Beaneball

The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: News: Duchscherer off DL and back on hill

So Justin Duchscherer is back, starting today against the Mariners, although it's not clear what the corresponding roster move will be. With Lenny DiNardo presumably moving back to the pen, I'd guess Dallas Braden will be sent back down? I can't imagine a need for two lefty longer-relievers. Or maybe DiNardo sticks in the rotation, Braden stays in the pen, and Greg Smith heads down for more seasoning. It's awfully hard to send down a guy with a 2.88 ERA, though, even if he's been a bit hit-lucky.

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

It's currently a nine-run lead for the A's. Greg Smith pitched well, but he's done after seven innings. In comes new mopup man Dallas Braden, right? Nope! It's Andrew Brown, who hasn't allowed an earned run yet this year. Maybe Braden will pitch the ninth, but it seems silly to use him in a one-inning role. He's a starter in AAA, so his arm is perfectly well stretched out to throw two innings at a time. Especially when the results don't really matter. Did I mention that it's a nine-run lead? And that Justin Morneau isn't even in the ballgame anymore?

I guess, by the way, the Frank Thomas thing really worked out. Eleven runs in a game that Francisco Liriano started for Minnesota looks pretty good to me. Thomas has walked twice and reached on an error. As for the lineup, I'm not sure I like it so much: Sweeney started at first, gimpy legs and all; and Rajai Davis was the center fielder, with Chris Denorfia in left and Em(a)il Brown in right.

On the other hand, it's a day game following a night game and Liriano is, on paper at least, a tough lefty, so maybe sitting Daric Barton (he's in the game now anyway), Ryan Sweeney, and Jack Cust (who's struggling and isn't in need of development in any case) isn't such a bad idea. But the lineup definitely warrants keeping an eye on.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 17:56 | |

The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: Official Info: A's agree to terms with DH Frank Thomas

I see how it all comes together now. Eric Chavez is transferred to the 60-day to clear a 40-man spot, and Travis Buck is put on the 15-day to clear a 25-man spot. This also explains a little better the Rajai Davis waiver claim, since with Buck out, a new fifth outfielder will be handy. Of course, the Mike Sweeney question still isn't answered. Is he basically a pinch-hitter now? That's fine by me, I guess, since the A's were just taking a flier on him in the first place, although you do hate to see the A's do the dirty on a solid citizen like Sweeney. And what happens to him when Buck comes back? I'd hope that the A's would at that point see the sense in DFAing Rajai Davis, but we'll see, I suppose.

The lineup now is presumably Em(a)il Brown in right, Sweeney in center, Cust in left, Barton at first, Ellis at second, Crosby at short, Hannahan at third (although Donnie Murphy will get more time if Hannahan continues to struggle both with his hitting and with errors), Suzuki behind the plate, and Thomas at DH. The bench, then, is Mike Sweeney, who can pinch-hit for Hannahan and Sweeney; Denorfia, who can pinch-run, play defense for Cust, and spot-start anywhere in the outfield; and Rajai Davis, who can pinch-run and play defense (if he gets any starts, I will throw things). Donnie Murphy and Rob Bowen's roles are obvious.

Chavez is now eligible to come off the DL at the end of May, so you have to wonder whether we'll see him at all this year.

Anyway, this is all pretty exciting, since Thomas will make the pro-rated minimum (i.e. he's basically free) and he'll almost certainly outhit Sweeney. Meanwhile, 1/8 of the way through the season, the A's are +18 in run differential, are tied for the second-best record in the AL, and have allowed the fewest runs in the AL despite no pitchers in the top-20 in baseball in VORP (Dana Eveland is 21st). Seattle and Texas clearly aren't that good, so the A's are putting themselves in a position to make a surprise run if the Angels falter (e.g. John Lackey doesn't come back fully effective, or they keep suffering injuries to players like Lackey and Howie Kendrick, or Garret Anderson gets 650 plate appearances). And of course this is all without mortgaging the future in any way. Thomas isn't blocking anybody, just like Mike Sweeney wasn't.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 13:12 | |

Rays designate 1B/DH Dan Johnson for assignment - mlb - SI.com

This is just terrible for poor Dan Johnson. Dan Johnson didn't even get into a game with the Rays before they DFA'd him to make room for the newly acquired Gabe Gross (who the Brewers felt the need to trade to make room for Tony Gwynn, Jr., who was coming off the DL). Andrew Friedman referred to this as "an awkward situation", which is an awesome way of putting it. But he basically said that they could carry Johnson, but he wasn't going to be getting playing time anyway, so why bother?

