As you all know, Major League Baseball runs a fall league in Arizona for upper-level minor-league players, appropriately named the Arizona Fall League. The big news this year is that, for the first time, MLB installed PitchFX cameras. This is huge—it’s the first PitchFX look we’ve ever gotten from minor-leaguers. I’m going to crunch the numbers and take a look at the results, hopefully churning out some useful scouting reports in the process. I’ll start with our 2007 first-round draft pick out of UC Riverside, James Simmons (RHP).

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What is all this talk about baseball on this site?  :-)  I guess no one has the time to post a DLD.  I would think someone who has mentally checked out for the short week at work would have posted one.  Well, if I'm doing it then you get video games as a topic.  I saw this on yahoo's video game blog.

Man marries video game character

That is kind of pathetic IMO.

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So far, the frog in my pocket and I have looked at potential relocation markets, Bay Area dynamics specifically, San Jose process progress, potential sites in Oaktown, attendance history in Oaktown,  and stadium culture suggestions.

Today we want to talk about the biggest downside to the potential San Jose stadium: Transportation.

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When I did my post about a month ago on Catfish Hunter's perfect game, I was surprised to find there were actually a fair number of people here who remembered the game and had some thoughts on it. So, I'm going back to 1968 one more time, with a sequel post on the A's arrival in Oakland. A few months back I dug through the Chronicle's microfilm archives and got their coverage of the A's first game, in Baltimore on April 10 of '68. There wasn't a great deal of detail or color to the story though, so you don't get much of a sense of how the A's were received by people around town. Maybe I should have found the Chronicle's coverage of the A's first game in Oakland to find out about that.

Anyway, I'll pose some questions for the older fans: Were people around the Bay excited to have a second MLB team, and the A's specifically? Did any of the former Kansas City A's have cache, name recognition, established star power? It looks to me like none of them did. I know Reggie was on the team, but he wasn't a star yet. Also, what was the Coliseum like back then?

According to this report Jack Cust is expected to be traded before the December 12th non tender deadline.  Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News suggests the New York Mets as a fit for the A's DH.  This seems a bit far fetched as Cust's main position is DH,  but i guess the Mets could use him in left field and maybe 1B.

             Let me take a look at other possible destinations and who we may get in return

Tampa Bay:  For 2B- Sean Rodriguez and a prospect.  The rays are looking to trade Pat Burrell and may need a replacement for him. Cust would be a cheaper alternative for a team attempting to shed some payroll.  Rodriguez can play 2nd and 3rd,  he has shown a lot of pop in the minors but yet to show it in the majors.  It had been reported that Billy Beane is interested in him

Minnesota: For RHP- Kevin Slowey.  They really don't have a true DH and with the trade of Carlos Gomez it looks like they may be in the market for one,  they could also use a little more pop in the lineup. The acquisition of Slowey would be short term as Oakland would look to move him for a young bat.  Beane has said that he is more interested in filling needs via the trade so this is a viable option

Detroit: Cust and Wuertz for RHP- Edwin Jackson:  This would fill two holes for the Tigers a good set up man and power hitting DH.  They are looking to trade Jackson so that isn't out of left field,  Oakland may need to add another small piece to the equation but i see Detroit looking into this.  For the A's it gives them a staff ace who has shown he is a top of the rotation pitcher.  Money shouldn't be much of an issue as Cust and Wuertz earned a combined 6.6 million in 2009 and even with a raise Jackson looks to earn about 9MD in 2010.

Texas: for RHP- Neftali Perez and a prospect:  I know teams usually don't trade within the division but considering the Rangers are desperate enough to look at Milton Bradley anything is possible.  Cust would be a much better fit for them.  Oakland would receiver Perez,  an up and coming reliever and another prospect.  Perez would be used as a trade chip to acquire a young bat

San Francisco: For RHP- Jonathon Sanchez:  I was hesitant on adding another national league team to this list but i can see this working.  The Giants need a lot more pop in the lineup and with Winn as a free agent they could slot Cust in at LF and 1B.  Oakland would receive a nice young starter in return,  either to trade or keep.  I know Sanchez threw a no-hitter this season but believe it or not his trade value isn't as high as you may think.

New York Mets:  for OF- Fernando Martinez and 1B- Ike Davis:  This deal is something the report talked about,  but i don't see it as a viable option.  Yet if they were to make the deal this is how i believe it would go down.  Martinez would be a keeper for the A's but Davis would be moved later

                  I think it makes sense for the A's to trade Cust,  especially if they are going to non tender him.  It's two fold in my opinion because i think there are better options then Cust in the free agent market and we get something in return.  I fully expect him to be traded before December 12th

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/

According to this article, Cust is expected to be dealt prior to December 12th. This is news to me, and i'm guessing most of us on AN. It's been known that Cust is a potential non-tender candidate, but this is the first I have heard of him drawing any interest on the trade market. Obviously this time of the year its expected of most teams to kick the tires on multiple opitions so to hear that a trade has been considered isn't too earth shattering, but to hear that he is actually expected to be dealt within the next 3 weeks comes as a bit of a suprise. It's also said in the article that any deal won't net much for the A's, so whats everyones opinions on this? Isn't this selling a bit low on Cust?? Yes he's likely to get a nice arbitration raise, but he still won't cost more then $4-5 million in 2010 and is currently our only lock to hit 20+ homeruns. It opens up other options for the OF/DH, but I don't see the A's getting anybody that will produce that much more then Cust likely will. Thoughts??

From a dying Blogfather...

Hey, folks. The CVS/Food Bank event was awesome -- the Food Bank had hoped to collect somewhere between 200-350 pounds from our location, but our charming and articulate kids collected 707 pounds. 67MARQUEZ, gigglingone, and Wes7 showed up to lend their support as well as their cans. I woke up sick Saturday morning and went to bed sicker, which is why I'm crapping out and not writing a new post today.

