SECOND ANNUAL EIOS
ORGANIZATION EVALUATION

Here are the grades for the Oakland Athletics Baseball Club before we head into 2004.

ORGANIZATION

Grade: B+
A decided grade that is a little inflated.

The Oakland Athletics Baseball Club is one of the best organizations in all of sports, not just in baseball. From success on a small budget to a rabid fan base to a compelling minor league system, the A’s are the blueprint model for businesses outside of baseball and an icon of achievement within.

OAKLAND ORGANIZATION: STANDINGS

96-66 .593 Oakland; AL West Champions
92-52 .639 (AAA) Sacramento River Cats; PCL Champions
34-36 .486 (AA) Midland Rock Hounds
42-28 .600 (High A) Modesto A’s; North Division Wild Card, Freitas Award
39-30 .565 (Low A) Kane County
35-41 .461 (Short-Season A) Vancouver
19-36 .345 (Rookie) AZL Athletics
Totals
357 wins - 289 losses .553 winning percentage

Organization of the year?

The A’s put together another superb season from top to middle. The single A and rookie teams did not manage to win as many games as the higher teams. Though, the variables are also vulnerable to a wider range of scrutiny. For instance, the A’s draft far more college players than high school players. Most of these players hit the AZL team and single A ball. The demands of a college season are considerable tougher than that of a high school season. So you can expect a lot of worn out bodies heading to play ball in the late Summer and early Fall. Further, the A’s organization also has strict demands and conforming to these demands can often lead to players being at different spectrums of focus once the season gets started. While one player is focusing on working the count the runner on first might be working on getting a better read on infield rotations. A pitcher might be working on slowing his delivery from the stretch while a catcher is working on better footwork throwing down to second. It’s on the job training.

The A’s minor league system is one that should be viewed as upper tier and a model of consistency. The Modesto A’s celebrate their 30th season with the A’s in 2004. The River Cats have broken minor league attendance record the last four seasons. Sacramento also set a slue of other records on the way to the Pacific Coast League Championship and Minor League Team of the Year honors (Baseball America).

FRONT OFFICE

Grade: A-

Moneyball-itis could have run this team into the ground before it got started. It did not. The A’s got off to a fast start, and then took a nosedive. Much of that can be linked, but not attributed to, the release and subsequent ridiculous discussions surrounding Moneyball.

Joe Morgan, for several months insisted that Billy Beane, the venerable one, wrote Moneyball. Most likely because Joe is an idiot, and that’s been made apparent many, many times. Moreover, with the kind of 'periodical publications' (ask us why a former handler at ESPN calls his Fantasy Bseball team - Joe Morgan's Porn Stash) Joe reads he was probably thinking that all books are written by someone else and not by the guy whose name is on the book’s cover. Athletes often have a ghostwriter, or blatantly employ a writer to write for them, they can’t be bothered with details; see David Wells. Joe is a well 'read' individual and has an affinity for certain other publications, but, we’ll leave that for another time (Joe, it’s called Spectravision and it’s cheaper and easier than carrying an extra suitcase of ‘reading material’).

We go inside the mind of Joe Morgan:

‘Since the book was labeled as being written by Michael Lewis, then Billy Beane must have really written it and the book is about Michael Lewis. You see, if the book was labeled as being written by Billy Beane it must have really been written by Michael Lewis and it is about Billy Beane. Those publishers weren't thinking the right way and that's why those things happen. To write good books you have to have some twist. What they should have done was…’

Okay, let’s get out of Joe’s brain before we get caught in a redundant loop of stupidity. Remember, the last book Joe wrote was not exactly As I Lay Dying.

Moneyball also had an affect on other GM’s and front office personnel. Seattle Mariners’ GM ‘Stand’ Pat Gillick has decided that not only is Billy Beane wrong and that he doesn’t know how to run an organization, he is going to tell him as much. Not yet? "No, but I plan on it" (see the hyper-linked item for the full article and the quote is at the bottom). The Grady 'Personality' Fuson melodrama played itself out before the All Star break. Fuson went on and on how Billy Beane called to apologize earlier in the season, Beane denied the claim making Fuson a bigger buffoon of himself than any best selling author or GM could ever hope.

All the while Beane, Paul DePodesta, Erik Kubota, David Forst and Danny McCormack kept to the business of finding players and developing budding stars. Who the hell is Jon Weber and how the hell did the A's find him and get him away from Seattle?

The trades made by Billy Beane & Co. get a lot of headlines. But the draft and minor league system are what the A's depend on to stay competitive. In 2003 the Big Three, then Four Large, and their catcher were all developed from the draft and minor league system. The 3rd base and short-stop positions were manned by home grown talent, too. Throw in Eric Byrnes in the outfield and on any given day half the A's lineup was scouted, drafted and brought up through the A's system.

The A’s recent draft has revealed another bevy of talent, these players are worthy of treatment in a best-selling book, too (how about a freakishly bad run blog – would that do?).

