A's Take Cactus League Opener

The A's are 1-0 this spring after taking a 7-5 win over the Brewers yesterday in a cold (for Arizona) and wet (for not being dry) 10 inning contest.

We had an email question read on the air. Guess what it was about? Go on, guess.


Yup, we asked what it would take for Terrence Long and Chris Singleton to be dethroned and for Adam Piatt and Eric Byrnes to be re-seated. Basically the answer was; for both to hit .500 in the spring and for Long and Singleton to be perpetually lost in the parking lot looking for their keys. So, no chance in hell to overturn the lineup by spring.


A later question had a similar tone and things we summed up by declaring that A's fans have been spoiled. That somehow with the success of several younger players over the years we get our panties in a bunch if someone has a "down year".


Well, there's no such thing as a "down year". Especially for a developing player. Did you get bad grades in the 9th grade? Did you just have a down year? Or were you a bad student and didn't apply yourself very well?


Bad analogy?


YES..


But you get the point.


Further, the question of Long and Ramon Hernandez are not "down years" but continual trends. Both had two bad years in a row. That means they are regressing or three years ago they performed over their heads. What's the answer? Get someone else in the lineup if you don't know for sure.


This is the kind of stuff that you need BASEBALL PROSPECTUS; for. You need PECOTA numbers and projected stats to figure out what might the next move be, what should be the next move be and what other options there are out there.


BP.com is going subscription. It claims it's actually offering a PREMIUM service but what does that say about the free stuff? They are out to make a buck as well they should. They have the best resource available that combines words and numbers that involve baseball. We can't live without Quotes of the Week or the Transaction Analysis. Adding Will Carroll to the mix makes the cost almost reasonable.


As much as we hate to spend money we plunked down our $39.95 earlier this week. These are not starving artists. But it is very close. They deserve to be comfrtable enough to continue to rain down on Kenny Williams and the Tampa Bay franchise without fearing a blacklisting or being shut out of consultation possibilities. Plus, it means they can hire a few more hands and possibly pay interns from UC Davis more than a free shirt and possibly pay for the eye strain, carpal tunnel injuries and blister relief of their writers.


As long as we are schilling you should hurry up and get over to MLB.COM and get their Total Ticket while it's still cheap. You get to listen to all the spring games and all of the radio broadcasts your ears can handle, plus video and highlight packages. So when we go and tell you to look at the ctach T Long made in Boston last year you can watch it a few times and utter, "hey, Dye would have gotten to that, anyway, it wasn't going out and that looks like a fairly routine play for a centerfielder".

Now Batting

Ah, the batting order. Too often confused with the pecking order. Does the spot in the batting order determine how a player will perform? No. Does the batting order dictate anything. No. Is there really any difference where somebody hits in the batting order? No.


Okay. We're lying. It does matter. Kind of. Back in Little League the best spot in the batting order was "now batting". Everything else was waiting to get to that. Usually the coach would put his better players up at the top of the order in order to get them more at bats. Simple science.


In MLB things are more complex. For no good reason. In reality, your production will determine how many at bats you get. If you bat second, fifth or ninth, doesn't really matter; if you're not producing you're not going to be in the line up. Royce Clayton, Neifi Perez, Tony LaRussa and Syd Thrift theories aside.


The only time a batting order really matters is when games are close and it doesn't even matter that much. But, if you need a single run in a tie game, you probably want a high-on base percentage guy out there with some speed up as soon as possible. Unless you have a guy with a free home run card to burn. In the realm of possibilities, a ground ball might move a runner over if he is not dragging an anchor. Also, going form first to third and scoring from second are all real nice with a speedy guy. The sooner you score the sooner you win, etc.


But does having a decent 'bunter' or good contact hitter behind the fast guy who hits left handed to avoid double plays really matter that much? Maybe. There's just not a real definitive need to justify not having your better production guys at the top of the batting order. Staggering them left-right-left-right or even based on speed and base stealing goes into the area of micro-managing to a fault.


One of the few things that Art Howe did extremely well was letting guys play ball. For the most part he resisted the urges to shimmy the batting order to play small ball and call for a bunt when it wasn't needed (read: NEXT TO NEVER). He didn't stick Terrence Long in the two hole because he was fast. Then again, he didn't stick Terrence Long down at the end of the bench away far from the batter's box, either.


Well, so why's the batting order such a big deal?


It has roots in the tradition of baseball. The cleanup hitter is well, a cleanup hitter. He's a monstrous character who swings a Redwood tree for a bat and hasn't shaved in 40 years and he's only 30 years old. The lead-off hitter is faster than fast and scores runs before the game even starts. He's just that fast. The ninth hitter is a weak-kneed chump who looks out of place in a uniform and resembles the owner's nephew or his accountant.


That's just baseball.


There's a psycho-social factor, though, that managers GM's and players rely on. When Miguel Tejada moved to the three hole last year he thrived. Most likely because he was going to anyway-no matter where he batted. But, is was something that denoted that Miguel was finally expected to stop swinging at 2-0 pitches and chasing balls in the dirt. He was a veteran on a team of young players and a lot more was going to be expected of him.


Often, when a player moves to the clean-up spot or three hole too much self-inflicted pressure follows. A departure of what got them to that place in the order disappears and they start floating around in the order, again. You see guys swinging too hard, too long and too much. Trying to pull every pitch as if hitting it 100 feet beyond the fence counts for more than just hitting it over the fence by ten feet. Hey, they both count.


Let's get to the meat of this post before we bore you to tears.

Oakland A's Projected Batting Order

1. 2B Mark Ellis
2. 3B Eric Chavez
3. SS Miguel Tejada
4. RF Jermaine Dye
5. DH Erubial Durazo/Ron Gant
6. 1B Scott Hatteberg
7. LF Terrence Long/Adam Piatt
8. C Ramon Hernandez/Mark Johnson
9. CF Chris Singleton/Eric Byrnes

Where do we get the collective...

