Oakland on the cusp of first place

[stevece80]

Can't find a website with non-tabled standings, but the A's are currently one game out of first. A's in Minny to face a stumbling Twins squad, Haren Vs. Mays. Anaheim at home versus a stumbling Orioles squad, Fatty versus Fatty.

 

A's currently 13.5 games out of last place.

[YankeeDoodle]

That's another way of putting it. Against the A's pitching staff, not a time when the Twinkies should find their offensive stride.

 

HE, do you go to AN by any chance?

[stevece80]

AN?

[YankeeDoodle]

Athletics Nation

[stevece80]

I've visited that site I think, and go to Elephants in Oakland occasional, but I'm a Red Sox fan. The only time I really visit those sites have been when they're playing Boston, and after the Payton trade.

[CrespoBlows]

Moneyball still doesn't work though, it is all about pitching. (HE, don't get into another arguement, because I don't feel like getting owned tonight)

[CrespoBlows]

I do however think Billy Beane is a terrific GM though. No other GM, would have had the balls to trade 2 aces.

[YankeeDoodle]

Haha, ok sorry, I mistook you for an A's fan. *blushes*

 

Hey Billy Beane, I'm still waiting for your sequel Moneyball 2: How to Win a Postseason Series, here!

 

Well? According to Joe Morgan he wrote it! <_ pssh every other broacast jm on he has to go for fifteen minutes and bash moneyball. or billyball. whatever.>

[CrespoBlows]

Haha, ok sorry, I mistook you for an A's fan. *blushes*

 

Hey Billy Beane, I'm still waiting for your sequel Moneyball 2: How to Win a Postseason Series, here!

 

Well? According to Joe Morgan he wrote it! <_ pssh every other broacast jm on he has to go for fifteen minutes and bash moneyball. or billyball. whatever.>

 

Morgan says Moneyball is a terrific regular season plan, but you can't wait for the 3 run HR in the postseason. When the other team is as good as you are, and has great starting pitching, you need to manufacture some runs. You could get lucky and draw the Yankees in postseason.

[stevece80]

Moneyball never says that pitching is bad. Pitching is always correctly, or overly valued. The "Moneyball" A's had Hudson, Mulder and Zito. They now have a great future rotation in Harden, Zito, Blanton, Haren and Meyer (if he's healthy). Would you take their rotation over the non-"Moneyball" small-market teams like the Reds, Devil Rays, Royals and so on? They're all working with similar payrolls, why do the A's who seemingly don't care about pitching, have so much more pitching?

[stevece80]

Morgan says Moneyball is a terrific regular season plan, but you can't wait for the 3 run HR in the postseason.

 

This guy would disagree:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/weaveea99.shtml

 

He never played the game, though, so what did he know?

[YankeeDoodle]

Oakland didn't do too terrible in their postseason runs, but some things can't be blamed on the front office - errors in baserunning - Byrnes neglecting to touch homeplate or Giambi (Jeremy) failing to slide.

 

I should be expecting a shot at the Yankees in every thread now.

[CrespoBlows]

Moneyball never says that pitching is bad. Pitching is always correctly, or overly valued. The "Moneyball" A's had Hudson, Mulder and Zito. They now have a great future rotation in Harden, Zito, Blanton, Haren and Meyer (if he's healthy). Would you take their rotation over the non-"Moneyball" small-market teams like the Reds, Devil Rays, Royals and so on? They're all working with similar payrolls, why do the A's who seemingly don't care about pitching, have so much more pitching?

 

The Reds, Royals, and Devil Rays probably have numbers 30, 29, and 28 in terms of ranking general managers. Lamar has to be the worse GM in the history of baseball, they get Sanchez (quality arm) Shoppach (starting catcher), Petit (another good arm), and Milledge (top prospect) and he wants more?

 

I agree though that Zito, Blanton, Haren, Harden, and Meyer is a dominant young staff, and the A's bullpen is pretty damn deep too. (That may be the reason they advance in the postseason, winning 2-0 games).

 

As for the A's not caring about starting pitching, I don't think Billy Beane would have a job if he felt that way.

[YankeeDoodle]

Hey, let's not forget Huston Street here! Kid has some serious stuff as the closer, and making a Rookie of the Year run, too. Hmm, if he won it this year, and Bobby Crosby won it in 2004...nice what Oakland has going on there. YOUTH!

[stevece80]

Oakland didn't do too terrible in their postseason runs, but some things can't be blamed on the front office - errors in baserunning - Byrnes neglecting to touch homeplate or Giambi (Jeremy) failing to slide.

 

Barry Zito starting the final game of the 2002 season to pad his Cy Young resume, when he should have been in line to start two games against the lefty-phobic Twins. A's lose 3-2.

 

Simply put, the A's have had some bad luck. They've also faced some great Red Sox and Yankees teams, who had too much talent and heart to just roll over and die down 2-0.

 

They've had a great run for a team that did a lot with very little. Their playoff slump is on par with Bonds' slump coming into the 2002 postseason.

[CrespoBlows]

Hey, let's not forget Huston Street here! Kid has some serious stuff as the closer, and making a Rookie of the Year run, too. Hmm, if he won it this year, and Bobby Crosby won it in 2004...nice what Oakland has going on there. YOUTH!

 

It seems as if the A's always win ROY. Crosby, Grieve, Weiss, McGwire, and Canseco, and two of their farmhands (Hinskie, and Berroa) won it as well.

