UNEXPLAINABLE

A's minor-league pitcher Mike Frick was killed early Thanksgiving morning in a one-vehicle accident in Ventura.


He was 23.


The driver of the truck Frick was riding in sustained severe injuries and is being charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular manslaughter.

M'KOTSAY

Trade went through...what is the price for dumping Terrence Long? Ramon Hernandez.


Was the trade worth it?

INSTANT UPDATE

From Lee Sinnins (told ya you shoul dget his ATM Report newletter delivered to your email inbox...)

Padres GM Kevin Towers said that yesterday was deadline for the A's to complete the Mark Kotsay trade. The deadline passed without the deal being completed, but it's still likely to occur.


Kotsay was on vacation in Hawaii and either didn't return until last night or won't do so until today. According to Towers, while the MRI showed no problems with his back, apparently A's owner Steve Schott wanted their
doctor to see him in person.


According to MLB rules, teams have a 72 hour window to conduct their medical exams, review documents and work out any contract details after they make a tentative trade. But, an extension is expected to be granted and according to the San Diego Union Tribune, the deal could be completed by Wednesday.

Nice to know that Steve Schott has gone all Steinbrenner on us - sticking his nose where is doesn't belong.

LONDON CALLING

Where's Billy Beane in all of this? He's on vacation in the land of the Clash and Cliff Richard.

Ask about Buridan's ass and the A's 40 man roster.

DOWN IN THE VALLEY

John Sickels updated his Rich (Pitchy Rich) Harden numbers over at ESPN.com.
Nothing new. We still don't think Harden is ready to be more than a fifth starter as of this second.

UGH

San Diego GM Kevin Towers has come out to say that if the Hernandez, Long for Kotsay deal is not done by Sunday; it's off.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but A's fans should brace for the deal to go through.

Beane and CO are going to get hammered in the nest 10 days for their recent moves as some were brilliant and some did not make any sense. We want to give you the low down on the newly designed page very soon.

In the mean time, the A's picked up Mario Ramos off the Texas Rangers waiver wire. Ramos and Jason Hart went to Texas from the A's for Carlos Pena. Pena went to Detroit for Ted Lilly. Lilly went to Toronto for Kielty.

Hart was demoted, again, and Ramos was run out of Texas. That's hard for a pitcher to do in Arlington. But, if you want to know who the Justin Duchscherer is for 2004; he is Mario Ramos.

Ramos was being compared to Mark Mulder as recent as 2002 and was expected to be the late season sky diver guy for the A's. Instead he was packaged with some other fellers (Ryan Ludwick, Gerald Laird and Hart) for the depreciated Pena.

Pitching for Texas can do a lot of things for a player, makign him better is not one of them.

OKAY KIELTY!

The A's ended the Lilly strain and traded the Jekyl and Hyde left hander for switch hitting outfielder Bobby Kielty yesterday.

NO, THEY REALLY DID

The Ramon Hernandez, Terrence Long for Mark Kotsay deal has hit a snag it appears, with Kotsay's no trade clause and possibly what else the A's were going to get out of the deal.

Honestly, it could come to pass that the A's Padres deal does not come to fruition, or as it is currently structured.


The Kielty deal possibly was done in a fit of rage (more likely just rather quickly) for Kevin Towers not having his 'ship' together when the trade was announced early yesterday by Peter Gammons. The Padres desire for Ramon Hernandez has been high and the deal is to have been in place for almost two weeks. Could it be falling apart? Could be, but it does seem rather unecessary as the A's now have Jermaine Dye, Kielty, Billy McMillon and possibly Eric Byrnes and Jose Guillen to round out the outfield.


Kotsay seems superfluous. Could the Padres counter with another player, then?


Who knows?


But it won't be Brian Giles or Phil Nevin. Xavier Nady or Jake Peavy would be interesting. Peavy would give the A's a fourth starter and allow Rich Harden to bring up the rear as a 5th starter.

The A's may have had second thoughts on giving up Ramon so cheaply.

RBI-TRATION

The A's freed up virtual dollars by trading Lilly as the maligned starter is due arbitration this year. Lilly could have commanded a great deal more than the sub-$400,00 contract Kielty brings with him. The absence of Lilly is far more valuable, especially if Rick Peterson is gone and if Ramon leaves, obviously Lilly would start to shake catchers off, again.


Kielty furthers the Eric Byrnes and Jose Guillen question. And if Jermaine Dye is healthy, answers a lot of questions, too. A larger, and more ridiculous question; If the A's promote Australian Adam Morrisey to the big club and make him an outfielder, would the A's have the only all English Isle outfield in MLB history?


BRITISH LAW MAKES ALL THE WORLD ENGLAND - slogan of the 18th century British Emprie


Kielty most likely gets plugged into either corner outfield spot and hits third or fifth in the order. 150 games from Kielty in the outfield for the A's is going to be a lot of fun. When Kielty was playing for the Twins, there were few outfielders who got more attention from the bleachers, especially rightfield.


