Beaneball

A couple of A's transactions on the "injured first baseman" front. First, Todd Walker signed a minor-league deal with Oakland. There's noise that he'll be a guy to compete for time at first base, but that's a terrible idea. The A's are a punchless team as it is. Having Walker playing first base just exacerbates that when the other option is Erubiel Durazo, who at least has some power. Better, and likely more unheralded, is the fact that John Baker, a minor league catcher, has been traded for Jason Stokes. Stokes is a first baseman with a pretty decent (if not outstanding) minor league track record in Florida's system. He's a guy who's been willing to take a walk and has flashed occasional power as well. Except for the fact that he's right-handed, he strikes me as nearly a Dan Johnson clone - I wouldn't be surprised if he's on the team in relatively short order. On the other hand, given the A's befuddling decision-making at times, I also wouldn't be surprised if Todd Walker is leading the "hit and run" charge as the A's first baseman for 80 games this year. Ugh.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 23:17 | |

Did I say all the pitchers were healthy? I meant all the good pitchers: Esteban Loaiza was scratched from his last start because of stiffness in his neck and back. (Hi, Austen!) While I don't think he's going to be very good this year, it's not like the A's have a lot of candidates to replace him. Lenny DiNardo?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 20:37 | |

The injury situation is already getting out of hand for the A's and the season hasn't even started yet. Dan Johnson sustained torn cartilage in his hip during a collision on Monday. He'll be out, apparently, something like three months. I have no idea what this does to the roster. When Bobby Kielty comes back, it's easy enough: Kielty and Stewart in the corners, Bradley in center, Swisher at first. But if Kielty isn't ready on Opening Day, then what? Ryan Goleski as Opening Day starter? Erubiel Durazo at first base? Neither solution is optimal, though you're probably better off taking the defensive hit of having Durazo don a glove than you are having Goleski try to hit against major league pitchers in real games. At least (knock on wood) the pitchers are all healthy at this point.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 20:30 | |

As far as I can remember, the last Rule 5 pick the A's held on to was Mike Neu. He threw 42 innings out of the bullpen for the A's in 2003 after spending the last couple of years in the Cincinnati system. He had an impressive ERA (under four), but he also had more walks than strikeouts. He was included in the Mark Redman trade, and spent all but four innings of 2004 in AAA. He spent his entire 2005 in AAA. Neither year was a pleasant one for him, as his ERA was over five each time. He appears to not have pitched in MLB-affiliated ball last year. In other words, it's not an auspicious recent history. That said, the A's are excited enough about lefty Jay Marshall that they apparently want to keep him. Marshall's 24. He spent three years in Rookie ball before moving up to Class-A Winston-Salem (Chicago White Sox' system) last year and absolutely dominating it out of the bullpen: 62 innings, 1.02 ERA, two homers, eight walks, 44 strikeouts. It's not clear why it took him so long to get out of Rookie ball, because he's been putting up great walk and strikeout numbers all the way along. It's not clear what role Marshall would play, but I'd have to guess it'd be similar to Neu's role four years ago: mop-up. If he works out, then the A's may have found themselves another bullpen asset, something they've been really good at finding the last couple of years. In other Rule 5 news, Oakland apparently wants to keep Ryan Goleski as well, though they may not be willing to carry him on the major league roster the whole year. They're apparently looking to work out a trade with the Indians for him. That may be a tough sell, because the Indians aren't a stupid team. On the other hand, they were willing to leave him unprotected despite his being 24 and having reached AA (and having hit well there). The A's probably have some leeway in terms of working the deal out because of Bobby Kielty's injury. He still hasn't returned to game action, so it's highly unlikely he'll be on the roster come Opening Day, meaning that the A's could carry Goleski for a little while longer than they might if Kielty were healthy and ready to start with Oakland.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 17:07 | |

I've just watched District B13 (the original French title is, apparently, "Banlieue 13", "banlieue" being a word of many meanings; Wikipedia informs me that a dictionary would say it means "outskirts," but it's commonly used in France today to refer specifically to those poor outskirts of the cities that Americans might, if our cities were structured the same way, call ghettos), and it's a little scary how prescient it was. (Note: I'm going to talk freely about plot, so stop reading if you plan to see the movie and haven't yet.) The titular district is troublesome to the government. It drains money and simply refuses to be "solved." The initial solution is to wall it off (clearly reminiscent of the Nazi creation of Jewish ghettos). The later solution is to set off a bomb in the heart of the district, which will, ideally, wipe out all two million people who live there (final solution). The Nazi parallels are far from subtexts. One character refuses to believe that the government could actually undertake to wipe out two million people just like that; the other reminds him that "they" did it to six million because they didn't have blond hair and blue eyes. The use of "they" is interesting, as, in the context, it would indicate French authorities. This is consistent with what might be described as a national French guilt over the Holocaust. The use of "six million" instead of a higher figure is striking in this respect, because that number represents only the number of Jews killed, leaving out the three to five million others. Perhaps more interesting is the way the movie foreshadowed the riots of the fall of 2005. The character not from Banlieue 13 asks the one that is whether burning cars is really an effective way of accomplishing anything. The other responds by asking whether he's got any better ideas for the moment. Burning cars were, I think, the major image reaching the U.S. during the 2005 riots, so that line struck a particular chord. Further, the expression of the frustration with not being able to get out, with having no recourse, is consistent with the feelings that bubbled forth in the riots. The point is driven home by the ethnic makeup of the inhabitants of the two zones - the gangsters, inhabitants of B13, who occupy the screen for most of the movie, are a mixed lot, but generally dark-skinned. The head gangster is a man named Taha. The name is ambiguous to my ears, but when I Google "Taha," the third result is the wikipedia entry for Rachid Taha, a French-Algerian musician. Who knows if he's famous, but I'd imagine that a French audience might immediately associate the name with Algerians. (There's not much on the actor's IMDB page; his brother, also an actor, was born in Paris, but played "Yassir" in the recent film about French Algerians fighting in World War II.) Furthermore, at least to my eyes, the governmental actors were played by some particularly pasty white men, emphasizing their difference from the residents of the banlieue.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Movies at 23:48 | |