Is there really no one out there who could use a decent backup first baseman? Just looking through the Baseball Prospectus depth charts and team audits, I see a number of teams that might want Johnson's stick, such as it is, off the bench. I guess the real problem is that in this era of short benches, there's no room for a guy who's limited to one position and he's not a defensive-replacement kind of guy at that spot, either. So you'd use him to pinch hit for a middle-infielder or a catcher or you'd play him at first after you pinch-run for your real first baseman. That's really not that valuable when you realize that Johnson's not the kind of high-contact hitter you might want as a PH, nor is he likely to be very good if he gets an extended run due to injury or something: his PECOTA weighted mean is just .258 / .361 / .443.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Baseball at 11:36 | |

The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: News: A's claim outfielder Davis from Giants

So my last post mentioned that Dallas Braden wasn't likely to get many innings given that he was basically the second long-man on the team.  But now the A's have claimed Rajai Davis on waivers and DFA'd Kirk Saarloos, so it looks like Braden will actually be the full-time long reliever (whatever that means), and maybe spot starter in case of injury, at least until Justin Duchscherer comes back, allowing Lenny DiNardo to head back into the pen (and presumably sending Braden back into the rotation in Sacramento).

Claiming Davis is a little odd.  This gives the A's six outfielders.  I guess he'll basically get the time that Chris Denorfia has been getting, as the defensive replacement and pinch-runner, but that opens the question of what Denorfia is for. One pinch-runner / defensive guy for Jack Cust and the other one a pinch-runner for Mike Sweeney? That sounds fine, I suppose, given how many close games the A's are likely to play this year, between their weak offense and their strong pitching. But more importantly, Davis doesn't really have a future, not even in the way that Chris Denorfia might have, so it seems weird to use games and at-bats and appearances on him when those could be going to Denorfia or Ryan Sweeney or whomever.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 01:54 | |

It turns out that Dallas Braden has been called up to replace Keith Foulke, not Jerry Blevins. At least I got the left-handed part right.

I wouldn't expect Braden to get that much work. It'd be silly to use him as a specialist, since he's a starter in the minors, Kirk Saarloos seems to be the long-man, and Alan Embree, Sandy Casilla, and Andrew Brown basically have the seventh and eighth innings of games they lead locked down. Plus there's still Joey Devine, who's better than Braden. So I guess Braden's the backup mopup guy. Which isn't such a bad thing to be, right? I mean, he's still a big leaguer, and I'm not.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 10:35 | |

Keith Foulke has landed on the DL with a stiff neck, but the A's haven't made another move yet to replace him. The A's are at eleven pitchers already, so it's not clear that Foulke's replacement needs to be a pitcher. Still, I'd guess the replacement will be 6'6" lefty Jerry Blevins, who pitched for the A's last year and is currently in Sacramento. He'd probably only be up until Justin Duchscherer is ready to come off the DL, but that should give Bob Geren a chance or two to throw him into some games and see what happens.

Can I just mention, by the way, that the A's are 12-8, tied with the Angels for first in the West and a game behind Boston for the best record in the AL? Awesome.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 09:58 | |

Frank Thomas has actually been released by the Blue Jays after he complained about getting his playing time cut. He apparently thought the benching was motivated by his $10 million plate-appearances based vesting option. It's hard to say, of course, given the lack of insight into the front office machinations, but one does have to wonder: Thomas is a historically great hitter who's had a poor 72 plate appearances this year. He wasn't going to hit like this all year, and Matt Stairs certainly won't outhit him, as much as I love Wonder Hamster.