But, this trade will go a long way in furthering our theory that every outfielder in MLB that does not wear an A's uniform somehow sucks, according to those in the bleachers. Once any of those sucky outfielders puts on an A's jersey, he's sure to get a banner and a fan club or two. It's a fascinating maturation procress. It happened for Jermaine Dye. And amazingly once Johnny Damon signed witrh Boston he amazingly regained his prior sucky nature.


Break out the lab coats and the slide rules, kids.

OKAY...KOTSAY?

So, when a trade goes through that forces you to look at the wire reports, constantly searching for the ever present with the A's 'and cash' amount, stretching out the possible next move(s) to be made with any recently traded player while the vapor still hangs in the air, future third and fourth parties to be invlolved and as always - the player to be named later (doesn't the player already have a name?) or that undervalued-uber-prospect in the rough...what do you do to pass the time?


We make phone calls and search for confirmation.


We've known about the Terrence Long, Ramon Hernandez for Mark Kotsay trade for a little while. Not a lot of while, just a little.


The report 'broke' via Peter Gammons on ESPN.com early today (8:00'ish PST). There was very little information to go on until later in the day. Hmm, Oakland A's, lack of public information made available. Yup, everything is perfectly normal.


We were expecting Jason Kendell to go to San Diego which is why we thought the Hernandez deal made sense in an eventual catcher swap. That didn't happen. Gammons is also reporting the A's are interesting in landing Bobby Kielty. Hey, wasn't there an Oakland A's blog that mentioned that months ago when Kielty was initially traded from the Twins to the A's North (Blue Jays)?


Before fans start clamoring for GM drug testing and field sobriety tests let's look at a few numbers and other factors before even talking about OBP and the like.

TWO

That's the sufficient numbers of legs that a major league catcher should have. Ramon currently has two legs and both his knees bend at the very least a 90 degree angle.


That's good.


Ramon's knees have averaged 137 games caught and 1116 innings a year behind the plate the last four seasons.


That's bad.


The pitchers Ramon caught averaged a 3.60 ERA over that span.


That's good.


For most A's fans, the initial call up of Ramon was the start of their rebirth. Ramon was called up for his offense and to get A.J. Hinch the hell out of an A's uniform. Ramon has not hit to what the A's had hoped when they first brought him up.


That's bad.


Speaking of A.J. Hinch, Terrence Long is gone.


That's good.


Mark Kotsay will now play centerfield for the A's.


That's just okay.

MOTIVES

What the A's are hoping for is a depreciation on the free agent market and for a catcher, say Javvy Lopez, to slip below the $4-5 range. Remember, the more the A's add to their offense, the cheaper Keith Foulke becomes. The acquisition also brings up two questions, Eric Byrnes and Jose Guillen.


Let us scour the numbers and we'll show you what the A's have in the catcher department in the minor leagues. You're going to be surprised.

GIANTS FLINCH

In one of the lamer post season award moves the San Francisco Giants Brian Sabean was named Executive of the year by the Sporting News (does anyone read that piece of crap rag, anymore?). Let's just say that any GM that has Neifi Perez on his roster should automatically be considered exempt from that 'honor'. Throw in the Sidney Ponson deal and you have to wonder what exactly the criteria is for 'winning'.

In a move that can only be considered stupid on a large scale - the Giants traded for A.J. Pierzynski and a player to be named for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser (another blog to be renamed?) and Francisco Liriano. The Giants will either get a player or cash in the deal.

The deal is perplexing on a number of levels:

The Giants are going to weaken their pitching staff to bulk up on a third catcher? The Giants gave up Kurt Ainsworth to get Ponson and now are giving up Bonser and Nathan for a catcher when Pierzynski is eligible for arbitration - the Giants were supposed to be cutting payroll. Pierzynski could get into the $2-3 million range depending on who he tables in the arbitration hearing.

Reality TV - Barry Bonds and AJ Pierzynski in the same locker room. You thought Jeff Kent was fun?

Yorvit Torrealba essentially inherited the starting catcher's duties late into the 2003 season. Alberto Castillo moved into the backup role as Benito Santiago takes his bitching and moaning travelling show to free agency. Torrealba is average whereas Castillo is avergae for a backup. What do you do with Castillo? Try and trade him or hide him in AAA when he has already been signed to a major league deal, not a minor league deal?

The only way this makes sense is if the Giants move one of the catchers in an attempt to land much ballyhooed trade bait Richie Sexson. Of course Sabean will possibly blow that and get Geoff Jenkins instead of Sexson and make excuses he's a cheap replacement part for rightfield. Jenkins is worthy, if he's healthy. He's never been healthy.

In other news that makes us incredibly giddy; the Giants have signed Greg Papa.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Papa is going to be filling in for Jon Miller and will be on the radio and TV.

Krukow, Kupier and Papa. Thank you KNBR and the Giants, that's the only reason we need to never listen or watch a Giants broadcast.