This article notes that Joe Kennedy got smacked around again on Thursday before the rest of the game got rained out. Even the A's have to be worried at this point, regardless of how well Kennedy thinks he's throwing the ball. Also in that article, there's a note that Lenny DiNardo is being stretched out, possibly to join the fifth-starter race. Me, I didn't even know DiNardo was on the team. I thought he was still a Red Sock. Colby Lewis has also joined up, but he'll apparently be headed to Sacramento to start the year. Bobby Crosby is a man after my own heart, as he's a big Price is Right fan. On the other hand, who isn't?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 13:04 | |

Ok, this is the craziest thing ever. I thought it must be a joke. Quick recap: Randolph Morris, who was just a few days ago playing for Kentucky in the NCAA tournament, has signed a two-year free agent contract with the Knicks. Huh? The deal is that Morris actually declared for the draft as a freshman, but didn't sign with an agent. This latter move allowed him to return to school once he went undrafted. In such a situation, the NBA CBA apparently provides that Morris cannot re-enter the draft, and thus is a free agent. I guess, technically, Morris could have signed with anybody at any point during this season and left school at that time. Obviously, his Kentucky team was decent enough that he wanted to wait and see what they might do as far as playing for the national championship. Of course, Tubby Smith's announcement that he was leaving Kentucky to take the Minnesota job probably played some role in Morris's decision to leave as well. Next question: is this a loophole to exploit? What's the risk for a freshman to just go ahead and declare for the draft but not hire an agent? If he gets drafted, great, welcome to the millionaire's club. If he doesn't, no worries - now you're a free agent! Just go back to school if you don't get any attractive offers and keep playing until someone comes knocking. If no one ever does, then stick around and graduate. I fail to see what's preventing this from happening. The draft may well become sixty freshmen drafted each year - no older players would be drafted because all of them would already have been eligible in year n - 1 and thus would currently be ineligible for the draft.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Basketball at 01:29 | |

The Red Sox have announced that Jonathan Papelbon is heading back to the bullpen, where he'll serve as Boston's closer this year. This means, apparently, that Julian Tavarez is going to have to move out of the bullpen to become the fifth starter. Can I just express how silly I think this is? Boston apparently panicked over the fact that guys like Brendan Donnelly and Craig Hansen were inconsistent this spring. But if Julian Tavarez was good enough that Boston's going to trust him to start 28-35 games this year, why couldn't they trust him enough to let him close? Remember, most saves are the kind that pretty much any pitcher could come in and get. And the trade-off is that the Papelboner will pitch about 130 fewer innings this year than he might as a starter (though the difference in leverage will mitigate that difference to a certain extent). Looked at another way, Papelbon was actually the most valuable closer in baseball last year by VORP, with 38.6. That was good for 37th place.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Baseball at 20:26 | |

Antonio Perez is apparently an option as an emergency outfielder. That'd be a really useful skill for him to have, the ability to fill in as a fifth outfielder as well as backup infielder. Of course, if he hits .100 again, none of this will make anyone happy. But, really, what are the odds of that happening?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 19:38 | |

Diamondbacks' pitcher Enrique Gonzalez says of the A's: "That's a good lineup they had. They have some big hitters." (Here.) That's news to me. Maybe the emphasis is on "some."

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 12:55 | |

I'm trying not to be alarmed by spring results, but Joe Kennedy keeps getting knocked around, this time for seven hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Mariners. There's almost certainly going to be a period where the A's lose at least one starter for some period of time, and when Kennedy is already probably going to be shaky as the fifth starter, the options behind him (Halsey, Windsor, Komine?) really don't look good. I do like this sentence from the Seattle PI story about the A's-Mariners game: "Shortstop Bobby Crosby, slugger Nick Swisher and outfielder Shannon Stewart also were excused from the game, which the Mariners won 6-5 on an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth." Wait, what position does Swish play? Oy! I completely forgot that Ricky Ledee was in camp with the A's. With the outfielder injuries already suffered, there could be a spot open for him, but he strained his quad a little while back and he hasn't been cleared to run yet, so he's going to have a hard time winning a temporary bench spot. (Besides which he's a nonroster player and I'm not sure it's worth the 40-man maneuvering necessary to get a guy like Ledee onto the roster except in truly dire circumstances.) Finally, in non-A's news, Sam Perlozzo has announced that Jay Payton is likely to get most of the playing time in left field for the Orioles. I love Jay Pay like anyone else, but he's not an every-day player. On the other hand, the Orioles don't really have any options, and it's not like Payton's in camp as an NRI or something - he was signed to a significant contract to come to the Orioles, so they were certainly going to use him. And with Corey Patterson in center, it's not like he was going to get much time there (though he will apparently play some center against tough lefties, when Patterson goes to the bench).