The OAKLAND A’s 2003 DRAFT:

Player	Bat/Throws	Ht	Wt	STATUS	Age	Rnd	Pos
Omar Quintanilla	Left/Right	5'9"	185	$1,360,000	22	1st	SS
Brian J Snyder	Right/Right	5'11"	195	$1,325,000	21	1st	3B
Bradley K Sullivan	Right/Right	6'1"	190	$992,500	22	1st	RHP
Andre E Ethier	Left/Left	6'3"	200	$580,000	21	2nd	CF
Dustin C Majewski	Left/Left	5'11"	190	$220,000	22	3rd	CF
Edward S Kim	Left/Right	6'4"	260	$100,000	22	4th	1B
John T Peterson	Right/Left	6'1"	1703	$170,000	21	5th	LHP
Luke T Appert	Left/Right	5'11"	180	$42,500	23	6th	2B
David J Castillo	Right/Right	5'9"	180	$95,000	22	7th	C
Michael M McGirr	Right/Right	6'0"	185	$22,500	22	8th	RHP
Grant T Reynolds	Right/Right	5'11"	190	$15,000	23	9th	RHP
Matthew J Lynch	Left/Left	6'1"	185	$15,000	22	10th	LHP
Vasili G Spanos	Right/Right	6'1"	230	$7,500	22	11th	3B
Brian W Ingram	Left/Right	5'10"	175	Signed	22	11th	SS
Eduardo Cornejo	Left/Right	5'10"	175	Signed	22	13th	SS
Anthony L Zambotti	Right/Right	6'1"	200	Signed	23	14th	RHP
Steven T Bondurant	Left/Left	6'0"	190	Signed	23	15th	LHP
Vern N Sterry	Right/Right	6'2"	195	D-N-S	21	16th	RHP
Ryan W France	Right/Right	6'3"	210	Signed	24	17th	RHP
William Becher	Left/Right	6'5"	230	D-N-S	21	18th	1B
Graham Harrison	Switch/Right	6'2"	210	D-N-S	18	19th	C
Gordon Corder	Right/Right	6'2"	235	Signed	23	20th	1B
William B Pruitt	Left/Right	6'2"	175	D-N-S	18	21st	SS
Brian T Peacock	Right/Right	5'11"	181	D-N-S	22	8th	RHP
Justin R Towles	Right/Right	6'1"	175	D-N-S	19	23rd	C
Cory A Hahn	Right/Right	6'0"	210	Signed	21	24th	RHP
Sean Farrell	Right/Right	5'11"	210	Signed	22	25th	OF
Brian J Horwitz	Right/Right	6'2"	180	D-N-S	21	26th	OF
James Heuser	Left/Leftt	6'5"	200	Signed	19	27th	LHP
Jared D Trout	Right/Right	6'1"	195	Signed	21	28th	RHP
Alexander Woodson	Left/Left	6'0"	185	D-N-S	17	29th	LHP
Justin J Cassel	Right/Right	6'1"	190	D-N-S	19	30th	RHP
Joel B Fountain	Right/Right	6'4"	175	D-N-S	19	31st	RHP
Steve Sollmann	Right/Right	5'10"	190	D-N-S	20	32nd	2B
hiccup
Eric Macha	Right/Right	6'4"	220	Signed	22	33rd	3B
excuse us
Broc C Coffman	Left/Left	6'2"	200	D-N-S	18	34th	LHP
Michael D Mitchell	Right/Right	6'2"	180	D-N-S	22	35th	RHP
Matthew S Ryals	Right/Right	6'2"	185	D-N-S	18	36th	RHP
Sean F Kazmar	Right/Right	5'9"	160	D-N-S	19	37th	SS
Zachary M Simons	Left/Right	6'3"	180	D-N-S	18	38th	RHP
Joshua J Rodriguez	Right/Right	6'0"	170	D-N-S	19	39th	2B
Christopher R Westervelt	Right/Right	5'11"	205	D-N-S	22	40th	C

REVIEW: 42 (College: 28, High School: 9, JC: 5)
Position Players: 22 Pitchers: 19 Manager’s Sons: 1
($ amount denotes signing bonus, so, duh, they’re signed…
D-N-S the player did not sign, we’ll follow up and find out who may re-enter the draft)

Of course, following the draft, the season actually gets started for the front office. The only real matters left are signing draft picks and dispatching them to their minor league assignments. Then the focus shifts to AA Midland AAA Sacramento and the parent club in Oakland. Later, toward who might become available in other organizations. Oakland’s flaws, in the past, have been readily improved upon prior to the trading deadline with swift, calculating moves from within the front office.

The A’s moves following the 2002 season were brilliant as much as they were dumbfounding that other GM’s and organizations were willing to unload cheap talent and untapped talent for so little.