Here's the deal. Mark Ellis was the A's leadoff hitter last year before the acquisition of Ray Durham. He had an OBP of .350 and hit .272 he didn't hit the crap out of the ball only slugging .394, but then the A's didn't ask him to. He got on base and scored runs. When he did need to, he showed some pop in his bat, ask the Twins in Game five of the ALDS. He is fast and a good base runner. Not that there should be any need to steal a base, but TAKING an extra base here and there would be a big difference form the clod footed-non-slidy-pants guy the A's started 2002 with.


A better reason is that the A's don't have anyone else better suited for the 'role'. Which is how most leadoff hitters and two-hole guys get their jobs, anyway.


Speaking of number two hitters. We're going with Eric Chavez. Basically because the Scott Hatteberg (SCOTT HATTEBERG OWNS RIGHT CENTER FIELD) Experience is suited a little better further down in the order. Scott has some back problems. He did a good job of getting on base at .374 and slugging at .433, but he still only scored 58 runs in 132 games. By contrast, Mark Ellis scored 58 runs in 96 games.


We feel that Eric Chavez would be a better fit in the two spot. For a couple of reasons. First, we think so. Second, we say so. Beyond that is starts to get numbery. Chavez ground into all of 8 double plays last year. That's the same number Ichiro ground into last year. Hitting into double plays is bad. Not hitting into double plays is better than bad.


But the real reason is to not leave Chavez lingering around at the five hole. Get Chavez a guaranteed first inning at-bat so he can screw his head on straight. One of the big knocks against Chavez is that he's streaky. Well, show us any 25 year old MLB that has hit 100 homeruns that is not a little inconsistent. Plus, hitting second might focus Chavez to think, "get on base". Chavez can launch 40 homeruns and he's getting better at hitting left-handers. Okay, not much better, but he's getting more comfortable. Remember, Jason Giambi didn't his first homerun off a left-hander until 2000...not that it's particulalry relevant here. Just that little hitter's split didn't change the fact that Jason was hitting third for several years by then.


Speaking of third.


What will make you happy? Denial, resistance or futile clinging?


The reason the Miguel Tejada Issue is still not an issue is because it never will be.


Miguel Tejada will not be with the Oakland A's in 2004.


The only question is whether the A's decide to trade him or allow him to go via free agency and collect the first round draft picks. After the Jason Giambi scenario and the recent growth of the A's minor league talent, what do you think the A's are prepared to do?


We will not weep over this course of action. Though Miggi will be missed. Just as anyone you've watched grow up before you eyes. Miggi is an under-rated fielder and has the ability to abuse pitchers at the plate. He's a shortstop that has been slighted because there are a few right-fielders playing the position these days.


The Oakland Athletics Baseball Club does not have the funds to tie up a supposedly 27 year-old shortstop and reigning MVP with a long term deal.


It's just not in the cards, fans of the Green and Gold.


The A's don't have the funds to pay a public relations consultation firm or a market research team to do their PR or analysis. It's all done in house, on the fly, on the cheap. They don't have the infrastructure to build a cable package and shop it around superior California and raise the value of the franchise.


However.


A new ownership group with a few heads put together could. The BayArea and Sacramento have a metro area large enough to support two NBA teams, Two MLB teams and two NFL teams. There are two major NCAA programs and several lower division schools in the area. That's enough sports programming in and of itself to create a network that would rival TBS, WGN and the Super Station without any additional programming.


No, you couldn't directly broadcast NFL games and we're not sure of the NBA TV package. But we know that someone could put a decent MLB package together on a cable network for the BayArea. Fox Sports sure as hell hasn't. The A's haven't helped themselves by shooting themselves in the foot with adding the River Cats to the Sacramento area. The local radio station and TV station that carried A's games now carry River Cats games. There's a few million in lost revenue. Not to mention zapping dollars away from the parent club in the form of attendance.


The A's have a minor league affiliate in Modesto, too. The Giants are in a similar boat having their minor league team in Fresno and lower minor league team in San Jose. They seem to be able to throw $20 million at Barry Bonds and waste $10 on Neifi Perez and Kirk Reuter. That's $30 million at three players. That's more than half the A's payroll for the 40 man roster.


We're getting off the subject we went off subject to rant about in the third place.


You don't have to have professional sports streaming 24 hours a day. We are referring to highlight shows, player shows, fan shows, fantasy league shows, sports talk radio on TV...imagine the Best Damn Sports Show with actual content and with more brain cells and fewer 'personalities'. Throw in the splendor of Northern California with its golf, adventure sports and third tier professional sports and there's too much content for one network.


What Napa Spa or San Francisco restaraunt is not going to want to advertise and to reach their target demographic on a regular basis through a sports cable network?

Husband: "Hey, maybe we can go to that wine tasting place this weekend dear."
Wife: "Wine tasting?"
Husband: "Yah, it's at this trendy restaraunt and spa place in between Napa and Walnut Creek. It doesn't sound that bad."
Wife: 'Really?! Wine tasting?"
Husband: "Yah, oh and there's that championship golf course, thing, too"

Anyway.


Miggi is going to be gone and if it happens mid-season Chavez can drop to the number three spot without any added pressure, real or imagined.


Jermaine Dye is going to have a big year. Think 2000 only more so. Putting him at cleanup provides the A's with the big bat everyone has been clamoring for free and allows Durazo to slip in to do even more damage in the five spot. Putting Hatteberg at 6th just makes the line-up look better as guys with very good OBP just keep stepping up.


Then, the A's will trot out the bottom of the order to ruin everything.


No, really. That's the difference between the A's and, oh, say the Yankees. The A's are going to have a dip somewhere and this is it.


The most that can be hoped for in the 7-8-9 spots are a workable platoon with Mark Johnson and Ramon Hernandez, for Terrence Long to justify his presence on the roster and Chris Singleton to continually earn his keep on an at-bat by at-bat ratio. Call it the tough love foursome.


