You've Got to Be Kidding!
Report: Athletics trade LHP Mulder to Cardinals
December 18, 2004
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) – The Oakland Athletics’ vaunted trio is down to one.
ESPN.com is reporting the Athletics have traded lefthander Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Danny Haren, Kiko Calero and catching prospect Daric Barton.
The deal would come just two days after the Athletics sent righthander Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves for pitchers Juan Cruz and Dan Meyer and outfielder Charles Thomas.
Prior to the trades, the Athletics had one baseball’s best rotations with the “Big Three” of Hudson, Mulder and lefthander Barry Zito.
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Someone please take the cell phone away from Billy Beane.
Does he know something about Mulder’s health that the rest of us don’t?
Kiko Calero, a bull pen guy. Dan Haren a change up pitcher who had some success in AAA.
I’m anxious to hear from you.
Marty
0 comments
Can I get my season ticket money back? What is going on? This makes no sense. Mulder was not set to make that much next year. Maybe it is a health thing. Or maybe Billy says pitching won’t get us to the WS, so lets get cheaper pitching and maybe have some funds for a bat or two.
Now, if he trades Byrnes, I will demand my money back.
Well, just went from one of the best starting rotations to one of the worst in a couple of days. Beane has just upset a very small, but loyal fan base. Fine by me cause now his moneyball philosophy is really going to be exposed for the sham that it is. With no solid starting pitching, A’s don’t stand a chance cause they can’t hit.
-Mike E.
The most valuable A doesn’t pitch, hit or catch. He is Billy Beane and he thinks for a living and is still the reason the A’s were and are competitive in an unfair game. Billy is picking up three good players now instead of waiting a year and getting one draft pick for Mulder. Staying constant with declining assets is the greater risk for the A’s.
This is one of the most unique and interesting franchises and GM’s in sports and the typical fairweather A’s fans are ready to throw the GM under the bus for making moves. He has inside information so let’s cut Billy some slack. If you are going to be an A’s fan grow up and understand what it means to manage a paradox.
I’m breathless — just shows I can’t leave home for five hours without a shocker awaiting me when I get back.
What is going on???
i got home tonight and logged onto this site with only the expectation that marty might have some further insights into the hudson trade and the A’s future.
i posted here the other day after the huddy deal and said the reason the A’s are so fun to root for was because they excelled at bringing up young talent, being competetive with rookies and overlooked players — a great underdog team.
i thought they were keeping the ball rolling with the huddy deal. we came up short on that trade i thought but we would still be competetive if mulder could come back strong in ’05.
now i am afraid for this team. i can only hope there are more trades or aquisitions imminent. are beane and company readying themselves to go after a free agent? (who i could not imagine) if not, what are they up to?
do they really expect their small fanbase to buy tickets to watch a LOSING team?? i have always been a bit puzzled by the lack of fan support over the last five years…..and during that time they have been winners, they have been an OUTSTANDING team and absolutely wonderful to watch develop and pull for.
if nothing else develops for the A’s this off season i can only conclude we have entered that dreaded realm:
REBUILDING
(god help us)
but then why sign kendall, of all people, in an organization so supposedly deep at catcher? so what if those minor league guys ain’t quite ready, it’s not like they will be expected to get the A’s into the postseaon….no, there must be more going on here.
we may have strenghtened the bull pen….that would be nice if there were someone to save games for.
mulder and huddy: good luck fellows!
Carolina,
I think we all understand what it means quite well. It means that the A’s owners and Beane only cares about the players insofar as they can make a buck. Thinks for giving us an intro. into capitalist economics.
-Mike E.
thanks for giving us, I mean. 🙂
-Mike E.
I guess Zito has his bags packed by now and the A’s go back to the team of 1996 and 1997. What the
hell did they trade to get Jason Kendall. The new motto of tha A’s should be “We find them, develop them and you pay them !”
I am mystified
Jerry F
Marty:
Like you, I’m in shock. First Hudson, now Mulder. When most A’s fans opened their Sunday morning paper, many must have felt like they’d been “Beaned.” How many prospects does this franchise need?
