I am sure that some of the AN regulars will be able to have fun with that Fanpost title -- but I want to say that in general I have been happy with Geren, his lineup decisions and usage of the bullpen.  My main point here is that I am getting a little upset by the fact that Geren does not seem to think that some of our guys need days off. 

First, I would like to point out that Kurt Suzuki is NOT Jason Kendall.  Even though he is young, he needs to take a day off more then once every three weeks.  He has appeared in 37 of 40 games this year (36 of those were starts).  He leads the entire MLB in innings and Games Started by catchers.  The second place catcher in both of those stats is.... Jason Kendall (stunned silence).  Should we really be running Suzuki out there this much?  Is the Bowen-Geren relationship somehow similar to the Macha-Melhuse one?  I am not saying we need to sit Suzuki because he is struggling offensively, but maybe he is struggling because he is not getting any rest at a very tough position to play every day.  I don't know about you, but it makes me VERY nervous to have a rookie catcher that is leading MLB in innings and starts.  Just not the way to keep him healthy.

Problem number two is Mark Ellis.  He is currently 4th in innings played by second basemen (and would be third if he had not missed yesterday's game with a pulled hamstring).  He has played in all 39 A's games prior to yesterdays injury, and started 38 of those games.  Maybe a day or two off would not have prevented the hamstring injury that might land him on the DL, but it could not have hurt.  Not to mention that Ellis has struggled a bit at the plate and a day or two off would also possibly help keep him rested. 

Finally, our oft-injured shortstop Bobby Crosby.  This is the guy that has been injured for us constantly throughout his career.  This is the guy that management wants us to believe that his health is a key for potential success this year.  Yet, this is also the guy that has not had ONE day off this year.  He has played (and started) all 40 games the A's have played this year.  He leads all of MLB in innings played at shortstop.  This is how we take care of one of our more fragile players?  Crosby has also not been hitting so great of late, and couldn't a day off here and there help keep his bat fresh and rested as well?

I realize the depth at middle infield has been sparse this season, but Murphy is on the bench and can play these positions.  For once, rather rhen watching our guys drive themselves into the ground later in the season, lets actually use our bench and give some of these guys an occasional day off.   Would it be so terrible if Murphy got one start during a week at 2B and then one start the next week at SS (giving Ellis and Crosby a day off every two weeks)?   And Suzuki should get a day off almost every week.  We could even try and get matchup advantages by using Bowen against tough right handers.  Not a platoon, but just looking ahead at the schedule and thinking about scheduling Suzuki's off day for a matchup where Bowen might have a slight offensive advantage based on being a switch hitter. 

I am rambling a bit at this point, so I will finish up and just say that if we want to actually keep these guys playing all season (and we may already have lost the chance for Ellis to do that) we need to give them days off.  They are playing the most demanding (and important) defensive postions on the field and to not give them even an occasional off day is just downright stupid. 

I know we all have been told that Justin is too valuable/too injury prone to be a starter.  But according to mlb trade rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/10/duchscherer-to-.html) who heard it from Buster Olney (sorry not an insider so could not read what Olney actually said) the A's are considering moving Duke back to the rotation.  The merits of this idea are certainly debatable, but the more interesting aspect of a decision like this (if it is true) is that it almost certainly implies that Beane is thinking about moving a pitcher (or two) this offseason.  This could also be seen as an attempt at a backup plan for Harden as well.  

Just curious as to what everyone thinks this idea might mean regarding the future of Duke other A's players.

Keeping in mind grover's admonitions to put some thought into trade diary's, I had a thought rolling around and wanted some AN opinions.

It seems lately that one of the bigger frustrations here at AN is over our shortstop.  People want to trade him, release him, etc but the problem is that we cannot really do that until we find something better.  As others have shown, the upcoming crop of free agent shortstops are as bad or worse then ours, and our minors does not offer much hope at that position either.  That leaves a trade as the only real option, and we need to find a player that offers some upside, but also is someone we can acquire with our limited trade chips.  

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First let me say, I am not one of these people that says Macha needs to be fired after every decision goes wrong.  Having said that I was very, very upset with his decision making in last nights game and I will try and explain my thinking.

I watched the entire game, and let me say that Saarloos was awesome.  He gave everything he had and only giving up 2 runs in 8 IP is more then we could have expected.  Saarloos was keeping the ball down great, and when he does that he can be very successful.  