Terrence Long has an eye problem that apparently has been discussed hush-hushly. That really doesn't matter. Playing centerfield, second or DH'ing; if you can't produce and are detrimental to the team performance, you shouldn't be out there. Especially out there very single day with some stupid and egotistical notion that a consecutive games played streak means something other than adding a line to your player bio. T Long still has to play leftfield, and while a decent athlete, he still isn't an above average fielder and he certainly isn't above average at the plate.


Mark Johnson will be a decent replacement for Ramon Hernandez as someone is going to start inquiring about him in trade talks. The A's could free up dough this way. Ramon may have a sentimental attachment with the A's pitching staff as he grew along with most of them. Well, they grew. He regressed. At least witht he bat. But, the A's can't afford defensive specialists when they must even out the offensive production to compensate for being unable to pay 'Super Star' salaries. Or, what 'Super Star' agents think 'Super Star' salaries should be.


The Chris Singleton experiment has about six weeks. That's it. From Opening Day Sushi to Memorial Day fat free turkey dogs.


Well, there you go.


We're heading over to MLB Radio to listen to the first Spring Game.

Generic Genetics

One of the great opportunities a blog offers is lack of a deadline. Unless it is self-imposed. We don't have to be 'journalistic' in our approach. We get to shoot from the hip, go over the top or just be 'professional' about what we do. We can make all sorts of wild and crazy statements and still be 'professional' in the way we present information and we can still make mistakes and later correct them. We provide facts as well as opinion and sometimes people trip over which is which. We still value our opionon and hope you do, too. We try to be inbetween the regular fluff and crap you get tired of reading about in the mainstream media and above bulletin board stuff you'd find in a chat room.


Enough of that clap-trap.


The Baseball Prospectus Pizza Feed was enjoyable. If you have an opportunity to get a seat at one, we highly suggest you do. And bring something to take notes with. Ask questions and rent a sense of humor if you have to. Oh, and insist on a free T-Shirt. Preferably not one that the BP.com author is wearing at the time, though.


We received our copy of Baseball Prospectus 2003 and it hasn't disappointed us, yet. There have been improvements in the forecasting and the way the stats are presented, but the real reason you buy BP2K3 is for the writing. Every so often we'll drop a little flavor of what BP has to say about the A's or other players in baseball. We''ll also try and explain some of the numbers, in case you just can't wrap your head around some of the analysis tools.


Miguel Tejada's agents are due to talk with the A's this week. Most likely about whether or not they should meet in public or private and if they eat who gets to write off the meal as a tax deduction. Hopefully, they will make progress on these, ugh, scenarios and the Miguel Tejada Issue, which is now capitalized, but still not an issue, will continue to be an non-issue issue.


We have mentioned the role of support players every so often here. Sometimes that last guy in the bullpen doesn't get the regular work he needs and tries to strike out the side; when there's already one out in the inning. Or the 5th outfielder gets an at-bat a week and tries to show everyone why he still has a MLB uniform on by swinging at a first pitch offering anywhere within the realm of the stadium he's playing in. Have you ever heard the sports terminology of 'staying within yourself'? Well, translated as an athlete it essentially means, "you suck, don't screw up or you're right back on the pine, again, Slappy". But, as an athlete you're thinking,

"Well, then, why am I out here? Do I suck or are they trying to motivate me. Nah, can't suck. Too good to suck. Look how great this uniform fits. Maybe they want to trade me and they are just showcasing me. Wait, how long have I been thinking...DUCK!"

Try performing while trying to figure that out.


Such is the curious case of one Eric 'EXCELLENT' Byrnes. A reserve outfielder by position, pinch runner extraordinare and mop-up guy as defined by Art Howe. With Ken Macha, hopefully we will see Byrnes get a fair shake. Although the deck is stacked against him by 'the list'. Hopefully the A's won't see a need to trade Byrnes or package him as part of a deal anywhere. He's enthusiastic and has speed. He just doesn't have enough at-bats in Oakland to justify an immediate return to Sacramento.


He deserves better than he has received and it's only his good attitude that keeps him on the roster. If you can remember back far enough, a few outfielders have pooped off in the media about playing time and it cost them their locker space in Oakland. Rich Becker, Robyn Jennings to name two. We could mention Ben Grieve, but a lot of people have just healed scabs from their bloody scalps scratching their heads for several years trying to figure Grieve out.


We also mentioned Jeremy Brown a few weeks ago. Brown has made the A's once stripped catching department stocked. Which is appropos since Brown is built like a refrigerator box, only with more acute right angles. He looks like to prototype player video games use to portray a catcher. Does this mean Ramon Hernandez is on the bubble? If you mean trading block, dunno, what do you think? By the way, if anyone can get us a picture of any professional sports team's trading block, that would be great.


A nasty drawback of Spring Training is some sports writers haven't been thinking about baseball since the last time they were forced to do so. We have a bone to pick with the Sacramento Bee and we're edging all the corners and offering their sports department an opportunity to reply. Of course, we'll probably get the brush off, but they simply haven't done an honest job covering the A's over the last 18 months. Hell, the River Cats are in their backyard and they don't even post boxscores worth reading.


One of the Springs more interesting issues is going to be players without options who might be packaged for a deal. Both Adam Piatt and Chad Harville are out of options though both might stay with the club. It would be hard to tell if any team outside of Boston, Toronto or Texas wants to go to the mat and try and talk with Billy Beane about either player. If we had to lean, we'd say Harville to St. Louis for Michael Neu which would allow the A's to jump the Rule 5 statute of keeping a player on the 25 man roster or being returned. The A's could slip Sacramento Neu along the 40 man roster and watch him in the bullpen and wait to see how the first two months of the summer transpire.


Look, somebody on the pitching staff will be injured on ineffective. It's just a fact of baseball. It's still a wonder if Jim Mecir's children will ever not be grounded. But apprently Jim is looking much better and might be around by May if not sooner. With his current salary and the stocked pen and the lack of healthy closers elsewhere...


