A’s Trade Tim Hudson to Atlanta

Acquire LHP Dan Meyer, RHP Juan Cruz and OF Charles Thomas

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s today traded right handed pitcher Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves for left handed pitcher Dan Meyer, right handed pitcher Juan Cruz and outfielder Charles Thomas.

Hudson was 12-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 27 starts with the A’s last year. He ranked fifth in the American League in ERA, tied for the lead in shutouts (2), tied for fourth in winning percentage (.667) and tied for fifth in complete games (3). Hudson also tied for the second lowest slugging percentage (.366) in the A.L. but he allowed a career high .267 opponents batting average and his ERA was the second highest of his career. The 29-year old right hander allowed just eight home runs in 188.2 innings, for a major league low 0.38 home runs per nine innings.

Hudson is 92-39 with a 3.30 ERA in 183 starts in six seasons in the major leagues. His .702 winning percentage is third best in major league history among pitchers with 100 or more decisions and is an Oakland record. Hudson also leaves the A’s ranking fourth on the Oakland career list in strikeouts (899), fifth in wins, sixth in innings (1240.2) and games started (183), tied for eighth in shutouts (8) and ninth in ERA. He is in the final year of a five-year contract and is eligible for free agency following the 2005 season.

Meyer made his major league debut with the Braves last year, posting a 0.00 ERA in two relief appearances in September. He spent the balance of the season with Double-A Greenville and Triple-A Richmond where he combined to go 9-6 with a 2.49 ERA in 26 games, 24 starts. The 23-year old left hander is 19-19 with a 2.71 ERA in 67 career minor league appearances, 65 starts. In 352.0 career innings, he struck out 381 and walked just 87. Meyer was the Braves first round pick in the 2002 free agent draft.

Cruz was 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 50 relief appearances with Atlanta last year. He allowed a .224 opponents batting average and struck out 70 batters in 72.0 innings. The 26-year old right hander pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 2001-03 and is 14-21 with a 3.99 ERA and one save in 128 appearances over four seasons in the majors.

Thomas made his major league debut with the Braves last year and hit .288 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 83 games. He began the season at Triple-A Richmond and was leading the International League in batting (.358) and on-base percentage (.416) when he was brought up to Atlanta on June 23. The 25-year old Thomas was originally drafted by Atlanta in the 19th round of the June, 2000 draft.

The trade between the A’s and Braves is the first major league transaction between the two clubs since March 29, 1977 when the A’s acquired Pablo Torreabla for cash considerations. It was the A’s longest trade drought with any team.

Click below for my immediate reaction!

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If you look closely you can see baseball’s five game division series right around the corner.

Arguments have been made to expand that round to a best of seven format.

I disagree.

I think the five gamer is the most exciting week of baseball that we see all year. Every inning is played like it is the seventh game of the world series. There is no room for error. [Read more →]

Marty; A lengthy article in this morning’s paper about the Giants “search for a late inning savior”. In commenting on the need for a closer and the emergence of Joe Nathan as one of the games outstanding “late inning saviors” Sabean was quoted as saying “We all kick ourselves in the butt for not thinking he could have done it here but we got the position player we wanted(Pierzynski). Joe didn’t show the signs here of being able to pitch late in the game, when the game was on the line. He really didn’t show he could do it in the ninth inning”.

Click below for more about the Giants by Ed Stern!

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He can sell refrigerators in the Arctic. He can peddle igloos at the equator. Billy Beane has done it again.

The A’s needed a closer to quell the unrest among the pitching staff. The team needed a top flight reliever to stop their free fall through the standings.

Bingo! The A’s ship two prospects who had no foreseeable future with the organization to Kansas City for the plum of the trade market, Carlos Beltran.

Click Below for more Baseball! [Read more →]

In baseball today, when you put a pitching staff together, you must build from the bullpen forward. No matter who starts, the bullpen decides who wins the game 95 % of the time.

The most successful teams are the teams with four or five reliable arms in the pen. Take a look at the Cards, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, or even the Devil Rays as examples of teams with balanced bullpens that close tight games.

This brings us to the A’s and Giants.

