a fan friendly player who brought a lot to being an A's fan.  I remember him at the end of the last game of the season walking down the third base stands handing all his extra gear out to the kids.  I will really, really miss his personality.  Not to mention his interviews on the post game show.

Boooooooooo!

not Ellis, please, not Ellis, please, not Ellis, please.  Please.

But this is going to be the worst offense we have ever seen.  Goodness.

no...really, really shocked. Did NOT see that one coming.

The Florida Marlins of Fremont

Holy crap. This had better be worth it.

I got Moneyball for Christmas and am in the final stretch. My appreciation for Swisher has just grown and then WHAM-- he gets traded.

I haven't even looked to see who they got in return. Holy crap. I thought Swisher would be the one constant.

after getting my daughter a Swish bobblehead for Christmas.

Concerning the A's : "Wow, this team does not look good...They're going to have alot of trouble scoring runs." (No shit Sherlock....)

Lots of talk about Swisher batting lead-off for the Sox. Not a bad idea. .381 OBP and Thome, Konerko, et.al in the middle of the lineup.

...Swisher was all that in the first place.

even bother putting names on the back of their jerseys.

has another surgery.

http://southsidesox.com/story/2008/1...

Highway Robbery...

Ryan Sweeney
Fauti De Los Santos
Gio Gonzalez

Snap judgement: I think I like it.
As with the Hudson/Mulder trades in 2005, the second trade here comes somewhat out of the blue, without weeks of rumors preceding it, but looks like a good value trade, especially once it became clear that Beane was punting on the next year or two.

Swisher is a very good player, in his prime years, and signed long-term. The A's will miss him. But he doesn't seem likely to get much better - what we saw in 2006-2007 is what you'll get for the next few years as well - and as already noted the A's were beginning to have a logjam at LF/RF/1B/DH, while they had no clear long-term solution at CF, a problem that the Haren trade didn't address. Sweeney gives us a good prospect in CF, while the other two look like promising candidates for the rotation a year or two down the line.

Swish was a hell of a lot of fun to root for.  I'll miss him a ton. But since we're in a rebuilding mode this trade looks pretty darn good to me!

Since the Finleyesque fire sale is on, maybe he would like to try me out in the outfield. I'll work cheep. I can still hit,but I'm a little slower than Jim Spencer.

Judging from South Side Sox as Sal mentioned.

They're now saying they have the worst minor league system in baseball.

And here is a classic.  We've got people on AN disgusted with the dealing of Swisher, but Sox people are hating the deal.

 I just paid for my season tickets yesterday and they trade my son's favorite player.Welcome to being an A's fan son.

I wonder if Ozzie is going to make him bunt along with all the other guys.

de los Santos, 5 stars, #1 in system

Year In Review: Beginning the year as an obscure Dominican arm in a weak system, de los Santos first blew away the coaching staff in spring training and then was almost literally unhittable in the Sally League, allowing one hit for every two innings pitched.
The Good: Built like a tree trunk, de los Santos gets tremendous drive. His fastball sits at 91-95 mph, touching 98 at times; it also has late movement, and he commands it very well. His breaking pitch is a power curve with hard late bite, and it's a true out pitch when he’s on. He understands the importance of developing an offspeed pitch, and he improved his changeup over the course of the year.
The Bad: De los Santos gets into bad habits at times, and can overthrow all of his pitches, costing him life on his fastball, break on his curve, and decreasing the velocity gap between the heat and his changeup. Some worry that his aggressiveness might work against him when facing more advanced hitters, and that he needs to learn how to set up batters and be more aware of the count, as opposed to challenging hitters with every pitch. If his changeup doesn’t continue to improve, some fear he’ll be limited to a relief role.
Fun Fact: In 18 fifth innings, de los Santos allowed just three hits while striking out 26.
Perfect World Projection: Star-level starter or closer.
Timetable: De los Santos has the highest ceiling of any player in the system, but he’s still at least two years away. He’ll likely begin 2008 at High-A, with an expectation than he could be ready for a look at some point in 2009.

