I really enjoy reading diaries about minor league players (both ours and other team's), so I have a couple questions for those of you who know more about this topic than I do (which doesn't take much).

Question 1:

Is there a formula for adjusting Mexican League stats for comparison with American Minor or Major league stats?  I'd like to try to project how players like Javier Robles might perform at the Major League level (381/445/675 in the Mexican League).

Question 2:

There are plenty of diaries speculating on a Blanton or Haren trade, which I personally think is unlikely.  Nevertheless, it's fun to think about what we might be able to pick up if we traded one or the other of them.  In my opinion, a key piece we should acquire in any such trade is a middle infield prospect with some pop and speed.   As much as I liked Scutaro, he and Crosby simply haven't been very exciting to watch and haven't been putting up very good numbers.

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I've heard suggestions that we should give up on this year and try to trade Piazza (or various other players) for younger players with more potential.  While this might mean trading for someone who's already broken in the big leagues, I am curious about those players who are still floating around at the AAA level or below.  The Bartons and Meyers owned by other teams.  Who is out there worth picking up?

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According to a story from the Associated Press and a blog about Wisconsin politics, former A's pitcher Rollie Fingers is the single largest income-tax debtor in the state of Wisconsin.  Rollie's blog makes no mention of this interesting tidbit of news, but does contain an article blasting Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and various other aging players for not having retired.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Orioles are shopping Miguel Tejada:

Despite what they're saying publicly, the Baltimore Orioles are indeed listening to offers for shortstop Miguel Tejada, according to the Baltimore Sun. The Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers are among the teams that have shown the most interest, but the Angels remain the frontrunner due to their wealth of prospects. The price tag for Tejada remains unchanged: a quality big-league pitcher and two above-average players or prospects.

Now, here's what I propose:

Zito and Kendall (and/or Crosby) to Baltimore for Ramon and Miggy back.  Now, I'll admit that the nostalgic part of me wants to replay some of the glory days when we actually made it to a postseason, but I think this trade has a lot of merit.  Let's look at reasons for us to make the trade and then reasons for the Orioles to make the trade.

Reasons we should make the trade:

1.  We get a WHOLE LOT of offense by upgrading our SS and Catcher positions.  Crosby certainly hasn't been producing very much this year.  And Kendall has only hit the ball out of the park once in his tenure with us.  
2.  Our defense certainly doesn't go own at all -- Miggy and Ramon are some of the best players at their positions.
3.  Zito is probably gone after this year anyway.  Let the Orioles deal with Boras.  
4.  We can afford this deal.  Kendall's huge contract sort of "cancels out" the huge amounts of money the O's are paying Tejada and Ramon.  In fact, our payroll would actually go own by about $3,000,000.  
5.  We keep the Angels and Ranges from getting their hands on Miggy.

Reasons the Orioles would want to make this trade:

1.  They badly need starting pitching.  They've got enough cash to probably re-sign Zito after this year.
2.  A one year rental of Zito is a lot more affordable than most of what's out there.
3.  There's just not a lot else available in the starting pitching market.

You listening Billy?

Poll

Make the trade?

65%

No. The Orioles will never go for this.

15 votes

4%

Yes, but change a few things around.

1 votes

4%

Yes, but only if we include Macha and/or Loaiza in the deal.

1 votes

21%

Yes, sounds great!

5 votes

4%

No. We lose too much.

1 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

I don't know whether this will make it into the link dump later today or not, but it's really got me thinking.  According to Yahoo's recap of yesterday's game, Macha approached Scutaro about filling in for Kendall if he gets suspended:

C Adam Melhuse got the start to give a day off to Jason Kendall, who had been getting days off on the starting day of RHP Esteban Loaiza. Manager Ken Macha spoke to Melhuse, who said he caught Kirk Saarloos the most during his 39 games played in 2005. Macha also was anticipating a suspension for Kendall, who charged the mound after nearly being hit by a pitch from John Lackey, triggering a bench-clearing fight Tuesday against the Angels. "I'm going to say there's going to be a suspension. I asked (Marco) Scutaro if he could catch and he started saying something in Spanish I couldn't understand," Macha said.

Now, I'm sure that many of you dismissed this as some kind of (thin) form of humor.  Bear with me for a minute as I demonstrate that the only flaw with this idea is that it doesn't go far enough!

First of all, consider the advantages.  With Scutaro catching, we know that we will always have him in the lineup to deliver those clutch hits that he mysteriously seems to find with the game on the line.  

Second, the chances of getting a home run from our catcher would increase dramatically.  In fact, assuming identical production this year as last, the ratio of expected Scooter homers to expected Kendall homers is so large that it is undefined!

There are even more compelling reasons to use Scutaro as our catcher.  Might not his mysterious ability to come through in the clutch also translate into defensive skill?  With Scutaro calling games for our pitchers, we might very well see an increase in critical strikeouts from our bullpen and rotation.  Not only that, he might actually throw out a baserunner or two.  

Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "But has Scooter every actually been a catcher?  Could he handle a new position?"  Let me point out that Scooter has played practically every other position, already.  He's played in both the infield and outfield and handled the job okay.  
If we have any player who is flexible enough to make the switch to Catcher, it is the player whose name starts with "Marco" and ends with "Scutaro."

However, having carefully considered this option, I have come to the conclusion that it has one fatal flaw: it doesn't go far enough.  Sure Kendall hasn't been as hot as we would have liked.  But he does an adequate job and we have a far more glaring hole: our starting rotation.