Once Beane decided to move Hudson and Mulder, he should have made a young, right-handed hitter his highest priority. How about Aaron Rowand, who had a breakout season in ’04? The White Sox are looking for starting pitching and have a surplus of outfielders. They just acquired Scott Podsednik from the Brewers, re-signed Timo Perez, and have talented outfielders like Anderson and Sweeney in their minor league system. And, Cincinnati Reds’ management made it clear that they’d trade Dunn, Kearns, or Pena for a front of the rotation pitcher?
But, as you asked on-line, does Billy know something about Mulder (or for that matter, Hudson’s) physical condition? Sure, Schott’s refusal to sign the two aces long-term had to be on Beane’s mind. But it’s possible that Beane also feels nagging (chronic?) injuries that both Hudson and Mulder have faced could surface again. More time on the disabled list for either pitcher would certainly diminish their value. And, Billy may be freeing some money up if he’s serious about offering Durazo, Byrnes, Bradford, and Dotel arbitration, or making a deal for a legitimate bat.
But all of the speculation will do nothing to soothe the ire of die hard A’s fans. By substituting Hudson and Mulder for Haren and Meyer, the A’s have saved roughly $9 million. The least the organization can do for its fans is to use that money to add some significant offense for ’05.
Bruce
I agree. Who needs an economics class right now?
Its real simple: BB just traded Mulder, one of the best pitchers in the game, for so-so talent. He did the same with Hudson a few days ago.
WHY???
Mulder had two years left on the contract.
If you trade guys like this YOU GET ESTABLISHED MAJOR LEAGUE STUDS and prospects…not just prospects and middle relievers.
This is absolute crap. And no, I won’t just trust Billy Beane. Its common sense. You don’t trade a Mark Mulder with two years on his contract and get unproven prospects. You don’t trade the pitcher with the fourth best winning percentage in history (Hudson) and get unproven prospects.
Im sick and tired of devoting love and energy to a team who’s best players leave every single year.
Being an A’s fan is a crock of shit.
I quit.
—Ned
hey –
Read some history, did you even know the A’s were an organization before they played in Oakland? By your standards being an A’s fan has always been a “crock of shit”. You should be a Yankees fan. As for me, I’ll be faithful to the best minor league team in the majors.
sorry
Gosh Marty, I was hoping to get a positive spin on this one from you, but it sounds like you’re just as flabbergasted as I was. I openened the Sunday Sports section of the Tribune and lost all my appetite for breakfast. But I’ve eaten now and I guess I’m ready to digest this one.
I guess I’m not the first to say this, but (given the fact that the A’s are one of the only teams who wouldn’t lock Hudson and Mulder on long term) the only thing I don’t understand about these trades is that Billy didn’t get a power hitter.
By the way, Eric Byrnes said the same thing when he heard about the Mulder trade: “You’ve got to be kidding”.
I guess there are two ways that I can get this Mulder trade to work for me. One is if the Mulder we saw at the end of last season is the Mulder of the future, and that his best days are past. I don’t buy this one, though, because the guy is a horse. He has such an easy power, there are times I could imagine him going an effortless 18 innings. Of course, I thought the same thing when he went on the DL two seasons ago. So maybe he is physically on the outs; won’t the Cardinals be aware of this possibility? I’m curious to know if the Cardinals will conduct special tests during his physical to ascertain his pitching health.
The other way this trade works for me is if these new guys perform. Billy Beane is great at seeing players “upsides”. I sure hope this is the case this time. No power hitter? I guess BB sees a potential “power hitter by committee”, which the A’s seemed to employ in ’04. Last year’s homer stats work for me, but can we hope for that again this year? Guess we’ll have to, but there is some room for optimism. With the addition of Ginter, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the A’s infield will lead the majors in homers next year.
The A’s just aren’t a team that is going to out-“stud” you. And now that the “moneyball” philosophy is trickling into more major league organizations’ methodologies it’s going to take aggressive and risky moves like these two trades to keep Oakland competitive. It hurts but it’s not going to ruin my season yet.
See you in section 317,
brianf
This is what it means to be an A’s fan. You work with a process and not a player. The A’s are committed to winning but can’t do harm to anyone season. The A’s have the best insights into Muldrer’s market value.
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