Beaneball

Did you know the A's were 11th in baseball in runs scored? That they're seventh in the American League (i.e. solidly average)? That they're seventh in the AL in OPS and sixth in homers? I certainly didn't know that because all the A's bloggers out there talk about is how poor the Oakland offense is. Here comes the problem, though: the A's seem to have had a disproportionate number of nights like yesterday against the Giants, when they won 15-3. When Chad Gaudin goes six innings and gives up two runs, and the bullpen gives up one run in its three innings, the A's don't need to score fifteen to win. Has this skewed their offensive numbers? After all, despite their generally excellent starting pitching, Oakland's just one game over .500, with a 21-20 record. The A's have had the following games this year: 9-0 over Seattle; 16-4 over Texas, 12-5 over Tampa Bay; 17-3 over Kansas City; and 15-3 over San Francisco. In just 41 games (21 wins), they've had five wins by seven or more runs. (That's an arbitrary cutoff, admittedly, but when you look at the list of scores in A's games, these are the ones that jump out.) On the other hand, they've lost just one game by that margin, a 7-0 contest against Texas. Is that unusual? I could do a comparison of how many blowout wins teams have had and see which offensive teams are benefiting the most from this, but it's not clear that would be instructive: after all, good offensive teams do blow teams out - how could we separate the teams that are inflating their run rankings by blowing teams out on flukes from those that are winning blowouts because they have a good offense? I suppose a fairly straightforward variance test would do the trick, but that's more work than I'm willing to put in at the moment. But in all, let's just say I'm skeptical of the A's 5th place showing (in the AL) in runs per game thus far this year.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 08:16 | |

Oh, Jack Cust, where have you been all my life? A base hit might have won the game, but who needs a base hit when you can pop a three-run homer to complete the comeback from being down 5-1 and and 7-4? Of course, we can't forget Big Milt, either, for his two-run bomb to tie the game three batters earlier. Or Eric Chavez, who came through with a base hit to keep the game alive despite getting down 0-2. That's an exciting end to a ballgame, folks. The A's officially have a knack for the big inning. (Now if they can get rid of their knack for the "small ballgame," they'll be all set to challenge the Red Sox and Brewers.)

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 19:35 | |

Clearly Jason Kendall isn't on the A's for his offense. So it must be his defense and handling of pitchers, then, right? Sure, his passed ball today (that's six or seven on the season, I think; that's like twice per every five games or so, isn't it?) was a real boon to the run prevention side of the game. Not to mention his two stolen bases allowed. Or the fact that both times, he committed a throwing error that allowed the base stealer to reach third. So, damn, he better be really good at handling pitchers.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 18:52 | |

Nothing personal against Todd Walker, but I'm glad to see the A's made the right decision to DFA him in order to clear space for Dallas Braden to come up from AAA to start today's game. He's pretty clearly outgunned by the bats the A's have brought in so far (Cust, Snelling), and if he can't play anywhere other than first base, he's not a useful player. We'll see if anybody trades for him or if the A's have to waive him, and then if someone decides to claim him on waivers (I have to imagine somebody could use him, right?). Meanwhile, the world is upside down, since the A's just stole a base (Shannon Stewart, stealing second in the top of the first against the Indians after drawing a four-pitch leadoff walk) and it worked out all right as Nick Swisher hit a ground-rule double that would have resulted in runners on second and third had Stewart only been at first. Of course, Swisher followed that up by being doubled off on a popup into short left center by Eric Chavez. Jhonny Peralta was the one who caught it, so maybe it was kind of a miracle catch or something. (I'm watching on MLB's GameCast.) But who needs these other guys? There goes Dan Johnson with another hit, which makes him eight for his last nine. And Jack Cust! An off-field homer! His fifth of the year, in just his 20th at-bat! My god, what a monster. Like I said, forget this Mike Piazza bastard. Hell, forget everyone else: all we need is Dan Johnson and Jack Cust. (And hey, I just added Cust to my fantasy team yesterday, so that's a homer and two ribbies for the good guys.)

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 16:21 | |

Well, the first move has been made. Milton Bradley is off the DL as of today and Danny Putnam is in AAA. It was pretty predictable that he'd be the first guy to go. The only thing that was going to save him was probably if Snelling needed to go on the DL. I suppose that could still happen, and if it does before anybody else is ready to come back to the active squad, Putnam will be back up in Oakland. But let's focus on the happy news that Milton Bradley is tonight's starter in center field!