Now, several players have made the switch from pitching to hitting and vice-versa and a few have done so successfully.  Given his amazing flexibility and renowned clutchiness, why not give Scutaro a shot at the #5 spot?  (Clearly, Saarloos is our #4).  He certainly couldn't perform worse than Loaiza and this would allow us to save a roster spot.  Since Scutaro could split time between the pitching mound and second base, we could still spell Ellis occasionally and also bring up Jeremy Brown to be our catcher.  For that matter, we could give Perez more opportunities to show his stuff.

While I'm sure there will be objections to this very sensible and straightforward change, I really only see one remaining difficulty:

Is it possible that it would be even better to make Scutaro the manager?

Two amazing triples, wonderful defense, and a critical game winning hit against the Yankees are a pretty good start for a "replacement" player.  Show your support for our favorite utility infielder by giving him your vote in this cbs sports poll:
CBS SPORTSLINE POLL  (The poll is at the bottom of the page.  You may need to scroll).

Also read the very interesting mention of Scooter's role last year linked from that same page.  It's pretty good.  (Did you know that Scoot's 2004 Fielding percentage at second base was second only to Dick Green's 1964 percentage in all of A's history?)

MARCO!!!!!

Embedded in an article on arbitration offers was this juicy tidbit:

The A's had eight arbitration-eligible players and they maintained their control over seven of them, choosing only to non-tender utilityman Hiram Bocachica . Bocachica, who had a very strong spring training before breaking his wrist on the last day of camp in 2005, was a September call-up with the A's this past season. Despite not having a long major league resume, Bocachica had earned enough service time to become arbitration-eligible. By non-tendering Bocachica, the A's have removed him from the 40-man roster and he is now a free agent.

Bocachica could still return to the A's. Oakland obviously had some interest in keeping him, as they could have removed him from the 40-man roster much earlier in the off-season if he wasn't a part of their plans. The A's could still come to terms with Bocachica, likely with a split or minor league contract and an invitation to spring training. He would be in competition for a spot on the A's bench with Freddie Bynum , Matt Watson , Andrew Beattie and Charles Thomas if he returned to Oakland.

If it turns out the A's don't re-sign Mr. Hiram B., I will be disappointed, but not surprised.  He's shown a lot of potential in the minor leagues and never really had a chance at a position in Oakland.  I'd like to really learn whether he can be an every-day major league starter.  Unfortunately, it's clear that one thing we don't need right now is extra outfielders.  Especially slowly aging AAAA-caliber players with great defense and not much pop in the bat.  Better to non-tender him than trap him on a bench for the season.

Many of the complaints about Kendall center on his lack of power.  While it is depressing that he didn't hit a single homerun all season, I think this little clip from Baseball Today puts things in perspective:

The White Sox have a 2-0 lead in the World Series after Scott Podsednik's ninth-inning homer gave Chicago a 7-6 victory over Houston on Sunday. Podsednik, who did not homer in 507 regular-season at-bats, has two postseason homers.

Perhaps, if we'd made it to the post-season, we'd have seen Mr. I-Play-Every-Game come alive.

All year I've heard complaints about Macha, Kendall, Chavez, Zito, and even the A's strategy (not bunting enough, etc), but I've been unable to decide whether any of these views is held by the great majority of AN posters or simply a few noisy posters.

This poll is an attempt to get a feel for how the "silent plurality" feels.  I'm not looking for a general consensus, just evidence that more than a few people really think these complaints have some merit.  I'm going to provide several "reasons" that the A's have struggled at times during the year.  Vote for the one you feel is most significant or important.  

Option 1: Nothing's wrong.  This is a rebuilding year and we're rebuilding.  A few bumps along the road are nothing to worry about.

Option 2: Fire Macha!  Poor management has cost us lots of games this year.  In particular, the lineup has stunk and we've pulled pitchers at the wrong times.

Option 3: The man in the mask.  For $11 million, Kendall hasn't given us much.  We need someone with better power and average at the top of our line-up.

Option 4: Small-ball.  The A's need to bunt and steal more often so that they can manufacture runs.

Option 5: Schott in the foot.  Lew Wolff needs to open up the pocketbook so we can hire a power-hitting free-agent.

Option 6: Eric the Red.  Chavez hasn't come through this year.  He needs to step it up and be a real leader.  (Alternatively -- he needs to stop swinging at the first pitch every time)

Option 7: Big Bad Barry: Zito's a good pitcher, but not what we need from an Ace.  We should have kept Hudson or Mulder.

Option 8: Anything Else.  The team has a serious problem, but it's not one of those listed here.

Poll

What's the biggest problem this year?

15%

Option 3: The Man in the Mask.

13 votes

4%

Option 4: Small Ball.

4 votes

3%

Option 5: Schott in the Foot.

3 votes

15%

Option 6: Eric the Red.

13 votes

0%

Option 7: Big Bad Barry.

0 votes

29%

Option 8: Something Else.

24 votes

24%

Option 1: Nothing.

20 votes

6%

Option 2: Fire Macha!

5 votes

82 votes | Poll has closed

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Here's a little bit of team history I picked up on the internet from http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-baseballtoday&prov=ap&type=lgns:

June 15, 1925 -- The Philadelphia Athletics went into the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 15-4 and scored 13 runs to defeat Cleveland 17-15.

Let's do it again, today!