Dallas McPherson. The next Jack Cust or just another failed journeyman? jeffro offers a snapshot of the A's latest acquisition:

Dallas is a coming to Oakland.

Dude has raked in the minor leagues, but not done so hot in the bigs.

Not so sure about his glove work. Those UZR numbers in the link above seem to swing a bunch though he is a total 10.2 at 3B.

What does AN think? I kind of like the low risk potential high reward.

Between McPherson, Patterson, Everidge, etc. (I refuse to write Chavez off, it tugs at me heart strings so) it seems this is the plan.

For Reference:

Scout's Mid-Season Top 50. 

Scout's End-Seasn Top 50.

Prospects up for Vote:

Rashun Dixon, OF, Age 18

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level	Pos	Ln	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2008	Azl Athletics	Ariz	17	OAK	Rk	of		45	179	32	47	3	10	8	42	5	2	18	68	1	0	0	3	5	.263	.328	.525	853
2009	Vancouver	Nwst	18	OAK	A-			57	196	25	42	7	0	2	16	6	4	23	73	2	0	0	2	2	.214	.300	.281	581
Minor League Totals - 2 Season(s)								102	375	57	89	10	10	10	58	11	6	41	141	3	0	0	5	7	.237	.314	.397	711

 

Pedro Figueroa, SP, Age  23

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
KAN (oak)	A-	18	10-2	3.23	86.1	89	31	76	0	1.39
STO (oak)	A+	11	3-4	3.56	56.2	62	35	67	0	1.48

 

James Simmons, SP, Age 22 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
SAC (oak)	AAA	23	7-7	5.72	119.2	139	47	81	0	1.55

 

Ben Hornbeck, SP, Age 21

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
MID (oak)	AA	1	0-1	16.20	3.1	5	4	1	0	2.70
STO (oak)	A+	21	5-4	3.52	76.2	64	32	111	1	1.25

 

Shane Peterson, OF, Age 21

2009 Stats		G	Bavg	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	SB	R	2B
SFD (stl)	AA	18	.284	.338	.405	1	7	2	10	4
MID (oak)	AA	57	.276	.335	.399	4	24	6	26	14

 

 

Sam Demel, RP, Age - 23 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
MID (oak)	AA	27	0-2	0.61	29.1	23	9	26	11	1.09
SAC (oak)	AAA	28	2-3	3.62	32.1	27	21	33	3	1.48

  

Brad Kilby, RP, Age 26 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
OAK	MLB	11	1-0	0.53	17.0	10	4	10	0	0.82
SAC (oak)	AAA	45	4-2	2.13	63.1	40	24	77	2	1.01

 

Henry Rodriguez, RP, Age 22 - Video

2009 Stats		G	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	K	SV	WHIP
SAC (oak)	AAA	37	2-1	5.77	43.2	38	38	71	4	1.74
STO (oak)	A+	3	0-0	0.00	5	3	1	11	0	0.80

A's Community Prospect List

1. Chris Carter, 1B, Age 22 - 76% (of 5) - Video

2. Brett Wallace, 3B, Age 22 - 79% (of 5) - Offense Video  / Defense Video

3. Adrian Cardenas, IF, Age 21 - 75% (of 5) - Video

4. Jemile Weeks, 2B, Age 22 - 36% (of 8) - Video

5. Grant Desme, OF, Age 23 - 29% (of 8) - Video - OmahaHi's case for Grant Desme

6. Grant Green, SS, Age 21 - 32% (of 7) - Video

7. Josh Donaldson, C, Age 23 - 31% (of 7) - Video - DesignatedForAssignment's case for Josh Donaldson

8. Corey Brown, CF, Age 23 - 37% (of 8) - Video

9. Michael Ynoa, SP, Age 17 -  40% (of 8) - Video

10. Sean Doolittle, 1B/OF, Age 22 - 41% (of 8) - Video

11. Arnold Leon, SP, Age 20 - 46% (of 8)

12. Tyson Ross, SP, Age 22 - 23% (of 8) / 42% (Runoff) - Cal Sports Profile Video

13. Fautino De Los Santos, SP, Age 23 - 34% (of 8)

14. Max Stassi, C, Age 18 - 45% (of 8)

15. Anthony Capra, SP, Age 22 - 41% (of 8)

16. Dustin Coleman, SS, Age 22 - 21% (of 8)

17. Brad Kilby, RP, Age 26 - 25% (of 8) - Video

The A's selected the following players on November 20, 2009:

• Oakland Athletics called up Chris Carter from Sacramento River Cats.
• Oakland Athletics called up Fautino De Los Santos from AZL Athletics
• Oakland Athletics called up Pedro Figueroa from Stockton Ports.
• Oakland Athletics called up Justin Souza from Midland RockHounds.

The aforementioned players are no longer eligible for the Rule V draft on December 10.  The A's roster now stands at 39.

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Well, now that JJ Hardy is all-but-certainly not becoming an Oakland Athletic anytime soon and Billy Beane has all-but-dismissed any intention of signing veteran free agents this winter, it seems like I can now officially move past my admittedly half-baked, crackpot off-season plan and re-evaluate my hopes/thoughts concering these Oakland A's as they prepare for the 2010 season.

At this point, it certainly looks like the organization is not motivated at all to contend next season, and I guess that's a realization that's better accepted now than sometime later in the off-season/beginning of Spring after a winter of nervous/excited rosterbating and rumor-mongering. With that in mind, I'm starting to "come around" on a few ideas that I've seen posted here at AN or other sites in regards to our Green and Gold of 2010 and beyond:

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