[YankeeDoodle]

I want that "heart" back.

[CrespoBlows]

This guy would disagree:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/weaveea99.shtml

 

He never played the game, though, so what did he know?

 

http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/weaverearl/

 

He seems like the A's, except he won one WS title. Not great considering his overall sucess.

I don't think that people who don't play the game are idiots, Epstein has never played, yet he is one of the top 5 GM's in baseball.

 

I still say that pitching and defense wins championships. It looks as if Mr. Weaver agrees with you in one way, and me in one way.

 

Just look at the Orioles pitching staff's ERA in that series, and then look at the Reds.

[YankeeDoodle]

Is the new "trend" hiring Ivy League-educated GMs?

[stevece80]

I still say that pitching and defense

 

The A's pitching and defense is better than their offense.

[YankeeDoodle]

Oh by the way, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that FANTASTIC tag by Jason Kendall. :clap: You know, "THE Tag".

 

Hey Posada, how about one of those once in awhile. Throwing out a runner? Something to jog my memory, since I just can't fathom how you have a 29% CS.

[CrespoBlows]

The A's pitching and defense is better than their offense.

 

I agree.

 

BTW, what other A's pitching prospects are on the way up?

[CrespoBlows]

Oh by the way, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that FANTASTIC tag by Jason Kendall. :clap: You know, "THE Tag".

 

Hey Posada, how about one of those once in awhile. Throwing out a runner? Something to jog my memory, since I just can't fathom how you have a 29% CS.

 

Kendall's even worse (72 out of 89) or a 19% CS rate.

[stevece80]

I agree.

 

BTW, what other A's pitching prospects are on the way up?

 

Offhand, all I could think of was the reliever Jairo Garcia. I'll check BA, because I honestly don't know outside of the obvious, and those they got in the Mulder and Hudson deals.

[YankeeDoodle]

Posada's CS is middle of the pack; defense was never all that great, but it was his offense that made it tolerable. But now players are swiping off him all the time, and in part it has to do with pitchers being terrible at keeping runners on (exception being Mussina), however it's just unbearable to watch with not even an attempt at a pick-off. Yes SB happen more than CS, maybe the throw wouldn't have been in time, yet it's still ugly to watch. Seems like it's 2.9%.

 

I don't observe Oakland that much, but well, at least there was one memorable play to that.

[Sox fan in Tex]

The next step for Oakland is clearly to "Moneyball" to work in the postseason. If they can even get past the ALDS, that will be a great stride for the A's.

[MC Hammer]

Posada's CS is middle of the pack; defense was never all that great, but it was his offense that made it tolerable. But now players are swiping off him all the time, and in part it has to do with pitchers being terrible at keeping runners on (exception being Mussina), however it's just unbearable to watch with not even an attempt at a pick-off. Yes SB happen more than CS, maybe the throw wouldn't have been in time, yet it's still ugly to watch. Seems like it's 2.9%.

 

I don't observe Oakland that much, but well, at least there was one memorable play to that.

Speaking of Oakland, be happy you're catcher isn't Jason Kendall. He went from being one of the better defensive catcher to the worst in the league. I think runners started off the year perfect stealing against him. I think the first 30 or so guys that tried made it. I haven't see his SB/CS stats lately but I doubt they've gotten any better.

[elsrbueno]

Oakland does this every year. They always play their best baseball in the second half (at least of late), so why should this year be any different?

 

Personally, I'm glad to see the Oakland Athletics playing well. Billy Beane is not only very smart, but he's also got a lot of guts for trading Mulder AND Hudson within days of each other. He knew he would take a lot of s*** for it, but he also knew that he was getting some serious talent in return.

 

The Hudson trade has yet to pay dividends to the Athletcs, as Juan Cruz struggled mightily and Dan Meyer has struggled at AAA (and don't forget Charles Thomas), but the trade with St. Louis has helped the A's significantly. Danny Haren and Kiko Calero have helped this year on the pitching staff immediately. Meyer and Cruz are both young enough and should be able to help down the road.

 

Not to mention the fact that Barry Zito has rebounded from a rough start, and the two pitchers the A's got from Colorado: Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasik-- have also pitched well in Oakland so far.

 

The offense is still below average and probably the worst of any serious contender, but with that pitching staff, they should at least challenge Anaheim in the AL West, and be in the Wild Card race all year.

 

Man, I hope the Red Sox win the division. The Wild Card is going to be one hell of a race.

[YankeeDoodle]

Tell me about it.

 

A-HA! Here's a stat for you: the Yankees currently allow the most SB in the majors, with 94 (second is the Dodgers with 85).

 

So, let's look at the common thread. Flaherty is worse, but he only catches RJ. And yes, I did admit that most of the Yanks pitchers are horrible at holding runners...but that aside there's a common denominator:

 

JORGE POSADA'S CATCHING!

 

Speaking of SB, are A-Rod and Jeter not attempting as much anymore? Womack had like four in one game, but now's benched, not to mention that was when, MAY?

[CrespoBlows]

Not to mention the fact that Barry Zito has rebounded from a rough start, and the two pitchers the A's got from Colorado: Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasik-- have also pitched well in Oakland so far.

 

What a pickup Jay Witasik was! He fanned app. 1/3 of the 160+ batters he's faced.