Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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A's Obtain Ethier From Dodgers For Bradley and Perez by Rick Kaplan


Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (July 8) – “I finally got my man,” Moneyball maven Billy Beane told ESPN late Saturday night.

“We’ve had our eye on Andre Ethier since last winter. He fits our profile perfectly. A multi-tool kid at the bottom of the salary scale who can step in and fill a role at the major league level right now.”

Beane continued enthusiastically, ” I can’t believe Ned Coletti (the Dodger GM) let Ethier go! He is the kind of blue chip prospect that organizations don’t normally sacrifice to their short-term goals.. They gave us a kid who is going to be a star for years to come. And for Bradley and Perez! Everyone likes Bradley, but the kid isn’t able to stay in the line-up. And Perez, another nice kid, is a marginal player, at least in the AL.”

Click below for more!“I kind of feel like we stole this kid Ethier right out from under their nose. But this is a business. I’ve been in Coletti’s shoes myself. LA’s loss is our gain, I guess you could say.”

Ethier, a left-handed hitting outfielder who has been rapidly establishing himself in the middle of the Dodger order, with a four hit game and a three hit game just this week, was hitting .354, with a .401 O.B.P. in 58 games at the close of action on Saturday. Despite being platooned, he has been ripping apart lefties at a .435 clip when he gets the chance. And, as if that’s not enough, he has already thrown out five base runners from the outfield.

Has a player ever won Rookie-of-the-Year in both leagues in the same season?

Insiders see Ethier being inserted in the third slot in the batting order for Oakland, opening the possibility of a prolonged rest for the ailing Eric Chavez. Marco Scutaro can adequately fill Chavez’ glove defensively on a short-term assignment, and there is obviously no way his hitting right now could be any less effective than the AL’s perennial Gold Glove third baseman.

Many feel Beane’s Moneyball philosophy contributed to this transaction. “We think Bradley is overvalued at $3M a year, which can get pretty costly when he is on the DL. Ethier is at the MLB minimum, approximately $300K, and he is doing something to contribute every day.”

Beane said the A’s may not be done dealing. There are rumors about Esteban Loaiza heading back to the Nationals, in exchange for Jose Guillen.

“Hey, if I was goofy enough to let Guillen go in 2004, after he played his heart out for us and really produced, and then I was goofy enough to sign Loaiza for three years at $22M, maybe the Nationals will be goofy enough to take Loaiza back and let us have Guillen! Funnier trades have happened before.”

Like last night’s deal for Ethier.

More Mid-Season Myths of 2006

“Glen Kuiper is Duane Kuiper’s brother” . . . Duane Kuiper is a somewhat independent, entertaining and knowledgeable announcer for the Giants, while Glen Kuiper is really Lew Wolff’s son . . . “The Mets can challenge the best teams in the AL” . . . With what pitching? Pedro is on the DL, and he didn’t really look that good when he was “healthy.” . . . Hitting doesn’t count as much in the post-season, and the Mets desperately need a dominant starter or two to be taken seriously . . . “The Cardinals Are a Really Good Team” . . . Does anyone really believe this anymore, especially after what the AL Central did to them? . . . This is a team that actually went out and pursued Jeff Weaver this week, although Weaver might very well be dominant in the NL . . .On the other hand, the Pirates, and the Royals for that matter, are, like so many teams, just a couple of credible pitchers away from relative respectability . . . “The strike zone is from the knees to the letters” . . . in reality, if there are 75 umpires in MLB, there are at least 75 strike zones. And some umpires suffer from multiple strike zone disorder (MSZD), so on any given night they don’t know what their own zone is. This can get very confusing to the players . . . “The Home Run Hitting Contest at the All-Star Game is Not Performance-enhanced” . . . I don’t know about the players, but the balls have been altered. They are smaller and harder (golf, anyone?) than the baseballs that are used in regular games. . . Last year, Bobby Abreu hit an all-time record 41 in the contest . . . this season he has 9 home runs for the season at the break . . . .

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