Alex Belth has the tail end of the Ken Burns interview and Mike's Rants has the next installment.
of the Hall's of Relief.

Wasted

Ken Macha is not Feisty. In fact, Ken is well centered. There has been a lot mentioned how Ken Macha was Billy Beane's man all along and that Art Howe was just an inheritance. Not exactly true. Beane could have forced Howe out at any time. He didn't have to renew his deal or sign him to an extension. Along those lines, Ken will not kowtow to Beane the way Art did and then go whine about the last reliever on the roster to save face. Beane knows that and respects the fact IF Ken is going to disagree with a Beane decision or "SUGGESTION" Macha will have a valid argument and supporting evidence. It won't be a power struggle ala Mothra and Godzilla where Art Howe was the Japanese guy next to the bus that gets squashed...Like we've written before. Art is not a great manager. He is not a bad manager. He's is a good manager and he is competent at his job. You could do a lot worse out of the managers in baseball today. That written, the Mets will still lose 90 games and Steve Phillips' torso will be in the East River while his head is on a pike in Times Square when that eventuality occurs.


A lot of professional sports team like to wax philosophical about team chemistry. Can you create it, can you pinpoint it, does the hip hop music have to be that loud-the fact that it's hip hop is bad enough? With the signing of Ron gant and having David Justice around as, ugh, whatever it is David Justice will be doing, the A's are frothing in team chemistry. It's long been a staple that the A's clubhouse is a barrel of monkeys, a ton of fun, Animal House without the actual university, etc. With Gant and Justice it's a good feeling that a veteran presence doesn't mean "an older stiff that won't screw up that often". The veteran presence actually brings something to the table. Ron Gant spanked 18 homeruns in only 102 games last year. That's a darn fine right-handed bat to come off the bench and spot start. Of course, that pushes Eric Byrnes, Adam Piatt and Jason Grabowski even further down the list. Above Gant on the list is Terrence Long and Chris Singleton. Jermaine Dye isn't on 'the list'. Jermaine Dye is the right-fielder. The Singleton and Long just happen to play in the same outfield as Dye.
The A's Trapper Keeper has some news on the Miguel Tejada Issue, which is still not an issue. Miggi got picked up by a helicopter that landed in rightfield on Monday that whisked him away to go shoot a TV commercial. You know damn well that the A's had nothing to do with that. What's more expensive, packing up TV equipment or flying a helicopter around? What has more risk and danger involved? Stick Miggi on a bus next time or bring the crew to him. Why should the 'talent' have to travel. Miggi needs new management and publicist for his 'outside of baseball' stuff.
If Central Casting ever needed a mid-sized Italian hired muscle Frank Menechino would be on the set by Noon. Frankie could have a second career as a double or extra. He'd have the resume and background. There's a lot of waiting involved in baseball and there's a lot waiting in TV and movies. Waiting six hours for Delta burke to get out of her trailer or 10 just so the genius director of Species can get the hallway lighting just right. Sorry, a friend of ours used to do extra work. Wasn't really work. Standing around the craft services table and watching Ben Stein hit on the 'bigger' women isn't exactly work. It's more like fodder for a screenplay.
If Tim Hudson came out of the pen in a motorized wheel-chair, he could have Trey and Matt as the newest A's fans.
Miggi doesn't have to worry about stuff like money and stuff. That's what agents are for. So, his agents will meet with Beane and DePodesta this week and they will have a general idea of what the A's aren't going to offer and what they aren't going to find on the open market. Only the Mets, Rangers, Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, White Sox, Cubs and maybe Cardinals could afford Tejada on the open market. A few of those teams already have super-shortstops so it could be difficult to find a new, lucrative home. Everyone else will just have to waive as the free agent tour begins. In reality, the only thing that would keep Tejada in Oakland is a nasty rumor about his age, a health problem, a severly crippled (beyond depressed free agent market) free agent market or a delayed flight. That's about it.

Season Tickets

Here's what the Season ticket book cover looks like. Pretty darn cool.
Inside cover.

Pizza Guys, Pizza Guys

Okay, we couldn't find a wav.file of the Pizza Guys' theme song from City Slickers...but we have the best part of the movie for you here:

So I'm doin' this job on 60th and 3rd. Big, friggin' ballbreaker of a job, right?. And we got the area roped off, you know, so some shmuck don't come and take a wrecking ball between the eyes. All of a sudden this woman, you know the type, with the big dark glasses, the Bloomigdale bags, she starts walkin' right through the ropes. I yell down at her, "Hey! You can't go there you stupid bitch!" Suddenly, this steam fittin' bursts, and this enormous two thousand pound goddam crane crashes right down on her legs! And she's screamin' "My legs! My legs!" and I say, "No shit, your legs; you got a two thousand pound goddam crane on 'em" Now, do you know how in an emergency you can get like superhuman strength? I reach down and I lift this crane, and Ernesto was able to slide her out from under, and the doctors were able to save her legs. So the moral of the story is don't walk where you're not supposed to walk 'cause there might not be someone with superhuman strength to save your little ass. And don't do drugs. That's it.

Why did we go through the trouble? Baseball Prospectus' Pizza Feed on Monday, JACK! We're not sure how much we're going to eat because, well, we'll be too busy arguing...er, rather, discussing baseball stuff. The only bad part about the event is being on Watt Avenue after 5:00pm. Yah, you're city might have traffic, but you really have no idea until you've sat in 110 degree heat on Watt with no air conditioning and moved 300 feet in 30 minutes. People have run out of gas and never heard from again trying to get from I-80 to US-50 or from US-50 to I-80 along Watt Avenue even after filling up before embarking on the journey and packing a lunch.


The Rick Peterson Reality Tour is settling down, but we thought we'd throw a few links of interest if you haven't seen them, yet.


From the hallowed halls of Jacksonville University. Rick was a Dolphin. Why don't more school mascots go with the moniker 'The Fighting...' in them? It opens a whole new door of names. The Fighting Lawyers, The Fighting Nurses, the Fighting Kitty Cats.