In Mid October of 2002 the A’s dumped Jeff Tam, Cody McKay and Juan Pena. Tam went on to watch his ERA explode in Toronto, McKay went to the Brewers and Pena, who knows? On Halloween the A’s picked up the option on Scott Hatteberg, which seemed like a good move at the time considering the bang the A’s were getting for their bucks.

On November 13th the A’s bought Roy Smith form the Cleveland Indians and Smith spent the year in Sacramento starting and long relieving. The A’s also signed a slue of free agents to minor league deals. Heath Bost is not on any of the A’s organizations active rosters and David Hooten had an unimpressive year for Midland in the Texas League. The A’s also brought up Bob Geren from his post as River Cats manager and tied him to the bullpen for 2003. The A’s also dismissed Mike Quade with thanks after Quade refused to be reassigned in the organization.

Three days later the A’s sent Cory Lidle to Toronto for Mike Rouse and Chris Mowday. Rouse had a decent stint in AA Midland and will be in the Arizona Fall League this winter. Mowday stunk up both Modesto and Kane County. Cory Lidle got a few wins in Toronto in 2003, but his ERA would make a porn merchant blush.

Two days later Jose Silva, Mitch Meluskey, David McCarty and Billy McMillon were signed to minor league deals.

On December 3rd the A’s traded Billy Koch and two players to be named later (Neal Cotts and outfielder Daylan Holt ) to the Chicago White Sox for Keith Foulke, Mark Johnson, Minor League Pitcher of the Year Joe Valentine and cash considerations - enough to pay most of, if not all of, Foulke's contract. At this point, if Billy Beane didn’t have exempt status everywhere in the planet, this move surely moved him to the upper class of all beings that breath. Foulke lost his closer’s job in Chicago because Jerry Manuel didn’t like the fact Foulke blew two saves in a week. Foulke’s numbers were so good, even after losing his job as a closer, that he was still one of the best relievers in baseball. Norm Charlton signed with the A’s on December 17th, 2002. Charlton is either re-retiring or coming back in 2004 after elbow surgery. Most likely both.

SINCE YOU’RE GONE; Part Three (the end)

So, we had our list and we didn’t check it twice. Which is where the troubles began. As there were to be 30 teams represented, several Mock GM’s mock showed up – which means they were not present at the function.

Which really threw a monkey wrench into the evening. Several teams were wanted to take advantage of we not represented. Gary Huckabay and James Click were to pick up the slack, but they were also representing MLB and the free agent pool (not a conflict of interest if you asked Bud Selig). So Gary and James became the dog poo for the constant swarm of flies.

Not to mention that several GM’s did not do their homework. When we approached a few teams they had no idea of some of the minor league players we were asking about. So, we offered our laptop with a slue of stats to peruse. Of course some of the GM’s saw the stats and became reluctant and others saw the stats and didn’t understand what we saw.

Well, it was quite simple. For hitters we looked at On Base Percentage, number of extra base hits compared to the league they played in, strike out to walk ratio and most importantly ignored stolen bases and RBI. For pitchers we looked at strike outs to innings pitched, walks to innings pitched along with hits to unearned runs (a ridiculous stat – we just wanted to see if you were paying attention). But, we also looked at earned runs versus runs. Obviously, if there are a significantly higher number of runs than earned runs, the pitcher might have been the victim of bad defense or bad luck.

Surprisingly there was a TON of talent in AA and the AAA teams seemed rather iffy. While Toronto looked loaded the Expos looked like a, ugh, a team run by ‘baseball men’.

So, when we got the go ahead to go ahead with making our moves we waited. Minnesota wanted to discuss their middle infielders for the Expos middle infielders. Basically Minnesota wanted to see if we were stupid. We weren’t and moved on.

We inquired about Miguel Batista at the free agent table along with Olmedo Saenz and Jose Guillen. Batista had already had offers in the 3 year $10 million range, which was out of the question. Saenz was looking for a major league deal at $500,000. Guillen hadn’t been made an offer and we were just going fishing, and didn’t like what we heard there, either. We tried to get Saenz down to a minor league deal but there was no go. We then asked about another right-handed pinch hitter possibility, Rickey Henderson. Rickey wanted 150 at-bats and a million bucks. Rickey was dreaming. Rickey could get incentive into his clause that if he had 100 at-bats with an OBP of over .360 he would get a $100,000 bonus on a base salary of $400,000. Rickey didn’t like that. We moved on.

We hit up Toronto, Chicago White Sox and were on our way to Tampa Bay when the first trade of the evening was announced, "Acquired Jermaine Dye, Graham Koonce, and Mario Ramos from the Athletics for Aubrey Huff".