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 22:22 | |

Well, that's nice news: Nick Swisher has signed the requisite "through arbitration" contract which will keep him under Oakland's control through 2011, with a club option for 2012. I think 2012 would be his first free agency year, so I'm guessing that the club option comes at a relatively steep price. This is SOP for the A's, but it could be particularly important for a guy who's shown the consistency of hitting ability that Swisher has: he could have stood to make a lot of money in arbitration. He'll be 30 in baseball years in 2011, so I really don't see the A's wanting to resign him once this contract ends: if all goes well, he'll be a prime candidate for a sizable 3-5 year contract that covers his decline years before he starts going on one-to-two-year deals throughout the league to finish his career. In other words, the A's strategy is working out as usual: draft a guy out of college with good patience, power, and bloodlines; push him up the line as he succeeds at smacking the hell out of intimidated minor-league pitchers (he made the majors in this third season, second full season, in the A's system); watch him succeed in the majors for a little while; lock him up through arbitration; wave goodbye. The exception? Eric Chavez, and that's because he was playing full time in the majors at 21, so he was much younger than Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, and Jason Giambi when they hit free agency. The exception to that list is, of course, Miguel Tejada, who signed with the Orioles to start his age-28 season.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 17:42 | |

At some point, the A's are going to have some decisions to make regarding who to keep on the roster, who to play, etc., as people start to get healthy. The A's have Chris Snelling, Mark Kotsay, Bobby Kielty, Milton Bradley, Jack Cust, Nick Swisher, Danny Putnam, Travis Buck, and Shannon Stewart all able to play the outfield. Nick Swisher and Dan Johnson are both first basemen. Jack Cust and Mike Piazza are both DH's (in the sense that neither of them should be wearing gloves). With every single one of these guys healthy, here's my ideal:

• Mike Piazza catching
• Jason Kendall cut
• Jack Cust at DH
• Dan Johnson at first
• Nick Swisher in left
• Milton Bradley in center
• Chris Snelling in right
• Shannon Stewart as PH
• Mark Kotsay as defensive replacement
• Bobby Kielty traded (I think he's out of options)
• Danny Putnam in AA or AAA
• Travis Buck in AAA

See how neatly that all works out? One problem: Mark Kotsay just got Pipped, and I don't think Bob Geren's about to do that to him, especially since the A's probably have to keep him around for another year (what's his trade value at his point?). The other problem: Mike Piazza catching, and Jason Kendall cut. That's a pipe dream, isn't it? So more realistically:

• Mike Piazza DHing
• Dan Johnson at first
• Nick Swisher in left
• Mark Kotsay in center
• Milton Bradley in right
• Shannon Stewart as PH
• Chris Snelling as PH
• Jack Cust on bench, backing up in corner outfield spots, first, and DH
• Todd Walker cut
• Bobby Kielty cut
• Danny Putnam in AA or AAA
• Travis Buck in AAA

If the A's can dump Todd Walker, they'll open up a roster spot that can be used on a hitter, someone who can play when someone is hurt but not on the DL. I'm not sure how likely this is, though. Walker seems to be liked by the A's, for whatever reason, even though he apparently only plays first base and doesn't hit enough to carry it at this point. With Dan Johnson really raking and Nick Swisher probably the best backup first baseman in the league (unless Jason Giambi counts - and Swish plays better D), it's not clear why Todd Walker is necessary. Of course, the other thing this exercise assumes is that everyone will be healthy all at once. That's unlikely to happen. With Travis Buck apparently ready to nurse sore wrists the entire year, Snelling and Bradley injury-prone, and Mark Kotsay potentially with a balky back (surgery or not), there's likely to be one or two guys at any given moment unavailable, which will lessen the crunch (and perhaps decrease the need to cut people).

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 08:54 | |

We're far enough into the season now that I can start cataloging which A's are at the top of the leaderboards in the American League (I used to do the bottoms as well, but Jason Kendall makes me depressed, so that's enough of that). Here we go!

