Batter Up April 3rd, 2005

The American League West has become the premier division in the league.

Every team in the West has a chance to win the division this season. Every team in the West has a manager that makes an impact on the game. Every team in the West has a general manager that understands how to build a winning ball club.

So, who’s the frontrunner to win the division as the season opens up? [Read more →]

When baseball fans hear names such as Johnny Sain, Walt Hriniak, Charlie Lau, and Leo Mazzone they immediately recognize some of the most successful major league coaches in baseball history, men who have shaped the careers of numerous hall of famers.

Add A’s infield coach Ron Washington to the above list.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

This is a difficult question to answer with a simple yes or no. The true answer may not be known for years to come or at the very least until this season plays out.

In the spirit of the upcoming Oscar awards, let’s create categories of interest and give a special baseball award called, “The Bud” (in honor of the commish) to the winner of each category.

Click Below for the awards and my analysis of the winter moves. I welcome your reactions.
Marty

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The Super bowl has past, the one day I wait for each year, because it signifies that there is nothing in the way of the impending baseball season.

Within the next two weeks the teams will all have reported for training in Arizona and Florida.

I remember reading that the Brooklyn Dodgers trained in both Havana and Panama in 1946 and 47 because the city fathers in Vero Beach Florida wouldn’t permit black players to live or train in Vero Beach.

59 years is not that long ago when considering periods of history, baseball mirrors life and American culture in so many ways, segregation was just one of them, which should never be forgotten.

Steroids and how they helped bodybuilers win championships weren’t ignored by baseball players who also were looking for an edge.

This morning Jose Canseco is back in the news revealing more of the sacred secrets of the clubhouse.

One thing is common when reading all the comments about Jose’s revelations about his teammates steroid use: no one is calling him a liar.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

It sure feels good to be in Arizona, I’m here for the A’s Fantasy Camp. I get to put on the uniform and play ball all week, then at night I facilitate the baseball discussions between the campers (ages 30-60) and the former players.

Shooty Babitt is here and he is the camp coordinator. Greg Cadaret came in yesterday, Tony Phillips too.
Tomorrow Terry Steinbach, Dave Henderson, Billy North, Dave Stewart among others.

Drove past the A’s spring training facility last night and you could just feel how close spring training is to getting started. Then went up tp Scottsdale, had sushi, and breezed past the Giants park, you could sense the difference between the A’s and Giants immediately.
Say what you want, but there is a definite rivalry between the two.

Most of the talk yesterday was about Mark Mulder and how his problems could be in his head and how this has happened to pitchers throughout the history of the game and it’s not that uncommon for careers to take a major downturn.

We’ll see, I still think the A’s moved him too early.

Someone said to me in the restaurant last night that he thought Barry Zito would be traded to Arizona, No way, Zito is the ace of the staff, and as I write this it is a frightening thought just going off last year’s performance. The ace has to give you seven innings with a low pitch count, something he had trouble doing last season.

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New York city loves its newspapers and its baseball rumors.

The latest was published Sunday and it involves the A’s and Eric Byrnes.

Mike Cameron was the apple of Billy Beane’s eye during the winter of 2003. Cameron told me he was offered more money by the A’s to sign here as a free agent, but chose the bright lights in NY, a place he always wanted to play.

Well, Mike has joined the crowd of disgruntled players who have the seen the Big Apple turn an unfriendly eye towards their game.

Now the Mets have 117 million invested in Carlos Beltran. Cameron sees the handwriting on the wall. A gifted centerfielder, Cameron’s days in center are over and he is being asked to change outfield positions.

This is where the A’s come in.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Now that the New Year has officially begun, (the next significant event will be disposing of the Super Bowl), it’s time to take on the first hurdle of the new season: The Hall of Fame inductees for 2005 will be announced this Tuesday.

No doubt Wade Boggs will be voted in. Was he the best at his position? Probably as close to it as possible. My recollections of Boggs center on the way he attacked 200 hits every season. Only Pete Rose or perhaps Steve Garvey and now Ichiro made their annual pursuit of 200 hits in a season their primary goal.

What a tough out Boggs was. Taking pitches close to the plate, you couldn’t strike him out. One of the toughest outs of all time.

Two hundred hits in one year is a mark that is still significant for me and it is still a thrill to see a player connect on that milestone. Boggs did it regularly plus won batting titles and I don’t think you can tell the story of baseball during his career without including his exploits.

Boggs gets my vote without a question.