Well, we were too late to rape either the A’s or Devil Rays and that trade kind of set the mood for the evening. The A’s didn’t want to give up anything after that and didn’t. We tried getting Mark Ellis, Eric Byrnes and Chad Bradford along with a throw in for Steve Stanley or Justin Duchscherer for Jose Vidro or Orlando Cabrera or a catcher. We asked whom they were looking to acquire to see if we could swing a three-way deal with someone – notably Houston, who was looking to dump payroll and we had sweet dreams of acquiring Lance Berkman. We worked on the A’s GM for about 5 minutes at a time and we got the definitive feeling he had been taken for a ride by Tampa Bay. We tried stroking his ego, but that didn’t work. So we went back to Chicago and Toronto and tried to play one off the other making both verbal assurances that we would not make a deal until coming back to the other. The worst part is that the Toronto GM thought we were asking for a pitcher, Guillermo Quiroz, when he was a catcher. It was quite vexing and took a lot of energy not to just throw in the towel. But, Toronto had too much talent to pass up so we eventually worked a deal: "Acquired Alexis Rios and Selwyn Langaigne from the Blue Jays for Orlando Cabrera."

A few question marks appeared over the heads of some of the other owners. There should not have been any. There should have been a lot of wowing.

ALEXIS RIOS - OF

OBP	XBH	SLG	BB	SO	Runs	Level/Position
.402	54	.521	39	85	86	AA/OF

SELWYN LANGAIGNE - OF

OBP	XBH	SLG	BB	SO	Runs	Level/Position
.411	23	.459	39	44	43	AA/OF

We didn’t know it at the time, but Selwyn Langaigne was no longer property of the Blue Jays. Great. We started thinking, and decided we needed to work in a phrase, "and cash". Montreal was cash strapped and we figured we could always get cash for some of the talent we had on the roster. Still we got one of the best prospects in baseball for a player who was going into arbitration.

So, we decided to double check with Olmedo Saenz. We triggered a deal: "Signed Olmedo Saenz for 1 year, $400,000 with a team option for $500,000 or a $200,000 buyout". Why, you ask? Because Olmedo is a competent corner infielder, a good on-base percentage player and has a knack for getting nailed with pitches. He has good power, but can’t run. Like we care. But, we got a fiscally responsible deal that we could also use Saenz for trade bait down the stretch.

We were tracked down by the Brewers’ GM after we mentioned to someone we were looking for him. We set up another viewing of the stats off the laptop for the players we were asking for. We set up another deal that also involved cash: "Acquired Peter Zoccolillo and Francisco Campos from the Brewers for Noah Hall” or as Gary Huckabay said, “a wet sack of mice for two wet sacks of mice". Well hall is a 26-year-old outfielder still in AA. The others?

PETER ZOCCOILLO - OF

OBP	XBH	SLG	BB	SO	Runs	Level/Position
.360	49	.447	51	70	57	AAA/OF

FRANCISCO CAMPOS - SRP

IP	ERuns	K’s	BB	Hits	Runs	Level/Position
177	70	147	57	209	94	AAA/SRP

So, we basically traded a player for himself and a Mexican League/AAA pitcher. Just a 5th starter or long reliever who wouldn’t mind a few extra runs being scored on him and could handle the anonymity of his circumstances. Let’s move on.
We started working on the Chicago White Sox, who had several prospects we wanted. Lucky for us, we didn’t make any deals as we found out later, two of the players had been traded just a few days earlier. Tim Hummel had gone to Cincinnati and Aaron Miles had gone to Colorado.

The next deal was a piece of art: "Acquired Byun-Hyung Kim, Kevin Youkilis, and $5 million from the Red Sox for Jose Vidro". We got a starter, or a closer, we got an on-base machine and we got $5 million for a player whose contract was up at the end of the year. But the beauty of the situation is how we talked the GM into swinging the deal. We started slowly, "c’mon, you’re a second baseman away from the World Series." Then we worked the long term, "c’mon, you know you’re going to go after Eric Chavez in the off season so Youkilis means nothing to you. Even if you convert him to a first baseman you can get a one with more power down the road." Then we added the kicker, “and cash." We left it up to an arbitrator, Gary Huckabay to decide on a dollar figure and act as MLB to approve a cash deal over $1 million. Oddly enough, since MLB owned the Expos they approved their own deal.

The next deal was simply to dump salary and an albatross: "Acquired Jamey Wright from the Royals for Michael Barrett". Barrett has one of the worst set of stats for a catcher since A.J. Hinch was A.J. Hinch. Jamey Wright is coming off of a decent season in and around the PCL. He’s not really a prospect at age 29, but he also had to pitch in the Rockies system for a number of years. That buys him at least 3 seasons. He’s a cheap 5th starter or long reliever.

The clock had started winding down to the last five minutes and we decided to just grab whatever we could with another prospect and sign a free agent: "Acquired J.J. Davis from the Pirates for Tony Armas Jr.". We’re not sure of Armas’ health and Davis could have matured (he was named to Team USA) and be ready to take the next step in his development.