Gonzalez, 4 Stars, #2 in System

Year In Review: After a one-year sojourn in Philadelphia, Gonzalez returned to the team that drafted him but then dealt in the Freddy Garcia trade. He pitched much better in his second Double-A season, leading the minor leagues in strikeouts.
The Good: Gonzalez has average velocity (89-91 mph) on his fastball, but he can reach back and touch 93 at times, and it features natural lefty movement, almost looking more like a cutter on occasion. He uses it effectively to get ahead in the count and set up his curveball, which is among the best in the minors. It’s a hard-breaking power pitch that comes in fast, then falls off the table. His changeup is improving, and his control made significant strides from the previous season.
The Bad: Gonzalez’ smallish frame is a concern for some, but he’s proven to be highly durable so far in his career. Some wonder if he’ll need to pitch backwards more in the majors, and worry that he depends too much on the curve at times. Despite the improvements, his control problems still flare up from time to time.
Fun Fact: Monsignor Pace’s most famous alum is actress Catherine Keener, although political commentator Bill O’Reilly taught history at the school for a brief time in the early 1970s.
Perfect World Projection: An above-average left-handed starter.
Timetable: Gonzalez will begin the year at Triple-A, and should see the big leagues at some point in 2008.

Sweeney, 2 Stars, #8 in System

Year In Review: The former first-round pick spent his second year at Triple-A and went backwards. Many believe it’s time to stop talking about projection with him.
The Good: Sweeney is big, athletic, and not without some offensive skills. He has a quick, short stroke, gap power, and a nice feel for contact. He works the count well and doesn’t strikeout often. He’s an average runner who can play center field in a pinch, and his arm is among the best in the system.
The Bad: Always projected to develop power, Sweeney is now stuck as a tweener–-without true center field skills or the power to play everyday in a corner. He’s always struggled against good lefties, and failed to make adjustments in 2007 to address the problem. He played with little energy down the stretch, and did not get a September callup.
Fun Fact: While at Triple-A Charlotte, Sweeney hit .314 while playing center field, but just .234 when penciled into one of the outfield corners.
Perfect World Projection: At this point, it’s hard to see Sweeney as more than a fourth outfielder and occasional starter, though he still has some believers among scouts.
Timetable: While Sweeney has clearly stagnated, it’s hard to see him avoiding a third year at Triple-A without a monster spring training. This next year is absolutely pivotal for him.

are going to be murder on roster management hehe. offhand i like it. 2008 was shot, so why not really reload/rebuild?!

between Williams and Beane due to some comments that Beane made about Williams in the past?  Seems that business overrides everything!

Swisher's mullet fits better on Chicago's south side than in Oakland.

I just heard the news on KNBR (off the Jim Rome show and not off the local updates which goes to show you how the Giants Flagship station doesn't care about the A's).

Didn't we just give the guy a nice contract to stay? Are we really going to get rid of every popular Athletic we've had for the last five years?

I was so ready to cheer on the team despite being in a rebuilding mode, but after this move, I don't know if I will match the amount of games I went to last year.

And why deal him to the White Sox? I hate those guys!

Florida Marlina West or die!

And doing my best to put bias aside, I just don't like it that much.

Sure, they got the 1, 2, and 8 prospects. But they got them from the 28th ranked (according to BA) farm system, a system that is notorious for having no clue how to draft or evaluate players. Are de los Santos and Gonzalez the tallest midgets or are they legitimate prospects? I tend to think it's the former.

Sweeney is a right-handed Chris Denorfia, or something. I dunno. I like him, but I don't like him for THIS team because they're loaded in the outfield anyway.

It's possible I'm overrating Swisher. I might also be underrating the prospects. This trade looks a lot more like the Hudson deal. The Haren trade was Mulderx2.

I also am shocked the A's couldn't get more for Swisher. They might have pillaged the Sox farm system, but that system was garbage anyway. Just...ugh.

but shit.

This trade is pretty awesome.

why trade the heart of the a's clubhouse? couldn't billy trade kotsay and get rid of his salary? when i heard about this trade, part of me died inside.

While subjectively I'm sad to lose an awesome dude (and very good player) in Swish, objectively I think Beane just pulled a Mulder-lite level steal.

It's the Haren deal that bugs me - losing a cheap ace with 3 years left on his contract and not having a potential ace in sight for the next couple years. The Haren deal might turn out to be a good trade, but imagine if we could have dealt Blanton instead of Haren and restocked our farm system with what Swish just brought us plus what Blanton could have (had the right trade worked out - A. LaRoche and Hu, or Carlos Gonzales and only 1-2 others)...We'd be sitting pretty.