What I don't understand is how I can see things that Macha can't.  In the 7th inning Saarloos left a pitch up -- a big fat hanger -- that Torii Hunter just missed and fouled straight back.  I saw that pitch and thought "Oh Sh**, Saarloos might be losing it".  Saarloos battled back and got Hunter to ground into a DP, but still the warning light was on.  

Macha at this point needs to know his pitchers.  We know that as the game gets later that Saarloos can lose it -- and lose it fast.  Not a knock on him, just what we have observed.  However, since Saarloos was pretty much on his game up until now, I would have sent him out to start the 8th, but with Morneau due up 2nd in the inning, why not have your lefty up and loose, just in case?  

On to the 8th.  Saarloos facing Cuddyer and does the same thing.  Throws a hanger that is up in the zone and the A's are lucky it stayed in the yard as he lines it to LF.  Now the count is two straight batters -- two straight hanging mistake pitches.  After watching the last two batters get big fat mistake pitches, does Macha go to the lefty to get the Twins best power hitter?  No he doesn't.  Why?  Because he did not have the foresight to see this coming, and there is not a lefty up and ready in the pen.  So Saarloos continues the trend that should be forseeable at this point and throws his 3rd straight mistake pitch during an at bat, but finally, this time, it is not missed and Morneau goes yard.  

Here are my big complaints.  Why can't Macha see that Saarloos is getting his pitches up?  Why can't he prepare a "just in case" lefty for Morneau?  I fully realize that Keisler or Flores could have given up a HR to Morneau as well  (although his last 3 year stats of 208/258/345 vs lefties would seem like a good matchup).

I am not saying that Macha lost us this game with his decisions.  We only scored 1 run and there is no guarantee the pen could have held the 1-0 lead.  What I am saying is that the decisions made by Macha in the 8th inning of that game were quite obviously (to me) not the correct ones, and why give a big power hitter that has no track record of success against lefties a chance to tee off vs a righty that has just thrown two mistake pitches to the last two batters?

If someone can explain to me why this is good logic, I would love to hear it.  Kirk had done more then his fair share, and it was time to get him out with a power hitting lefty up.  I realize that after Morneau we would have had to try to matchup with the next guys, but to be honest, I think in that inning Morneau is the one guy you have to put your best matchup against, and then worry about getting out the rest of the Twins (who after Morneau were Tiffee, Batista, Kubel -- not exactly murderers row).  

Okay, diatribe over.  I just felt like we should have stolen a game there, and we lost the oppurtunity to with a bad decision by Macha.

Thanks for listening.

There has been a lot of talk about possibly sending DJ down to work out his swing due to his horrible start.  I am not really arguing the merits of that move as much as I want to consider, who would we bring up in such a case?

First, I do not think we will bring up Daric Barton.  BB does not want to bring him up too soon, hurt his confidence and slow his progression.  Also, BB does not want to start his clock any earlier then he has to, and right now he does not HAVE to.

So who?  First thing to remember for those people advocating we move Swisher to first and call up an outfielder.... we still need a back up 1Bmen.  The only person on the entire roster that has played an MLB game at 1B is Thomas (and hell will freeze over before we put FT in the field) and Melhuse (a grand total of 6 games).  So, unless the minor league OF can play some 1B, that is very important to consider.

The solution?  Well, the easy solution is to call up a 1Bmen, but since that is Barton currently at AAA, that is not the current solution.  We could buy Perez a 1Bmen glove and turn Wash loose on him, but that might be scary already into the season.  Here is what I would like to do (and I have not heard it mentioned yet).  Lets call up a 3rd catcher and let Melhuse get some at bats at first base.  We can see what Melhuse would do with some semi-regular time (maybe some sort of time split with Payton), and not have to worry about not having a backup catcher.  Also, on days we play Payton, we would have 2 catchers on the bench, maybe making it more possible to pinch hit for certain DP machines (you know who you are).  It would seem that Brown would be the likely person to call up to fill that role, and it would be nice to get him a taste of the bigs, even if it is just for long enough for DJ to get his groove back.  

Again, not advocating sending DJ down persay, but if we do I think this would be the best way to do it.  Thoughts?

(By the way, this is my first AN diary so be kind -- or if not kind at least funny.  Also, even if just for pity, please at least one response or I might have to send myself back to the AN minor leagues -- would that be the espn chats, or <gasp> Halo Heaven?)