JJ DAVIS - OF

OBP	XBH	SLG	BB	SO	Runs	Level/Position
.342	59	.554	35	85	68	AAA/OF

We then signed Rickey Henderson as our designated Hall of Fame entry and got him for a song at $300,000.

So, we trimmed nearly $20 million from the payroll, added several prospects, added $5 million – plus in cash and we awaiting the non-tender list. We could easily add three middle infielders and make a trade for a player near Spring Training if need be. We were in good shape and the team payroll was in the low $30 million range. Not to mention we were significantly younger.

James Click at Baseball Prospectus wrote up two articles on the event, the first being here and the second with the run down of all the transactions being located via this here link.

Click takes some shots at the participants, pretty ballsy considering that BP didn’t fill the room.

SINCE YOU’RE GONE; Part TWO

So, we had our tentative 40 man roster to work from and the list of minor league free agents we could convince to stay in purgatory. We had a short list of possible free agents to sign. But, in reality, we could not hope to get permission to sign ANYONE without dumping salary first. And in order to do that we needed to get the contract status of the 40 man roster…where else would we turn but the blumanc site?

Some chap takes the time list the salaries for current players over the life of their respective contracts. Sure, there are a few holes here and there, but for the most part the information you need is going to be at the bluemanc site. Once we had a general idea of the payroll went to work on the other billion or so minor leaguers, independent leaguers and international players available.

We got a bit of a lift when Jonah Keri went and did that thing he does where he takes a topic and makes sense of it. Jonah laid out the curious case of les Expos de baseball and life after Vladimir Guerrero in Montreal at Baseball Prospectus and at ESPN.com. Kerri points out the particulars and does the nice touch of not hammering Omar Minya for not offering Guerrero arbitration. Minya needs to be beaten about the head and shoulders with more than the kid gloves the rest of baseball has been showing him as he has very little clue what the hell he is doing.

Minya is not the brightest of minds in baseball and he clearly shows that on a daily basis. Everyone loosely associated with professional baseball knows the score when it comes to the Expos. If Fidel Castro came up with enough Cubans (cigars, not people) Havana would be hosting Los Expos de Cuba come April. Minya has been unable to make any trades that actually help the Expos for longer than a multi-city road trip or weeklong home stand (wherever that may find the Expos). Minya has gift wrapped several good prospects to end up not getting a stick but something very small that was once attached to said stick.

Minya can make excuses that he has to work under a stranglehold payroll threshold.

So?

Doesn’t every team outside of New York and Boston have a budget to consider? They certainly do and most have made mistakes, too, but Minya has an opportunity most other teams don’t. Minya can completely jack things up in Montreal and he would still come out smelling like a Rose (insert your own MLB allowing Pete Rose back to manage the Expos in 2005 joke here). Minya can go completely mad and serve up an all AAA All-Star team or he could load up on prospects and hope for the future.

Or he could savagely negotiate with free agents and have flocks of his ducks lined up and ready when teams start announcing their non-tenderings next week. Minya had the opportunity last year and non-tendering time and he flocked himself over. There were a dozen or so proven minor-leaguers or tweeners that could have been considerable producers for the Expos and Minya largely let the market work him. The rest of the free world knew about Billy McMillon, Adam Melhuse and Josh Towers – how did Minya not know?

Further Minya has access to rumors and innuendo like no other GM, being the right toe man of Bud Selig and all. Oh, wait, Selig is not involved in the day to day operation of the Brewers or the Expos. Please.

The Brewers and Expos have gone out of their way to interview and hire minority candidates, and in the case of Frank Robinson, went frantic to keep minority personnel in critical positions. This is not a racial argument in any way shape or form; rather a light bulb should be going up that the franchises are eerily similar.

Frank Robinson, the manager of the Expos, is the guy to blame for Team USA not making it to the Olympics for 2004. Team USA was sabotaged by a ridiculous tournament concept, but they really shot themselves in the foot when Robinson, the manager, had their best hitter – Joe Mauer, bunting runners over it the top of the 9th inning with nobody out (where have we seen this unfold before?) and not score only to watch the game slip away with a walk off homer in the bottom. However, the resounding silver lining here is that now the USOC will not have to slap MLB around when more than half of TEAM USA flunked their Olympic drug test, arguably the most stringent tests in athletics.

The Expos are being run as a mirror image of the Milwaukee Brewers and everyone turns a blind eye to the abuse. But here’s a little bit of a brainteaser that needs immediate attention. Remember who the former owner of the Montreal Expos was? Where did he go? Recall the gutting the Expos took at the expense of, what appeared at the time, a lesser team in Florida. Now, look who is the World Series champion.