I'm going to miss Haren more - especially because I think the Swisher deal was "too good to pass up" no matter what.

I need to see a lineup ...

On many AN folks negative reaction thus far:

"What the fuck do they know?
They probably have very minimal information about Gio and DLS, and are automatically going to reject unknowns for a player like Swisher.  Once they find out what they're getting, they'll be shitting their pants with glee."

I didn't see the point of giving up Haren, but Swisher is a perfect trade candidate, in my opinion.  I don't think he'll ever make the leap from good to great as an offensive player, and we got legitimate scary pitching talent in return.

A+

This is actually kind of fun.  Not as much fun as watching the 01/02 A's stack a lineup 1-9 with guys who could hit it out of the ballpark, while running out the best pitching staff on the team.  

But there is something fun about watching a team completely restock its farm system (for a hardcore fan, anyways).  At the end of the 2007 season, virtually all of the talent in the Oakland organization was in the MLB team.  By opening day 2008, it'll be widely dispersed across the entire organization.

And for those of you who have no interest in watching the A's until 2009:  Go ahead, take a year off.  They'll be there when you decide to come back.  

I find myself shocked, but not surprised.  I'm glad we got a good return on this deal, and that Billy's willing to take a good deal for anyone.

From initial surprise to some "man, goddamn" type laughter, I now am thinking....

Who will we acquire next?  We know who would be traded (Blanton, Street, Embree, anybody), but I would like to know what some potential targets would be.  Now I wish I was more of a minor league fan.  I'd assume a CF (still no true CF of the future in our system?), SS, and as always pitching... any names come to mind?

1--the chickens little

followed by:

2--the pissed-off player partisans

followed by:

3--the in-Billy-we-trusters  

followed by:

4--the stat-heads.

Please label your posts accordingly.  I like to promote personal efficiency by ignoring groups 1-3 -- esp. in January when I generally resolve to waste less time.      

34. Gamingboy  Posted: January 03, 2008 at 02:59 PM (#2659417)

Wow. At this rate, the A's will be so young, they'll be asking if the elephant will give them rides if he's given peanuts.

Primer discussion, comment 34

Good luck Swish. We'll miss you, and any one with talent who's been here 3+ years.

Sniff

Sniff.

Agree with letsgooakland on that one.  Street's elbow is one slider away from Tommy John surgery, and if another team is yet to figure that out, let's by all means steal a prospect from them.

Only buy a jersey for a player that has the same name as you.

Stockton's rotation is going to be loaded!

Trade Embree.

and I puked up my lunch.

This one hurts more than any trade I can remember in recent memory.  Huddy was pretty painful but his mystery oblique injuries made things a little easier.  Swish is such a great personality but I will say he never seemed the same after Milton was traded.  Who knows how devastated he feels right now?  

Didn't see this one coming at all.  I'm going to assume that Street is next unless someone decides Blanton is worth a haul of prospects before that happens.  I guess Blez should come up with a nickname changing system so that I can change mine to "ohtobe21like
'whoeverthefuckIlikeonthea'sthathappenstobe21atthetime.'"

But he ws no great talent on the field. With Danny Haren gone it makes sense to trade Swish. Good luck to Swish... he was a ray of light. The team just got a lot more boring to watch.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story...

i just saved up enough money to get a swisher jersey too! the scutaro trade stung a whole lot... haren was like the worst has come... and swisher hit too close to the heart... 2008 sucks already...

"The White Sox fans are angry...the A's fans are angry...good trade all around! "

When the lineup is annouced

"who is that honey?"
"where did he come from"
"why are we watching this?"

The thing about Billy trading Swisher is that you know Billy wouldn't do it lightly. Personal favourite, great contract, great face for the club; Beane wouldn't have moved him unless he was sure the offer was worthwhile. On first impression, I agree. And though I know everyone's gutted about how bad we're probably going to be in 2008, I'm happy to see Billy showing his commitment to the new order. If we should have learned anything last year it's that you can't go at this league with dribs and drabs. It's time to stock up and be patient.

caucus off the air.  Must be a Kucinich guy.  Or he doesn't like the Virginia Tech-Kansas matchup tonight.

...before heading off to college, and we're looking at a 65 win season. I miss Swisher and Haren.