No, not Carney, but son Jared who was picked 69th in today's draft. I think the A's are trying to corner the market on players whose father once played in the major leagues, with Swisher, Crosby and Kendall. Lansford is obviously a long, long ways away, but this proves that the A's truly value that experience (as if there wasn't already enough proof).
Eric Kubota, the A's director of scouting, confirmed it later:
"If I could pick one team in the entire Major Leagues that I could be drafted by, this would be it," Lansford said. "I grew up in that clubhouse ... It was like a second home to me."
"We value bloodlines," Kubota said. "He's been around the game a long time."
On a related note, the A's went crazy with high school picks today. A team that's been noted for having a heavy college predilection instead decided, on a day when college players were quickly disappearing off the table, to go back to high school.
Which, for those that were following, was not a huge surprise.
"We'll go after a high school position player with the right demographics," Beane said. "Do they go to school in a heavily populated area? Is the competition they face good? These are the questions we ask."
At the same time, you have to know that Beane is trying to score with high school players in large part because so many other teams have taken the college route. Beane is nothing if not adaptable.
I also believe that Billy Beane has probably been helped in his change of heart by talking with buddy Paul DePodesta in Los Angeles, who has probably seen the value of the high school player close up, especially if you don't need that player on your team too quickly. And with the A's young rotation, it was worth it to take chances on players at 18 and 19 that can throw 98 mph.
As for the game, Barry Zito is becoming quite the hard-luck pitcher. He wasn't brilliant tonight, but the A's offense apparently forgot to pack its bags and go on the road with the team. I really, really can't stand interleague play. Our offense is going to be seriously stunted by this six-game tour through Washington and Atlanta without having access to DJ. I really would hope that Macha would have DJ in the lineup tomorrow as well as Kendall hitting leadoff. Please? Pretty, pretty please? The guy has a .345 OBP when hitting leadoff as opposed to a .303 when hitting second. Kotsay has a .500 OBP hitting second and an 1.167 OPS. I thought you were SUPPOSED to pay attention to numbers, Ken?? Granted, it's a small sample size because you won't stick with it, but stop being stubborn. Try it and stick with it for a few games!!!!!!!!