Obviously the Marlins 2003 was not exactly what any analyst would point to and predict as championship caliber. Then again, neither were the Angels off 2002. Or the Diamondbacks of 2001. Someone correct us if we are wrong, but the Wild Card team seems to be winning a lot in the post season, lately. Don’t look now, but MLB is gaining that parity crap that the NFL and NBA have been driven to emulate of each other.
Why would the Brewers have trade away Richie Sexson at a time when free agent salaries are being suppressed? Neither the Brewers nor Expos have made any inkling to sing even a marginal free agent in the last few weeks. Both teams are dumping salary and neither seems to be doing anything substantial to stave off future debt by, you know, having a plan.

Minya has more information by 9:00 am (EST) on any given day than Dick Cheney had in the months before Halliburton declared war on non-bid contracts. Minya had the opportunity to trade Vladimir Guerrero last year to every team but the Expos, and we’re pretty sure Selig would have worked a deal to find out how to make a profit for the Brewers in such a deal. Guerrero would have fetched more than a prospect or two, he would have garnered a lot of cash. Cash that could have kept the Expos form looking like the Washington Generals when it came September and MLB refused to allow call-ups.

NOTE: “If anyone is looking for collusion evidence – look no further. MLB specifically disallowed the Expos from bringing up players from the minor league system in order to keep players from initiating service time for players that are ‘jointly owned’ by the rest of MLB owners. You can hear the argument from around the cigar clenched in the stereotypical owner’s teeth– ‘why should I allow this guy to make his debut when I don’t benefit? Why should he get an extra few bucks and a big league paycheck for 30 days when he can just as well be the second baseman in Edmonton for a few more weeks? The moment that kid step on the field his big league clock starts ticking and every second is one less I could have stashed him in AAA in my own organization when that fire sale and auction comes around."

Then again, there are those who looked at the Expos minor league system for major league caliber players and then looked again for possible extras for a baseball movie. It was not until the September Wait List incident that a lot of people realized that Minya had double pumped the Expos right out of contention for the next 18 months.

Which (finally) brings us to our analysis of the players we were going to target for acquisition.
Minor League Pitchers:
Edwin Hurtado
Francisco Campos
Matt Miller
Jesse Carlson
Kazuhito Tadano
Jose Vargas
Brad Clontz
Mike Lyons
Carlos Almanzar
Jason Frasor
Major League Pitchers:
Chad Bradford
Miguel Batista
Jeremy Fikac
Randy Wolf
Matt Kinney
Minor League Catchers:
Kit Pellow
Guillermo Quiroz
Kevin Cash
Mike Rivera
Pete LaForest
Andy Dominique
Major League Catchers:
Mark Johnson
David Ross
Minor League Infielders:
Garret Atkins
Simon Pond
Aaron Miles
Major League Infielders:
Frank Menechino
Mark Bellhorn
Minor League Utility/Hitters:
Luis Gonzalez
Tim Hummel
Olmedo Saenz
Eric Crozier
Chris Donnels
Billy Martin
Major League Utility/Hitters:
Mark Ellis
Mark Loretta
Chris Stynes
Minor League Outfielders:
Alexis Rios
Selwyn Langaigne
Edgar Clemente
Jayson Bass
Ross Gload
Peter Zoccolillo
Cody Ross
J.J Davis
Jason Tyner
Major League Outfielders:
Eric Byrnes
Adam Piatt
Matt Stairs
Jose Guillen


Players in bold we REALLY went after and wanted badly.

SINCE YOU’RE GONE

What you been up to? We were named the General Manager of the Montreal Expos a few weeks ago, and thank you for asking.

The lords of analysis over at Baseball Prospectus set up mock Pizza Feeds/Winter Meetings in Chicago, Los Angeles and the BayArea over the past week.

The Chicago meetings were administered by Will Carroll and there were several injuries to report according to our acting commissioner in the BayArea, Gary Huckabay.

The ground rules were simple:

”The first 30 attendees to sign up were assigned a team in advance, and instructed to pore over their team's roster, look over the free-agent market, and come to the event prepared to wheel and deal. Each team was also given a firm budget number in advance that they could not exceed. The event began with each team announcing its list of non-tendered players, who then immediately went into the free-agent pile. All free agents were then represented by the remaining attendees…”

You can read about the Chicago chain of events from Rany Jazayerli by clicking the above hyperlink Courtesy of Baseball Prospectus.

Sound like fun?

Well it was more than fun.


"All the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, yes science has it all."


- Principal Seymour Skinner
So, what did we do for research?

We went blind. We scoured several different sources for information including BP.com, Baseball America, ESPN, MLB.com, minor league home pagee and team home pages. We even went to some of the player’s crude fan pages to look up information. We stumbled onto a new site Sports-Wired that offered a lto of obscure information and stats that normally isn’t found on the same website.

We created databases and started plotting charts and graphs and then we stopped.

If we were to be the Montreal Expos, we could not behave like other teams. We had a billion other issues other than baseball to consider.
We whipped out a Montreal Expos treatise.

The 2004 Montreal Expos:
A Treatise

The case before the Montreal Expos as of 9 December 2003 is to tread water. Tread water and attempt to sully any attempts to lose money hand over fist.