• Homers, Nick Swisher, T9th, 6
• On Base, Nick Swisher, 5th, .426
• Slugging, Nick Swisher, 9th, .562
• OPS, Nick Swisher, 7th, .990
• EqA, Nick Swisher, 7th, .335
• Secondary Average, Nick Swisher, 2nd, .505
• Isolated Power, Nick Swisher, 8th, .270
• Walks, Nick Swisher, T4th, 21
• Walks per plate appearance, Nick Swisher, 2nd, .186
• Walks per strikeout, Shannon Stewart, T6th, 1.17
• Pitches per plate appearance, Nick Swisher, 10th, 4.19
• IBB, Nick Swisher, T5th, 4
• HBP, Mark Ellis, T5th, 4
• At-bats, Eric Chavez, 8th, 133
• Pitches seen, Eric Chavez, 9th, 588
• Sacrifice Flies, Todd Walker & Mark Ellis, T3rd, 2
• Ground/Fly Ratio, Mark Ellis, 1st (most flies), 0.47
• GIDP, Nick Swisher, T5th, 6

And for the pitchers:

• Expected Wins, Dan Haren, 4th, 3.8
• Expected Wins, Chad Gaudin, 6th, 3.3
• SNLVAR, Dan Haren, 1st, 1.7
• SNLVAR, Chad Gaudin, 3rd, 1.5
• SNLVAR, Joe Kennedy, 10th, 1.3
• ERA, Dan Haren, 1st, 1.89
• ERA, Joe Kennedy, 4th, 2.18
• ERA, Chad Gaudin, 5th, 2.40
• WHIP, Dan Haren, 2d, 0.96
• WHIP, Chad Gaudin, 10th, 1.14
• Strikeouts, Dan Haren, T9th, 40
• Strikeouts per walk, Lenny DiNardo, T4th, 7.00
• Quality Starts, Dan Haren, T1st, 7
• Quality Start Percentage, Rich Harden, T1st, 100%
• Quality Start Percentage, Dan Haren, T4th, 88%
• Average Game Score, Rich Harden, 2d, 65.7
• Average Game Score, Dan Haren, 5th, 61.4
• Saves, Huston Street, 7th, 9
• Games, Huston Street & Alan Embree, T6th, 17
• Starts, Dan Haren, T1st, 8
• Innings, Dan Haren, T3rd, 52 1/3
• Innings, Joe Blanton, 5th, 47 1/3
• Holds, Alan Embree, T6th, 7
• Complete Games, Joe Blanton, T2d, 1
• Batters Faced, Dan Haren, T2d, 208
• Batters Faced, Joe Blanton, T7th, 193
• Games Finished, Huston Street, T3d, 14
• Blown Saves, Huston Street & Justin Duchscherer, T4th, 2
• Save Opportunities, Huston Street, T5th, 11
• Double Plays, Joe Blanton, T5th, 6
• Pitches thrown, Dan Haren, 2d, 812
• Ground/Fly Ratio, Jay Marshall, 3d, 6.40

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 18:57 | |

The A's did unspeakably awful things to the Royals today. The team:

• Scored 17 runs.
• Put runs on the board in six of the nine innings.
• Scored multiple runs in four of those innings.
• Had 18 hits and seven walks.
• Smashed six homers and three doubles.
• Allowed just four hits to the Royals, none after the sixth inning.

The individual offensive player achievements in the game, from most awesome to least awesome:

• Dan Johnson went 4-4 with two homers, a double, a single, and walked twice. They never got him out. He had four RBI and four runs scored. And he was the front half of a back-to-back homer series with Jack Cust in the seventh.
• Jack Cust hit two bombs despite having only four major league at-bats in the last three years.
• Danny Putnam came on for an injured Chris Snelling and went 3-4 with two singles and his first big league homer.
• Eric Chavez popped his fourth homer of the year, a three-run shot.
• Shannon Stewart went 4-6 as the leadoff man, raising his batting average 20 points in the process. (Putnam's jump was even more dramatic - the kid's hitting over .200 now!)
• Todd Walker went 2-3 after coming in for Nick Swisher in the fifth inning.
• Mark Ellis scored two runs despite going 0-4 (he had two walks).
• Marco Scutaro hit his first double of the year.
• Travis Buck scored a run as a pinch-runner. He also played defense.
• Nick Swisher walked again.
• Adam Melhuse went 0-6. (He's making it really hard for us Kendall-haters to advocate for a change - when he's the alternative, it's tough to make too much noise.)
• Chris Snelling went 0-2 and got hurt.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 18:46 | |

Chris Snelling has left today's baseball contest with the Royals with an injured knee. We knew this was going to happen, right? An injury-prone player acquired by the A's, doing a pretty decent job at the plate ... he was bound to get hurt. And Jack Cust is making his second appearance in the field today. He also hit his second homer of the year. How many dingers did Piazza have? You know what I'm for? I'm for Piazza catching when he comes back and Kendall being cut.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 15:17 | |