Ken Macha has a problem. Right now, only Chad Bradford is giving the manager a clean inning. Macha’s body language tells the story when he needs to bring a new pitcher into the game. Looks like he’d rather have a tooth pulled, then raise his arm signaling for a reliever.

The lack of a quality closer and a hard throwing set up man is costing the A’s critical games in the standings. How about Ugueth Urbina? Would the Tigers pick up some of his salary to move him?

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This season promises to be a continuation of the exciting baseball we saw in the playoffs last fall. I thought that last year’s playoffs would be the most competitive in years because just about every team, perhaps other than the Twins, had a legitimate shot to get the world series.

This year not only does baseball have the usual suspects listed as favorites in the spring, but some other teams will be strong contenders from day one.

Improving clubs are the Phillies, Cubs, Marlins, Padres, Blue Jays, Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, Tigers, Angels, and the Diamondbacks.

Throw these in with the Braves, Expos, Astros, Cards, Giants, Dodgers, Yanks, Red Sox, Twins, White Sox, A’s, and Mariners and you have 23 of 30 teams that can give you trouble in any series.

The also rans aren’t hopeless either see Cleveland, the Rangers, Mets, Reds, Pirates, Brewers, and Rockies.

There is much more balance throughout baseball and you will see it as the winner in the AL East won’t get over 95 wins.

Had an opportunity to see some of the the A’s and Giants players this week in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Click below and I’ll bring you up to date. [Read more →]

So, Pete Rose has finally admitted that he bet on baseball games while he managed the Cincinnati Reds.

What does this mean to the average baseball fan today?

Rose has been out of the game for a long time, most fans probably cannot remember how his teams finished when he managed the Reds or unbelievably how he stood in the batters box.

How does his admission that he bet on games effect his status in 2004? Is his mea culpa enough to lift the cloud over his transgressions?

The question becomes would any owner bring Pete Rose back into the game in any on field or front office capacity if he was reinstated by the commissioner? What would Tom Hicks do? George Steinbrenner? Peter Magowan? The group that owns the Mariners? Steve Schott? Art Moreno in Anaheim? The AOL folks in Atlanta?

Baseball has had its share of publicity stunts over its long history. Babe Ruth coaching for the Dodgers, Satchell Paige pitching for Kansas City in 1964, Dizzy Dean leaving the broadcast booth to pitch a game for the St. Louis Browns at the end of the 1947 season (he lasted four innings, if I’m not mistaken), Minnie Minoso getting into a game when he was 60 years old and of course Bill Veeck’s stunts (midget in the game) when he owned the Browns and White Sox.

Pete Rose is a novelty in today’s world, a short range publicity stunt if hired, and I don’t see any team giving him the reigns to a multi hundred million dollar franchise just to draw some fans, even if reinstated to the game by the commish. It would be risky business at best.

Because he bet on the game, the biggest no no in baseball, he should never step foot inside a dugout again in an active capacity, even if Selig gives him the green light to be part of baseball again.

That’s my opinion.

Should he be enshrined in Cooperstown?

Click below for the answer! [Read more →]

The Red Sox still are not hitting the ball, but that is no revelation if you have been following the ALCS.

Home runs and power shots don’t make it in the postseason because good pitchers can shut you down.

The Yankees are handling the bat better than Boston and they are picking up hits after walks, which have led to runs, and that was the story of Tuesday’s game.

Karim Garcia, who has a striking resemblance to Jeremy Giambi, came through with a clutch two out bases loaded single driving in the first two NY runs.

Click below for more on Grady Little. [Read more →]

Bruce Magowan covers the Giants for the SF Examiner as well as being the host of “The Insiders”, KNBR’s Weekend baseball pre and post game shows.

No one feels for the Giants like Bruce, but he is an astute baseball person who calls them like he sees them.

Check out Bruce’s column below, it is a firsthand look at the Marlins-Giants playoff series including insights that I hadn’t heard before.

Thanks, Bruce…

Marty Lurie [Read more →]

The sole remaining issue for the Giants is whether they are going to overcome the Braves in their race for homefield advantage and, in any event, how best to position themselves for the playoffs and the following World Series. In any short series, whether the initial five game setup or in the following seven game battles, pitching will be the usual predominating factor.

Click Below for More on the Giants, thanks Ed! [Read more →]