This article is a puff piece that appeals to the person who enjoys puff pieces and attends motivational seminars on business matters. They are usually looking to shed their 'Associate' status and become a vice-president. The Fighting Associates, the Fighting Vice-Presidents of Southwestern Development...


If it involves stuff there's someone trying to write a book on how it's a 'science'. The Fighting Scientists, the Fighting Research Analysts...


A local flavor piece from the Leb Val. Almost makes one weepy for the armpit of the United States. If you've never been to northeastern Pennsylvania, a popular hobby is counting the teeth in various people's heads. If you get to double digits more than twice in a day you win. The Fighting Dentistal Hygenists...

Video Killed the Radio Star

If you're a big fan of radio comedy you may want to check out MLB.com radio. We recently listened to an AL West centered show that was so bad that it was laughable. The content on the A's was just asinine and the rest of the division sounded like it did not feature teams worth the New York Yankees' left over salt packets. The show's hosts mentioned they liked Terrence Long in centerfield (he of the most errors by an AL outfielder in the 21st century) and that the Angels were loaded with great pitchers and had a rotation 6-7 deep. Of course, they couldn't remember the names of more than four of the pitchers. You would have thought Disney would have threatened to sue if they didn't mention the Angels as the World Champion Angels.

Here, There, Everywhere

Ever have one of those weeks where everything hits the fan, except the ceiling fan was in the shop being repaired and balanced so you have this big gloopy mess on the ceiling and every so often when you walk by it drips down and...


Too graphic?


We're having hardware, software and other issues. Since when did personal problems get involved?


So, we're behind, again, but we're on top of things. You just don't know how on top of things we are.

Rickey, Here's $50, Get Lost

Somewhere out there, an enclave of people who think Rickey Henderson is worth a chance. We couldn't disagree more. They'll throw up stats and numbers and finesse their argument to sound like they are offering hope. We're telling you, Rickey is casket shopping and he's already made reservations to be cremated.


That's a reference to overkill, by the way.


Rickey Henderson doesn't deserve a job in Major League Baseball anymore than a 'really good' 16 year old. Especially with the Oakland Athletics. Rickey has worn so many uniforms, does playing for the A's have any significance other than to him since he wouldn't have to move?


Rickey Henderson is not someone you want around your team. There's a reason he was not invited to the A's Fan Fest. There's a reason the A's asked David Justice to be part of the A's staff and not Rickey Henderson.


This is where sabermetrics run dry and you have to use that inner monologue and intuition to come up with reasoning. You know, thinking? Rickey talks to himself. Not figuratively. He actually talks to himself. He does it at the plate, in the field all over. We are not referring to Rickey speaking in the third person.

"Rickey thinks Rickey will have the eggs over-easy and Rickey would also like grits if you have them, if not, Rickey will have the whole wheat toast."

We actually mean he is disturbed. Yes. We have seen it first hand. Anyone who has ever sat in leftfield in Oakland knows this. Most of the time in the field Rickey is looking everywhere but at the pitcher. He looks like a little leaguer waiting for a dragonfly to come back.


Yes, we have read a few hundred articles in which Rickey is mentioned as being less of a teammate and more of a personal valet for his own ego. We've also read the articles where Rickey and a teammate waited out the latter moments of a crucial playoff game by playing cards in the clubhouse rather than in the dugout.


We also read the reports that family members accused him of rape and incest. There's not a stat that can compare with that fallout.


Sure, Rickey can do some great things with OBP and with your teams' press corps. Reading a Rickey Henderson quote is much like reading a seven year old's list of 'great things that are sticky'. It's funny, makes no sense and makes you wonder how the hell the human brain works.


There's a reason to keep Rickey Henderson away from MLB. That reason is there are too many reasons to keep him away from MLB.


Rickey needs to do what is best for Rickey. Start practicing Rickey's Hall of Fame speech, now. Rickey is going to need the five years to learn how to give a speech without looking, sounding, or acting like a complete waste of DNA.


If you want specifics; Adam Piatt is out of options and deserves playing time if he hits and gets on base. Rickey will get on base, but his steal percentage isn't 'automatic' and the A's don't run enough to have the 25th man on the roster for pinch stealing bases. Rickey doesn't hit anymore and if your pinch hitter can't pop one occasionally, then he's not worth having as a pinch-hitter. The A's have a few players they want to keep around for spot duty and occasionally lefty-righty-lefty-righty match-ups. Rickey is a liability in the field and doesn't adapt well to playing center or rightfield. Even though Rickey came up as a centerfielder, he moved to left to make room for Dwayne Murphy-a great fielder in center. Any number of which are significantly better defenders than Rickey. The A's have several players looking to make the last four spots on the roster-Eric Byrnes, Jason Grabowski, Mitchy the Kid and a player to be named later. Not to mention the A's might carry an extra pitcher for the first few weeks until Jim Mecir is back into a groove.


Stop holding on to something that has been gone for sometime. Somebody write how Rickey is endangering his own legacy by holding on too long. Somebody show him to Barry Sanders, Mark McGwire or Tom Henke for a good talking to. Leave the stage gracefully. Last exit to Oakland is four exits passed.

Links, Notes and Stuff

Here's an article on Terrence Long and a reference to a few other tidbits like Miguel Tejada being late for camp and banning Ephedrine. Funny, Terrence Long mentions he tried to pull the ball too much last year. I wonder what blog shouted that from the rooftops last year? We're not going to link to the archives on this. That's what our Google search engine is for.


Ken Macha is so grounded and centered the shift to manage from bench coach shouldn't be an issue. Plus, he's makes good copy and is 'soundbitable'.


There's another reason the A's won't need additional help in the outfield and Rontrez Johnson is the reason. If he can improve his on-base percentage through a short Sacramento stint, the A's would have found a legit centerfielder. The first in a billion years.