Click below for the my thoughts on who should also get the call around noon on Tuesday. [Read more →]

The A’s have a rotation of two excellent starters, Zito and Harden, one possible third starter who may win 10-14 games, if all goes well, Dan Haren, and two completely unproven rookies who will need two years in the majors if they don’t get crushed in their first year, to mature into major league pitchers.

Now the good news. Baseball today requires a strong bull pen. You build a pitching staff from the back forward. Juan Cruz and Kiko Calero have an upside which might be better than Jim Mecir and Chad Bradford. Huston Street might make it, Jairo Garcia might be close behind too. Rincon can still get lefties out and Dotel might save 35 games if used correctly.

“Might” is the key word.

Hatteberg and Durazo are at first, Ginter and Scutaro at second, Crosby at short, Chavez at third. Right now Byrnes, Thomas, Kielty in left, Kotsay in center, and Swisher in right, Kendall catching.

What does it add up to?

85 wins if all goes well. Road trips will be a nightmare with young pitching in the rotation. Much too much pressure on the offense to carry this team.

Will it get better in 2006, I’ll tell you after I see about 100 games this year.

The A’s broke up a very good pitching staff by trading stars, the players they received in return could have been obtained by trading young players they have in their own minor league system.

These trades were made for money reasons pure and simple.

There was no reason to trade Mulder this year unless you really felt his second half meltdown was going to continue.

He may have had a nice year, anchoring the staff, then you could have made this trade next December just like the one this week for Hudson.

The team won’t suck, but it won’t be a favorite to win the division, in fact it will probably be picked to finish third or fourth.

Keep in mind the pitching in Anaheim, Seattle and Texas is not lights out. The offenses are, but pitching wins, so the AL West won’t be a runaway for any team.

Billy Beane’s legacy as a GM is now tied to six new players plus Jason Kendall, I wonder how he feels about that?

He fell into Hudson, Mulder, and Zito along with Tejada and Giambi. He creatively added Foulke, Damon, Isringhausen, Kotsay, Mecir, and numerous others, but didn’t win.

He blew up the A’s pitching this winter and will start a new.

His own drafts of Swisher, Blanton, and Street will now be judged on their merits.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

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.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Anytime your favorite team or any team for that matter makes a move by trading for or trading a player the reaction from the fans is immediate.

We all have opinions on the trade. We all want to give advice to the general manager before and after the move.

Personally I’m surprised that more general managers don’t consult with me before they send a player packing.

Baseball was the first interactive game. We all sit back and play along both before, during, and after the game, criticizing and analyzing the moves that were made or not made by the manager.

Legendary baseball owner and promoter Bill Veeck realized this phenomenon in 1952 when he was the owner of the hapless St. Louis Browns. Veeck had a “grandstand managers night” one evening. The fans behind the home dugout were given cards with a “yes” or “no” on them. They were then polled on such questions such as “should the pitcher be taken out” or “should we bunt”.

The fans loved it, the Browns won the game and for the first time the fan actually had a voice during the game.

We are all waiting for that chance today. The moment to influence the course of conduct a team takes.

Baseball has been the same since 1903. No rule changes since then. The DH isn’t a rule change, merely lets another hitter bat.

We as knowledgeable fans really do know the game, we just don’t understand the finances behind the scenes.

Hall of Famer Branch Rickey, the smartest executive ever to run a baseball team pioneered on base percentage formulas in the 1920’s, was the first to say it’s better to trade a player one year too early than one year too late.

The game has been the same for over 100 years, nothing really new. That’s the reason why we can spend a lifetime enjoying the different aspects of baseball, it never changes.

Trade your star pitcher for three players. One better be a phenom pitcher with great scouting reports. Will he make it in the majors? Who knows but we will watch every pitch along the way while he tries to replace the star.

We would have made the deal? No way, but it’s not our money, we are merely consultants after the fact.

Owners have plenty of money, more than you could ever imagine having. They will only spend it if they think it is absolutely necessary to keep the team competitive, keep the fans coming in to the park.

George Steinbrenner is the exception. He really does want to win the world series every year and will not stop spending until he thinks he has the team to do it.

I don’t feel sorry for any owner in baseball. They routinely have personal fortunes exceeding 500 million. If they want to fly to Europe for lunch, they’ll do it in a flash.

If they want to keep the star players they can do it. If they think they can keep the fans coming in by letting players go, they’ll do it.

Tim Hudson is in Atlanta. Would I have made the move now? No. Hudson was worth keeping for this season. The players the A’s received would have been available in July if the A’s were interested in moving Hudson at that time.

Now Joe Blanton is in the mix, perhaps before his time. Dan Meyer too.

So what happens now with Eric Byrnes, Chad Bradford and Bobby Kielty?

Click below for more!

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