The issue at hand is to keep a economically viable commodity from expending too much energy in producing capital when it can just as easily not.


The objective, of course, is to sell the Montreal Expos off to a freshly minted billionaire or organization dying for a tax write off. Once the team is sold it will be relocated. Any attempts to make a name brand or the Expos in the Montreal area should be discontinued. Once the relocation is complete the team will undergo a name change, of the team, that is. Montreal will most likely remain Montreal.

The ‘once dreadful Expos’ tag will no longer be valid. The ‘essentially dreadful NEW TEAM NAME’ tag will apply.


The larger issues of re-location, the farm system and sellable product after 2004 are not concerns of the current administration in the least bit (wink-wink). Why waste time, money and resources discussing possible options when you really don’t need to? The new ownership will most likely dismiss all of the current employees and install their own network of minions.


However, in order to appear more attractive to prospective and knowledgeable buyers there are certain measures that need to be approached. The farm system should be loaded with as many prospects as possible. Because the team can not theoretically profit as a business organization as its current from of ownership stands – the goal must be to creatively gut the 40 man roster of any ‘talent’ with any trade value whatsoever and stock up on prospects for a future owner whenever possible.


With this in mind the 40-man roster should be stocked with instantly tradable players or players with a high ceiling and at a low cost; but offer a high return. Rent-a-player ‘types’ such as Kenny Lofton, John VanderWal, John Halama or John Mabry come to mind.


In order to fulfill this goal there is a general philosophical code to adhere to:


It’s not your problem for much longer, but it is still your problem.


The first step in the deforestation process is to follow the easiest course of action and garner a bevy of prospects while still being able to field a major league caliber team. The solution is to use the Expos as a traveling auction. Players, coaches and the manager should talk up the players as individuals rather than parts of the team. Once the individual is established it becomes easier for the rest of MLB to envision these players fitting snuggly on their 25 man rosters.


Once players are traded, it will become necessary to utilize free agency, the minor league system and independent leagues to plug in holes where and when needed.


However, the guise of a competitive team must remain. If need be, Frank Robinson will be fired in late April/early May if the team does not have a winning record as a smokescreen to the deforestation process. The Expos must have several minority candidates willing to take the position of manager of the Expos in a short amount of time, as it would cause incredible shame and disparity if MLB were to offer the job of managing a Major League Baseball team and having that minority candidate turn down the job offer.


In that vain, Omar Minya will be the first candidate considered for a new General Manager position with any other organization, should one open in the near future. While Minya’s efforts to date have been yeomen-like, he has failed to grasp the concept of current trade value versus innate long-term value.


Dave Stewart, currently a consultant with the San Diego Padres and Kim Ng with the Los Angeles Dodgers should be considered a possible tandem of General Manager and Assistant Manager once Omar Minya puts both hands on the box containing the remeninces of his office.


In order to achieve this furtherance of deforestation, it is necessary to sign many free agents at less than market value to one or two year minor league contracts. As Major League Baseball’s diseased, elderly aunt - the Expos organization can wait until just prior to Spring Training and pile several players into the back of a pick if need be. Anyone with 250 at bats or 50 innings pitched qualifies for a locker and a uniform.


The focus of developing players in the minor league system should absolutely continue. More attention and resources should be paid to those players on the cusp of AA as those players have a three-year window to the Big League team, when a new ownership group will be in place.


The Expos currently have the following six-year free agents to consider:


Pitchers:
Jose Colon
Bo Donaldson
Richie Lewis
Cristobal Rodriguez
Jose Rodriguez
Dustin Seale
Blake Stein
Catchers:
Scott Ackerman
Jason Brown
Edwards Guzman
Randy Knorr
Infielders:
Jeff Bailey
Ryan Balfe
Felix Diaz
Luis R. Figueroa
Vic Gutierrez
Bill Hall
Albenis Machado
Anthony Medrano
Joel Noboa
Luis Ortiz
Jake Thrower
Joe Vitiello
Outfielders:
Quincy Foster
Noah Hall
Jeremy Ware


Those in bold are worth re-signing. The rest can be used as fodder if need be.


Now that we have a general idea of who we can lose, let’s look at who we have under contract currently on the 40 man roster.