We're not on a Ken Rosenthal bashing tour, but we think he has lost perspective. In his latest mailbag he finds a question dealing with the A's and Carlos Beltran. Rosenthal cites the A's would be unable to pay Beltran's $6 million salary. Sort like they were unable to pay David Justice's $7 million salary last year? Sort of like Ray Durham's salary after the trade? The whole concept of what Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta do in trade talks seem to slip the grasp of most media 'elite'. Everything is negotiable and so far Beane and DePodesta has made the Royals and White Sox his regular whipping boys and pulled the sweaters over on the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays and Tigers where the A's paid less than 100% of an acquired player's salary. Either through cash considerations or simple strategy.


More on Keith Foulke and a little on Mark Johnson who sounds like a cool guy. He is a catcher, after all.


Hmm, is there a correlation or just a coincidence that Baseball Prospectus is picking up steam on money matters in MLB just before they go private-pay per read? Dunno. But, BP.com has been throwing Sacramento around quite a bit as a possible location for a future MLB franchise. If the River Cats weren't in town the A's could pack in 40,000 a night. Half of those would be Kings' fans without a summer home.


To make things confusingly simple and to drive home the point you should have paid attention in Economics, Math and Social Studies classes Doug Pappas runs the numbers in 'Where Does the Money Go?'
Derek Zumsteg is a as good at having steam coming out of his ears while still having a sense of humor and being articulate as someone with a lot of tact and, ugh, stuff. Zumsteg runs down new locales for les Expos de Nomadica.


Will Carroll makes our arms and knees tired. We'll explain. There's a current that exists when you read about an injury, regarding another individual, if you have sustained a similar injury your body becomes empathetic. Talk about throwing motions, shoulder discomfort or having arm troubles and one of our staffers starts raising his elbow and stretching his throwing arm unconsciously. After a few minutes he'll throw on an ice pack or continue stretching. 10 years as a quarterback will do that.


The Steve Bechler death has started a whole swarm of controversy that does little to shine light on a larger problem in baseball. No, it's not drugs or supplements or over-the-counter GNC/Joe Wieder ripoff curealls. It's about making sure the athletes in your stable have more than routine physicals and turn their heads and cough once a year. If MLB owners, and owners in all sports took the time to prepare substantial medical background and insurance reports on players there would be very little left to detail.
In Bechler's case his family has now had two sons drop dead while participating in baseball. That's two too many.

Lost Weekend

Many things happened in the last five days and we are trying to sort them out. We have received permission to post some of the season ticket mailings and we are in the process of scanning them. Also, Pyra was purchased by Google. In addition 2+2=4.


At least there's one media story about a guy named 'Rose' that didn't deal with the Hit King.


Erubiel Durazo may not be the starting firstbaseman. Duh. Durazo does bring qustions to the batting order. We'll take a look at that when Spring training starts to kick in.


This Ray Ratto article on Rick Peterson makes you realize why pitching coaches do not make good managers. It also helps you understand why they are so few good pitching coaches. In a related effort, Baseball Prospectus has an article on Rick Peterson that makes us wonder if Peterson is on the fast path to Leo Mazzonedom.


Ted Lilly gets an early puff piece even before the first Spring Training game. After getting the brake pads lined last September, Lilly looked like a 'flinger'. His delivery was shorter, but incomplete. He looked like he was constantly warming up on the mound and not 'pitching'...if that makes sense.


When it rains it Piatts. A few tidbits here on local players on Adam Piatt's future. The article suggests that Piatt has the inside track to the 4th outfielder spot on the 25 man roster. Ya think? Maybe just because he's out of options and the A's don't want to lose him to anyone in the western hemisphere? Some sports writers are too stupid for their own good. More on Piatt and further evidence that there might be only one story, but that a dozen writers can rework it into two dozen different articles.


Our peanut butter might be chock full of nuts, but that doesn't make it nutty. The four lefty rotation issue gets punted around, again.


Speaking of dumb sports writers...

Whither, Ken Rosenthal?

Ken Rosenthal has the ability th churn out decent baseball related chunks in a short amount of time. Usually because The Sporting News allows him to slash and burn all pretext of actual journalism. Rosenthal might be the closest thing to a closet blogger you'll find in sports next to Peter Gammons. In his latest 'article', Rosenthal waxes on several issues including the Royals woes in trying to keep their talent. He suggests a three way trade is only missing it's third wheel. We throw one out there; the A's. The A's offer Terrence Long and Esteban German and/or Frank Mennechino. The A's, for the first time in a long time, are long on mid-infielders. Not since Tony Batista and Miguel Tejada were on the field together (for about a week) did the A's future up the middle seem so bright. Even if Miggi walks, the A's are set with Mark Ellis, Luis Lopez, Mennechino, German, Bobby Crosby and SHHHHH! (don't let anyone know about the Australian!) for several years to come.


The odd part about the aritcle is that Rosenthal cites a source as , 'one scout', and goes on to say that the A's have holes at three offensive positions and their bullpen has "questions". We'd take the A's three holes and proclaim that they couldn't do any worse and they are all bound to improve. Further, those three holes are a heck of a lot better than several MLB line ups that are six to seven deep in holes. As far as the A's bullpen, the only question is who is going to get squeezed out. The A's had one of, if not, the best pitching staffs in all of baseball last year-in spite of their set up man and closer. With Mecir on the shelf for at least a few weeks and Foulke in for Koch the A's are better than they were last year, at least on paper.
Which brings us to possibly the best quote ever:

"I'm not filling anyone's shoes. I brought my own shoes." -Keith Foulke on trading places with Billy Koch

To boot, the A's have arms to trade and/or juggle to maximize effectiveness. With San Diego looking to acquire a closer while Trevor Hoffman mends (though we wonder why, if you aren't going to win that many games just go by committee) and several other elbows in MLB creaking and cracking the A's could be looking at a big Spring Sale that could benefit them mightily.


This Rosenthal piece makes you long for the 'cited reports' of Peter Gammons and 'analysis' Harold Reynolds.


Still, we'll watch Baseball Tonight rather than CNN any day of the week and twice, well, every day of the week except Sunday.