It's really too bad to see J.P. Ricciardi falling apart like this. I thought Billy Beane had a chance to be baseball's Bill Walsh, but given Ricciardi's inability to put together a winning team and L.A.'s inability to accept that Paul DePodesta provided the Dodgers their best chance at winning, it looks like that won't be happening anytime soon.

Here's Ricciardi on the decision: "I don't know that we have the luxury of waiting two to three months for somebody to kick in because we can't let this league or this division get away from us." This is disingenuous enough to make me wonder whether Thomas's allegations about his vesting option might contain some truth. The division isn't going to "get away from" them. It's gotten away. There are at least two teams better than the Jays in the division (New York, Boston), and one more that might be better (Tampa). And that "two to three months" comment is almost certainly an exaggeration.

In any case, the question becomes "whither Frank Thomas?" Who needs a DH? Let's trip through the standings. Boston's got Papi. The Angels have enough trouble getting all their outfielders at bats without having to worry about permanently clogging up their DH spot. (Note that this isn't a good reason for Anaheim not to do this -- Thomas is a better hitter than Garrett Anderson, Gary Matthews, and Torii Hunter -- but it is a reason why it won't happen.) Baltimore? If you're willing to send down Luis Hernandez until Brian Roberts gets traded and shunt Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar into permanent bench roles, this would work. But what would Frank Thomas want with a team that might lose 100 games? A repeat engagement with Oakland? Between Mike Sweeney and Jack Cust, the A's are full up at DH, and it's not like they need a guy like Thomas to put them over the top in the division. They're not winning it. (That said, if Thomas is still hanging around out there later in the year and Sweeney or Cust hasn't picked it up, and the A's are interested in making a push at the division, this would be intriguing. But I don't anticipate Thomas still being available in two months.) Kansas City? Now that's interesting! Push Ross Gload to the bench and Mark Teahen or Billy Butler to first and install Thomas at DH? Boy, that's one hell of an offense. Combine that with a suddenly dangerous rotation and a shutdown closer and you've got a really fun team in a tough division. I'd root for them.

The Yankees? They're in the same situation as the Angels, but worse, given that their extra outfielders aren't valuable defenders the way the Angels' are. Plus they've got Giambi's cranky glove and Jorge Posada's aches and pains to deal with. No, I don't really see it, as much as it might help them. Seattle? Goodness what an update Thomas would be over Jose Vidro. They'd have to be willing to tell Vidro to take up a permanent spot on the bench, which won't make him so happy, but the on-field results ought to be enormous. It's a crime that Jose Vidro is an every-day DH in this league. Tampa? Hell, they just claimed Dan Johnson, so they're obviously ok with an immobile slugger type hanging around. But Johnson's different, of course, because he didn't just get released for complaining about a lack of playing time. If you sign Thomas, you've got to start him. I guess what happens is that Eric Hinske and Jonny Gomes become the right field platoon, which isn't such a horrible situation. Minnesota's got plenty of room for him in the lineup (Craig Monroe?), but they're not really in a mode where they need to win today, so I'm not sure there's a lot of call for blowing a load of cash on Thomas. Cleveland's got Pronk, so they're out. If Texas wants to push Frank Catalanotto and David Murphy into part-time roles and install Thomas full-time as the DH, there's room for an upgrade there. Plus the West is wide open, so with a Big Hurt, a little luck, and an additional pitcher, they could be dangerous. Finally, Detroit? They've already got Gary Sheffield. Could they push him to left to knock Jacque Jones out of the lineup? I don't know if Sheffield is a DH by choice or necessity at this point, so it's hard to say. It might not be a bad idea, though.