MORE BAD JOUNALISM

Do we really need to point out how hollow this 'story' rings? This is from an LA Times article. Gee, LA Times, LA Dodgers, Evans on the way out, best looking GM in baseball rumored to be taking his job despite all signs pointing he doesn't want it...think it was a planted story?

Evans Confronts Beane Over Rumors

Dodger general manager speaks to Oakland's GM amid speculation that Beane wants his job.
"Unfortunately, rumor and speculation have a tendency to create insecurities. I'm not sure I was the best therapist."
-- Billy Beane, on his talk with Dan Evans


By Ross Newhan and Jason Reid, Times Staff Writers
PHOENIX — Apparently fed up over speculation that Billy Beane has been campaigning for his job, Dodger General Manager Dan Evans confronted his Oakland A's counterpart during a phone call last week, a baseball official said Wednesday.


Asked about the call, Beane aimed a pointed response in Evans' direction after initially saying he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to comment on a private call. "Unfortunately," he said, "rumor and speculation have a tendency to create insecurities. I'm not sure I was the best therapist."


According to the baseball official, Beane had initially called Evans to ask for permission to interview Rick Honeycutt, one of the Dodger minor league pitching coordinators and a former A's pitcher, for the position of Oakland pitching coach, vacated when Rick Peterson accepted a similar position with the New York Mets.


Evans eventually returned the call, ostensibly to grant permission, but took advantage of that pretext to question Beane on whether he has been campaigning for his job, the official said.


Said Evans, when asked about it Wednesday: "Billy called me about 10 days ago to discuss a potential employment opportunity for one of our staff members. The content of that conversation, as with any conversations I have with general managers or Major League Baseball employees, is something I consider confidential, and I'll leave it at that."


According to the official, Beane assured Evans during the call that he hasn't been campaigning for the job, and Evans supposedly accepted that answer. The two have had trade discussions during the general manager meetings here this week.


Nevertheless, sources said Evans has also expressed concerns about Beane's campaigning to other baseball people.


It is known to have become something of a hot button issue for him, fueled by the uncertainty of the Dodger ownership situation and his job status, and compounded by media speculation regarding Beane that began as soon as Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt reached an agreement in principle with News Corp. to buy the Dodgers.


Although McCourt has not commented, it is generally assumed that there will be significant personnel turnover if the sale is finalized.


Beane rejected an opportunity to become the Red Sox general manager a year ago to stay on the West Coast, and he has told more than one person that he would love to have the Dodger job to live closer to his parents, who reside in the San Diego area, and his Orange County based daughter from a previous marriage.


The speculation has also been triggered by the fact that, despite his success in building a team that has overcome payroll and revenue deficiencies to reach the playoffs for five straight years, his relationship with A's owner Steve Schott has become shaky.


In addition, Beane's frustration with the economics and constant turnover — shortstop Miguel Tejada and closer Keith Foulke could leave as free agents this winter — has become more visible.


After his A's blew a two-game lead in the best-of-five division series with the Red Sox, Beane snapped, "If you want to give me $50 million more, I'll promise you we won't blow the 2-0 lead."


All of this has been chronicled, and the beleaguered Evans has apparently been reading between the lines. It is not known how heated their phone conversation was, but the baseball official said there was more to it than an exchange of pleasantries.

OFFICE SPACE

The A's added another Vice President to the front office, Lewis Wolff. Wolff's position is VP for Venue Development. Basically, a move to try and make it look like Schott and Hoffman are doing everythig possible to find a place to build a stadium in the Bay Area. In the mean time, giving a real estate mogul a free pay check, expense account, an opportunity to buy into the team and scout real estate for personal and business opportunities for the three of them.

At least that's what it looks like.

Who wants to be VP of VD anyway?

VOTE: BILL KING

In MLB's and the Baseball Hall of Fame's infinite stupidity, they have turned over voting for the Ford C Frick award to fans for online voting.
Why not try and create a grading rubric that measures baseball announcer's abilities and qualities?

That would make too much sense.

If you'll notice; Ray Fosse and Greg Papa are on the list. Which should fill them with shame. The idiots from the Giants are there, too. Jon Miller is there. But, Joe FREAKING Morgan is there. What a waste of a list.

Anyway.

GO and start voting as much as possible for Bill King.

Ahhhahhhahhh - Ahhhahhhahhh

When are you gonna come down -
When are you going to land
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man


You know you can't hold me forever
I didn't sign up with you
I'm not a present for your friends to open
This boy's too young to be singing the blues


So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my plough


Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road


What do you think you'll do then
I bet that'll shoot down your plane
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again


Maybe you'll get a replacement
There's plenty like me to be found
Mongrels who ain't got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you on the ground


Oh, Rick Peterson is going to sign with the METS.

THROWING WEIGHT AROUND

Bryball Smith over at Wait 'Til Next Year asked us for input. We acquiesced.

We know how to ramble, Lord We Wuz Born a Ramblin' Man.