Before We Get to That...

When you get word MLB is toughening up security you should start to panic. You may not have been worried at all before, but now you had better. When MLB decides it's going to look into things, creat a panel, position a Blue Ribbon Committee or make adjustments get out your home emergency kit and head staright for the fallout bunker.


For some reason the Contra Costa TImes decided to put up a Spring Training roster, that really is just the A's Give or Take 40 man roster. The blip after the particulars doesn't help. We've got our own break down to post and it will come on the eve of the first Spring Training game, February 27th.


We're not sure it was us, but what the hell. We'll take the credit. CBS SportLine has improved a bit in the off-season and looks like they are paying attention to the daily activities. Unlike CNN/SI and USA Today which still has the A's last game as a loss to the Yankees in the 2001 playoffs.


Meanwhile, Yahoo! has completely jacked up their MLB team sites. Chris Singleton and Keith Foulke are listed as team leaders despite never playing a game wearing an A's uniform. Further, they ripped out the links to other sites and the player stats are a mess. Entering Spring Training the bios haven't been updated and as
Travo, the Boy of Summer points out the pitching stats are limited. The Boy of Summer is back, by the way. We we scared Jayson Stark got to him.


The Fantasy Leagues are starting to form and a lot of people are busy crunching numbers that have nothing to do with their income taxes. We admit we are guilty of participating in a fantasy league or 16. Mostly the Yahoo! Baseball Fantasy Leagues. They are easy and don't require four hours a day of homework. You don't have to pay, but you don't win anything either. The best part about the leagues are the drafts. The worst is putting up with 8 million trade offers. My RF, Sammy Sosa for Felipe Cruz and Jon Lieber. Hmmm, yah, don't think so. My 3rd baseman Eric Chavez for Mike Sirotka...uhm, NO.

We Return to The Fan Fest

Question #5: Something, something, Something, pajamas, job in Boston, sleepy little burg-Danville, 4:00 am, etc. This question had to do with Billy Beane's 3:00 am, drive to figure out if taking the Boston GM job this off-season was worth it. He reconsidered and stayed with the A's. His daughter being a large reason why he did not want to leave the BayArea.

Billy Beane: "They aren't pajamas. It's actually a track suit but my daughter calls them my pajamas..."

Question #6:This is a three part question-Why did the A's agree to give up two home games for the Japan tour, what differences will we see between Art Howe and Ken Macha and what can we expect in a few years from the A's current prospects with all the minor league deals that have been made.

Billy Beane: (muffled-yup, we were that close to hear what he said)
"Paul can answer the last part of the question better than we could."
Paul DePodesta: "With the most recent draft we had 7 of the first 39 picks...did extremely well...Baseball America recently called all of the teams in MLB to get a list of each teams' top 30 prospects...I started naming our prospects until I got to about 27 and I still had 8 or 9 guys and I couldn't decide who would fit in that 30...They (Baseball America) responded by saying no other team and baseball ahs been able to name as many prospects without having to do research and call us back...No team had been able to name 35 legitimate prospects...Some of those prospects are right around the corner...Rich Harden...Joe Valentine...Esteban German...We are as well stocked (in the minor league system) as any time as we have ever been in this organization."
Ken Macha: "Answering the second part of the question...there will be subtle difference but the overall philosophy will not change...we have a little more speed and we'll be able to use that occasionally (applause)...Billy always says something when the question of stealing bases comes up; "stealing bases if fine, as long as you're safe"...(Billy Beane nodded and had a devilish grin on his face-we interpret as "the stolen base is over rated...the stolen base is over rated...the stolen base is over rated...")
Billy Beane: "The decision to have two home games in Japan was out of our hands. It was an ownership and MLB decision.

This was a telling moment. We often harp on paying attention to what is said/written and what is not said/written. Billy Beane was basically saying, "I'm the GM of a MLB team, not its business operations guy, not the stadium developer, not its lobbyist in government, not the concessions guy not even the editor of the A's Magazine". It’s hard when everyone looks at you as the end all authority on A's baseball. Without Billy Beane the A's would have been a side note in history to the city where the Raiders used to play.


Question #7: What will be the rotation going into the season, will the A's go with four lefties?

Billy Beane: "There are definitive advantages to being left handed in this league...we don't sit around throwing darts with our acquisitions...we'll have to wait for Spring Training to find out."

Question #8: The Miguel Tejada Situation. Sources within the A's say they are willing to let Miguel walk because they can't afford to even offer a 10 year deal. If there ever was a time for a screeching halt, this is it. Billy was steaming...as steaming as Billy gets, which basically means he leaned forward and scooted to microphone a little closer to his face. He gave an impression of a stern task master taking someone to school.

Billy Beane: "Whenever you read or hear "sources" with the Oakland A's...don't believe it...we have the most streamlined front office in baseball...It's basically me, Paul and (one other guy)...so it's basically three people...none of those three are going out to the media...so, if you hear sources, don't believe it...Having said that...we haven't had a chance to sit down with Miguel or his agent...There is no question he (Miguel Tejada) will command a significant amount of money-and deservedly so"...

If Miguel's pop shot a few weeks ago about an 8-10 year deal was a warning shot across the bow, Billy Beane just returned in kind. If Beane is referring to the free agent market; talking significant amount of money, you can leave the A's out of the discussion. It's as simple as that. If you're talking re-signing, significant amount of money is anything over $6 million a year. As silly as that sounds. Miguel will unlikely get any offer over $8 million a year. It's just not in the cards and it doesn't make sense for the long term, moderate term or short term to unload that kind of money on any position player in the A's organization.
Ken bumps in at the end and mentions the A's won more games without Jason Giambi after he left which grew a heaping of applause. It has come to pass that the fans have finally realized that the A's were not the bad guys in the Giambi scenario. The A's not only met his salary demands, but they upped the ante, they met his original no-trade clause only to be rebuffed with more demands and an absolute no trade clause demand. The fact is, Jason wanted to be a Yankee and he and his agent used the A's as a bargaining chip. That is the reason you saw 'nothing' from A's ownership and front office toward the end of the Giambi saga. They weren't going to be Arn Tellem's (Jason's agent) bitch, damn the media perception and Peter Gammons reporting otherwise.