Chris Snelling made his A's debut tonight, going notching a walk and a single in four trips to the plate. That's a good way to start. Notably, he played left field, with Shannon Stewart playing center. Nick Swisher made his return (hitting a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth to put the A's ahead 5-2), but DH'd, as his hamstring still isn't 100%. What that likely means is that he's not going to be back playing center for a little while, so we'll probably be seeing Stewart out there for some time more. What's interesting about this is that the A's acquired Ryan Langerhans so they'd have a center fielder, but when Chris Snelling became available, they couldn't help but snap him up, outfield defense be damned.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 23:47 | |

Catfish Stew alerts me that the A's have made another trade. JD Closser is coming to the A's for Charles Thomas. Given that Thomas was never called up despite all the A's outfield injury woes, it was pretty clear that the A's didn't think much of him anymore. Ken at Catfish Stew describes the trade as potentially having two motivations: former prospects being swapped for each other (the old change o' scenery); and forty-man roster considerations (specifically, when Mark Kotsay and Esteban Loiaza come back, people are going to have to be removed from the roster; Ken guesses that Jeremy Brown will be one of those, and if he's lost on waivers, the A's will need minor league catching depth - hence Closser). Closser's always been a high-OBP guy in the minors (.383 for his career, .384 last year in Colorado Springs), but his batting average in the majors has been too low for his good walk total and decent power (~.180 minor league ISO, though only ~.130 in the majors) to turn into a valuable contribution. He's 27 this year, so the future is now, though there is the constant admonition that "catchers develop late" to consider. Is there any reason, given the way Jason Kendall is hitting and throwing these days, not to just cut him and go with two of Meluse/Closser/Brown right now?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 23:34 | |

Secretary Spellings says that a one-size fits all standardized test isn't going to be developed for colleges. So why do we tolerate these things for lower schools, then?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Education at 15:13 | |

Billy Beane is pulling out all the stops. First, Ryan Langerhans for basically nothing. Then he flips Langerhans to the Nationals for Chris Snelling. And then on top of that, he adds Jack Cust in the wake of Mike Piazza's injury - Cust was in the minors for the Padres, and Beane gave up the same thing he paid for Langerhans. Are they superstars, Snelling and Cust? No. But am I actually excited about them being on the team? Absolutely! This is like Matt Stairs and Geronimo Berroa. Forget this Shannon Stewart and Jason Kendall and Mark Ellis team. Some good ol' on-the-cheap sluggin' A's are back! That might be a little overstated. Snelling, the former Mariners prospect out of Australia, hasn't really hit for power since he was 20. But his lines in the low minors at ages 17-20 were really exciting: 306/388/498, for instance, or 326/429/506. That second line was as a 20-year old in his first taste of Double-A. He made the majors briefly that season, but since then has seemingly had trouble staying healthy: the most games he's played in a single season since 2002 were the 105 he put in between AAA and the majors last year for Seattle. Still, he's just 25 and his career minor league line is 312/396/476. Guys like that don't just not hit, do they? Plus, in the few times I've seen him in person, he reminds me physically of Nick Swisher. He's listed at 5'10" and 165 pounds on TheBaseballCube (Swisher's listed at a generous 6'0" and 200 pounds), but I don't think he's that light. Speaking of Swisher, check out his career minor-league line: .261/.381/.476. Basically, more patience, more isolated power, but because of the lower batting average, their OPS's pretty much even out. This Snelling, I'm excited about this. This would be a happy-making pickup even if the A's didn't have major outfield health issues. And for what? Ryan Langerhans? Goodness. As for Cust, he was of course with the A's two years ago, but he spent the entire season in Sacramento, where he put up a 257/402/438 line that pretty much typifies his career: tons of walks, good power, but real trouble making contact. He's 28 already, and he's managed to get a total of four major league at-bats in the last three years. He's a no-risk pickup from the Padres (where he hit 293/467/549 - look at that OBP! - in Portland last year) with the chance to be a really useful player at DH. It isn't clear to me whether Cust is coming in to be the full-time DH for the next four-to-six weeks (while Piazza heals) or what the deal is, but really, how can A's fans who remember the mid-to-late '90's not be excited about this development?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 17:27 | |