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 23:07 | |

Looks like Shane Komine (The Hawaiian Punchout) has been sent to the minors. That leaves the fifth starter race down to Brad Halsey, Joe Kennedy, and (nominally, at least) Jason Windsor. Kennedy's the guy I have the most confidence in, but he's really struggled as a starter. On the other hand, at least he's done well as a reliever, which is more than the other two can say (Halsey having not really pitched well at all and Windsor having pitched all of four games in the majors).

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 09:30 | |

Esteban Loaiza's shoulder got a little tight during the A's game against the Giants last Thursday. Oakland can't really afford much in the way of injuries this year - they're already dealing with a shuffled outfield, and I don't have a lot of confidence in their collection of borderline-fifth-starters to make up for Rich Harden or Loaiza if one of them goes down. (Harden, it should be noted, also pitched in the game and struck out four in three innings.) See also this article discussing Loaiza (but not adding anything new). That piece does also mention, as an "oh by the way" that Nick Swisher is #3 on the A's depth chart in center field, which means he's #2 in the absence of Mark Kotsay. Given that #1, Milton Bradley, isn't exactly made of granite, I think there's a decent chance we could see some Swish in center for a few games this year. On borderline fifth starters, see here, discussing Friday's game in which Brad Halsey gave up nine runs on nine hits in just two and two thirds innings. See also this piece, a more in-depth bit about Halsey and his frustration as he tries to make the team / break into the starting rotation. Some home run news for the A's: Eric Chavez popped one against lefty Joe Saunders (always a good sign), Nick Swisher hit one almost 500 feet, and even Daric Barton got into the act. Chris Shelton could be available. He's a first baseman, which is a position the A's aren't really hurting at (although if Swisher's in the outfield and Dan Johnson struggles, we're left with the unmitigated defensive disaster that is Erubiel Durazo playing first). He also really cooled off after last year's surge to start the season. That said, he's a high-OBP guy with clear power potential. If he were available cheaply, he could make a nice pickup. He may be an idealogue, but at least Justice Alito is a baseball fan. He threw out a first pitch (he said he'd throw a gyroball) at a Devil Rays-Phillies exhibition on Saturday. Alito is, of course, a Phillies fan. I suddenly just started rooting a little harder for the Mets. On the Gary Matthews front, Bud Selig is now applying the pressure, saying that he's on the same page as Arte Moreno with regard to his desire that Matthews make a statement. As usual, Bud's dead wrong. See also Jack Curry's piece in the New York Times on the subject. Matthews did issue an apology through his agent, but it's an apology for causing a distraction, not for anything substantive, so he's holding his ground.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 13:09 | |

The injuries continue to pile up for my favorite teams, and the baseball season hasn't even started yet. Mark Kotsay is set to have surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. He could be out for up to three months. As I've said previously, given the way his play has slipped over the last few years, it's not obvious that this will actually hurt the A's. Milton Bradley is a terrific defensive player, so moving him over to center field probably won't cause much drop off. There will be some loss from Bradley down to (say) Nick Swisher in right, but that would ideally be made up by getting Dan Johnson's bat (which I really think will be back after his horrific year) into the lineup at first base. Or even Erubiel Durazo. Remember, Kotsay set a low bar last year with his 89 OPS+. Johnson in having a terrible awful year had an 85 OPS+. A bounce-back is much more likely for Johnson than for Kotsay, so I think if whoever replaces Kotsay's bat hits at the 95 OPS+ level, it'll be an improvement over what Kotsay would be providing. And while we're here, let's not forget Ryan Goleski. All these injuries (will Kielty be ready? How long is Kotsay out? How many games will Milton "They Call Me Mr. Glass" Bradley miss this year?) may give Goleski a shot to stick on the major-league roster and allow the A's to keep him around. And hell, maybe he'll actually hit enough to deserve it, too.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 11:28 | |

Bob Geren is making noise about Erubiel Durazo getting a shot to play first base, particularly if Mark Kotsay has to miss time, pushing Nick Swisher out to right field as Milton Bradley shifts to center. Did Geren not see Durazo's disastrous few forays into the field a couple of years ago? He really looks terrible trying to run around catching the ball, and I doubt the years will have been kind to him in that regard. As usual, I'm rooting for Dan Johnson to make a splash with the bat, which would solve all these problems: Durazo can be a backup DH and pinch-hitter, Swisher can be a permanent outfielder, and Shannon Stewart and Bobby Kielty can both (as long as Kotsay is healthy) be bench players.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 07:33 | |