Question #9: New Stadium

PASS

Basically the three chuckled, as did most of the audience (who screens these questions?) and they took a collective pass and went to the next question.


Question #10: The A's used to have autographs sessions after the game...3 or 4 players each time...it's a question of PR...it put fannies in the seats...'sources' mention the A's are looking into signing Rickey Henderson (mixed laughter and applause), but Rickey puts fannies in seats...Just by the use of the word fannies, you can tell a bit about the person we were dealing with. She obviously had some questions and concerns but forgot that inner monologue thing to answer them. Billy Beane is not a PR guy. He's the General Manager. He responded appropriately.

As an organization we have always felt the best PR is winning games...

(large applause)...in 1997 we lost 97 games and nobody came out...nobody came...we did everything to get the fans involved and nobody came...(at this point the woman who asked the question was on her third or fourth interjection and Greg Papa finally stepped in to shut her up-questioning whether the A's ever continuously had players signing autographs after games at any time...they may have on special occasions a few times every couple of years)...I'm not even sure who is in charge of these things...(eventually a gray haired gentleman stood and took a microphone and suggested that there were a few autograph sessions here and there over the years and he would look into the possibility of having more)...so I guess you're the guy to talk to about that (laughter)?

Question #11: Will the A's move Adam Piatt at all and let him get some at-bats at first base?

Billy Beane: NO...the A's are set (with umpteen bodies) at first and we just signed Olmedo Saenz to a minor league deal...was it a minor league deal Paul (Paul DePodesta nodded)?...(applause)

Question #12: What kind of pitcher is Keith Foulke, is that his name, the A's seem to have a rotation of closers over the years?

Ken Macha: "The same thing was said with Jason Isringhausen and with Billy Koch last year...Foulke is a different kind of pitcher...he's not going to walk a lot of players (large booming applause)...so the 9th inning isn't going to be as tense...
Paul DePodesta: "Keith Foulke is one of the elite closer in the league...lucky he was available...won't leave us on the edge of our seats quite as often..."

Question #13: Ken, you're from the Pittsburgh area, have you been able to crack the BayArea housing market? (laughter) It has gotten so bad in some places in the BayArea that people are buying homes, demolishing them and rebuilding. It's as if they are saying, "If I'm paying this much for a house, I want it to be perfect."

Ken Macha: "Well, I was renting the last few years...just got a snow blower because I was tired of shoveling snow...why?...are you a real estate agent?"

Question #14: Who will be the opening day pitcher?

Ken Macha: "One of those three guys (laughter)...actually with the days off due to the games in Japan we could have those three pitch in our first six or seven games without juggling things too much...

Actually I've gotten more advice in the last few months than I've ever got in my life and I didn't even have to ask for it.

(laughter)"

Question #15: Why did the A's non-tender John Mabry, why nopt sign him to a contract?

Billy Beane: "Actually Mabry was a free agent...a lot of the guys we had our eyes on were at a certain price in October and when January rolled around that price had dropped considerably... John eventually signed for less than he made last year..."

Question #16: Erubial Durazo-what can we expect?

Ken Macha: "...hasn't had a full season...projecting if he got 500 at-bats around that 40 homerun area...we're not trying to put that kind of pressure there...but that's what could be expected if all goes well..."

Question #17: Who will bat lead off? Big duh, Mark Ellis. Mark batted leadoff for a few weeks before Ray Durham came on board...this was a wasted question and it pained us to no end especially as time was drawing short.

Ken Macha: "Mark Ellis...Chris Singleton has speed, he had 20 steal last year...but, Chris' on-base percentage isn't where we would like it...if Chris can steadily improve that on-base percentage form low 300's to .320 to .340 to .380 where we would like it we could change...we think Chris has the ability to do that..."

Ah, we thought so. From December 26th, 2002

"Chris Singleton has the problem of being with two organizations in the last three years that were on the verge of cannibalizing themselves. You really have to sit back and wonder how a player like Singleton would have handled the atmosphere in each locale. Further, you have to question the coaching he received as a bit player and fourth outfielder.


How many times do you see a player get a rather meaningless at-bat in a game and try and swing for the fences? Singleton's numbers might actually be a bit more compelling if we take that into account."

It seems the A's front office and coaching staff might know something about Chris Singleton the rest of us didn't. We'll just have to wait.


Question #18: What will the bench and bullpen be like this year? Another wasted question. We already know the A's are stacked and there are jobs that people will compete for. It's not like guys have to start a new competition for the bench if they don't make the starting rotation or starting outfield spots.

Ken Macha: "We've definitley got a lot of options...Keith Foulke...Ricadro Rincon (applause)...Micah Bowie...Chad Bradford...Jim Mecir...Jeremy Fikac...

Adding Micah Bowie's name in there is great. It's nice to see that Ken has some faith in Bowie where Art Howe did not. Bowie had 13 appearances last year and opponents scored on him in only two of those. Not a great comparison stat, we know, but you use what you have to work with.


Question #19: A lot of moves in the off-season...Cory Lidle trade...are you done or are there more trades out there?

Billy Beane: "We're set."

Question #20: David Justice retired...sources close to the A's (laughter) say he might return as an assistant or a coach.

Billy Beane: "Yah...David had said he was done playing...he kept saying it and nobody was taking his word for it...he is well respected...speaks his mind and communicates well...always in a good frame of mind."

Well. That was it. We stood up and went with the cattle to exit to room. We weren't about to stick around when Eric Chavez, Scott Hatteberg and Mark Ellis were due up for the next Q & A.


As it turned out, we were right to do so. The Q & A sessions were broadcast on the Obey-O-Trons and we were able to pick up most everything fromthe field or clubhous