So what'd we come up with? Kansas City, Seattle, Tampa, and Texas? I'd really enjoy seeing Frank Thomas with the Royals or Rays, although that might just be my hopes than an AL West rival doesn't vastly improve its offense in one fell swoop a week from now.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Baseball at 12:58 | |

So 10 days later, there wasn't enough interest in Dan Johnson to actually get anything for him in a trade, so the A's waived him, and Tampa Bay has claimed him. I guess the theory is that Johnson is better than Nathan Haynes or Justin Ruggiano.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 14:39 | |

I'm proud of these young A's! They've now rattled off five straight wins against a decent team (Blue Jays) and a very good team (Indians). Tonight's win against Cleveland came about in no small part because of drawing eight walks in just 3 1/3 innings against Fausto Carmona, which is impressive no matter how wild Carmona was. It also came about because Bobby Crosby came through with a big three-run homer in the seventh inning, giving the A's a cushion the Indians couldn't overcome.

This isn't a good team. I have no illusions about this. This is particularly true minus Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer, and also maybe minus Ryan Sweeney (?). But they're not the Giants. They should be frisky and exciting all year, and the tough bullpen should do a good job of keeping games close. It's actually nice to not have huge expectations coming into the year, for the first time in eight or nine years. It makes the wins sweeter and the losses easier to bear. I'm not checking the standings every day. (Well, except that I do just happen to know that Oakland has the best record in the AL so far.) This isn't to say I want the A's to be mediocre every year. I can't wait until they're a real threat next year or the year after, but for now, I'm really enjoying it.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 22:30 | |

Lest you take me to be a complete negative nellie (regarding Dan Johnson, Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, and Greg Smith), let me note that I'm incredibly pleased with these last two wins over the Blue Jays. In particular, yesterday's game looked completely over when Greg Smith managed to give up three runs on one hit in the first inning, and ended up walking five guys. But in the end, he actually managed to rack up a "quality start" (even if you count the unearned run) by shutting down the Blue Jays for the next five innings, and the bullpen, as usual, held it together thereafter, with Rule 5er Fernando Hernandez getting his first big league win in his first big league appearance.

Would I have liked the offense to get its act together a little before the ninth inning? Sure. But you know what? A four-run inning, no matter what inning it's in, is great. A four-run inning off of Jeremy Accardo is even greater (especially since I have BJ Ryan in my fantasy league and someone else has Accardo).

Also, look at Travis Buck suddenly coming alive! Four hits, three of them doubles, in the last two games, is awesome. Mark Ellis continues to rip it up after a similarly slow start: 4-5 yesterday with a triple and two steals! He's slugging .556, I want to note. And Bobby Crosby is 11/36 on the year with four doubles. He's only walked twice in that span, and he's still looking for his first homer, and he could get hurt at the drop of a hat, but you've got to feel good considering that the guy has had sub-.700 OPS's the last two years.

I'm not so confident that Dana Eveland can repeat his seven-inning, one-run performance from his last time out, and I think there's a good chance Shaun Marcum can shut down the A's, but still, I'm cautiously optimistic that the A's will put up a good fight.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 10:43 | |

It turns out, per Susan Slusser, that Dan Johnson has, in fact, been DFA'd.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 01:47 | |

So now Rich Harden is doubtful even for Saturday after he played catch in the outfield tonight but still came up sore. Raise your hand if you're surprised.

Also, still no official news that I've seen on exactly what happened with Dan Johnson.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 00:45 | |

I can't find an announcement anywhere, but on MLB's Gameday, neither the A's lineup nor their bench contains "D. Johnson", so it looks like he was in fact the loser in the decision of how to get Greg Smith onto the 40-man roster. I'm guessing Johnson was DFA'd, but we'll have to wait to find out. Hopefully the A's can still get something for him, but immobile first basemen who haven't hit much in the majors don't exactly fetch a pretty penny around baseball these days, especially when the potential trading team has already DFA'd the guy.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 18:47 | |

It turns out that it will in fact be Greg Smith going for the A's tomorrow against the Jays. The 25-man spot will be opened by Justin Duchscherer hitting the DL with his biceps strain, which means that Smith will get at least one more start after this one. It's not yet clear how the 40-man spot is being opened. I still think the best way to go is to 60-day Eric Chavez. When's Kiko Calero due back? Maybe he could be 60-day'd.

Also, it appears that while I thought Rich Harden's injury had something to do with his back, it's actually his (cringe) pitching shoulder. Sigh. Really, that's all. Just sigh.

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 02:17 | |