The 40 Man Roster

Salary	Player	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Level/Position
Minimum	Hector Almonte	R/R	6-2	190	10/17/75	AAA/Pitcher
$3 million	Tony Armas	R/R	6-4	225	04/29/78	Starter
$350,000	Luis Ayala	R/R	6-2	170	01/12/78	Closer
Minimum	Chad Bentz	R/L	6-2	215	05/05/80	AAA/Pitcher
$2 million	Rocky Biddle	R/R	6-3	230	05/21/76	Reliever
Minimum	Randy Choate	L/L	6-2	195	09/05/75	LH Relief
Minimum	Roy Corcoran	R/R	5-10	170	05/11/80	AAA
$300,000	Chad Cordero	R/R	6-0	190	03/18/82	Reliever
$350,000	Zach Day	R/R	6-4	210	06/15/78	Starter
$1.3 million	Joey Eischen	L/L	6-0	215	05/25/70	Reliever
$6 million	Livan Hernandez	R/R	6-2	240	02/20/75	Starter
$4 million	Orlando Hernandez	R/R	6-2	220	10/11/69	Starter
Minimum	Shawn Hill	R/R	6-2	185	04/28/81	AAA
Minimum	Sun Woo Kim	R/R	6-1	185	09/04/77	AAA
Minimum	Julio Manon	R/R	6-0	200	06/10/73	AAA
$2 million	Tomo Ohka	R/R	6-1	180	03/18/76	Starter
Minimum	Britt Reames	R/R	5-10	180	08/19/73	Reliever
Minimum	Dan Smith	R/R	6-3	225	09/15/75	AAA
Minimum	Seung Song	R/R	6-1	190	06/29/80	AAA
$1 million	Scott Stewart	R/L	6-2	225	08/14/75	Set-up
$350,000	T.J. Tucker	R/R	6-3	265	08/20/78	Reliever
$350,000	Claudio Vargas	R/R	6-3	225	05/19/79	Starter
Salary	Player	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Level/Position
$2.5 million	Michael Barrett	R/R	6-2	200	10/22/76	Catcher
$350,000	Brian Schneider	L/R	6-0	200	11/26/76	Back-up
Salary	Player	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Level/Position
$5.5 million	Orlando Cabrera	R/R	5-9	180	11/02/74	Shortstop
$350,000	Jamey Carroll	R/R	5-9	175	02/18/74	3rd base
$300,000	Scott Hodges	L/R	6-0	190	12/26/78	Bench
$2 million	Nick Johnson	L/L	6-3	225	09/19/78	1st base
Minimum	John Labandeira	R/R	5-7	180	02/25/79	AAA
$1 million	Jose Macias	S/R	5-10	190	01/25/72	3rd base
$350,000	Henry Mateo	S/R	5-11	180	10/14/76	Bench
$7.75 million	Jose Vidro	S/R	5-11	195	08/27/74	2nd base
Salary	Player	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB	Level/Position
Minimum	Peter Bergeron	L/R	6-0	190	11/09/77	Centerfield
$350,000	Ron Calloway	L/L	6-1	210	09/04/76	Bench
Minimum	Matt Cepicky	L/R	6-2	225	11/10/77	AAA
$350,000	Endy Chavez	L/L	5-9	170	02/07/78	Bench
Minimum	Val Pascucci	R/R	6-6	235	11/17/78	AAA
Minimum	Juan Rivera	R/R	6-2	170	07/03/78	AAA
$300,000	Terrmel Sledge	L/L	6-0	180	03/18/77	Rightfield
Minimum	Brandon Watson	L/R	6-1	170	09/30/81	AAA
$350,000	Brad Wilkerson	L/L	6-0	205	06/01/77	Leftfield

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

What do you mean where have we been?

Let us explain…not time to explain, let us sum up.

If you had to chose between having a friend killed behind the wheel of a car by:

a). A stolen car
b). A drunk driver
c). A driver running a red light
d). All of the above

Of course you don’t get to choose, none of use ever do.

So Jack was pronounced dead on the scene after behind hit by a stolen van, driven by a drunk driver running a red light. The air bags deployed, the seat belt was on. The road was dry. The speed limit was adhered to.

So, a brilliant man, who worked a crap job very much beneath him, died there – half on the road, half in his car because…just because those things happen.

Jack was brilliant because he knew more than you did and because he did less. Jack was the guy who would cut wood on weekend for cash and work a job that required a name tag for the ‘flexibility’. Jack went to more concerts, saw more sporting events and listened and read and lived more than most between 9-5 than most do in a lifetime. Jack could work philosophical works into discussions of how a fast-food joint oppresses its employees and poisons the nation. Jack could show how three hours of live music could end any argument on any subject. And he died.

Because we all do. We all do. And we never get to choose. We don’t get a choice.

FOULKE 'N' MIND MADE UP

Keith Foulke will determine the team he will sign with by the end of the week. It very well could be with the Oakland A's. The rumored offer is a three year deal from Boston at $7 million per. The A's mentioned in July they would be thrilled to get Foulke at that kind of a price.


Other factors that favor the A's include;

lame west coast media - not the super-hyped Boston and New York manic media
atmosphere in the A's clubhouse - not the damp, musty odor at Fenway (rather a mint smell in the damp and musty of the Coliseum) and of course
Chance to be a starter with the A's - not to be shown to the bullpen ala BYKim

Terry Francona was whisked away by the Red Sox to be their new manager. Sort of redundant to mention after the Curt Schilling deal. NO word on compensation, or if compensation was available.