Oakland A's Offseason Thread

Originally posted by ninerpride:
BP's PECOTA projects the A's to finish 1st this upcoming season.

Yeah, some other preseason projection system also had the A's finishing first last season too.

A's finish first in the divison?

If so..

Dye turned down 3.3M from the Cubs....

Id offer him 2 years 12-13ish mill..I dont get why we wont go after why if we went after Damon..Dye is a bad fielder but Damon isnt a good fielder either anymore...Theyre both the same age, Dye just has more power....Damon just played in a way better stadium, he only had 7 HRs on the road..He wouldnt hit more than 15 HRs with us...I can see Dye reaching 25 HRs, batting mid .260s or .270ish...

It probably is too late for Dye, but we shouldve signed him as DH over Cust..Atleast Dye isnt a strikeout machine..

Wuertz signs.

2.2 in 10, 2.8 in 11, 3.5 team option with a 250K buyout.

Solid deal for both sides especially the A's if Wuertz can pitch another season or two like he did in 09.

Nice



While it might not happen, Im gonna continue to cry about Dye..I still think we should sign Dye...Like I said, Damon really is no better than Dye at fielding at this point, Dye has a better arm...Dye has more power, we need a power hitter, Dye may be cheaper, Theres still a big ? if Rajai Davis will continue to play well or if he was (most likely) a fluke..Dye said he wants to play OF and would rather not play DH, I'd rather have Dye than Davis and Coco starting.. We have a bunch of CONTACT hitters please Beane, give us a good power hitter in Dye Theres too much reasons to sign him!

Mentioned the name Solano before as a potential A's 3B of the future, here's a little summary from BA of him I saw on another board...

Quote:

Wilfredo Solano, ss, Athletics
Born: Jan. 15, 1993. B-T: B-R. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 180. Signed: Venezuela, 2009. Signed by: Julio Franco.
The Athletics didn't open their checkbook in Latin America last year the way they did in 2008, when they dished out $4.25 million to sign Dominican righthander Michael Ynoa, but they did spend $1 million to land Solano, one of the better shortstops in the 2009 class. Solano's bat is his feature attraction. He didn't begin switch-hitting until a couple of years before signing, but he shows short, compact swings with leverage from both sides of the plate. He stays on balls well and has a mature approach for his age, displaying a willingness to use the whole field. He has power potential and does hit some homers in batting practice, but he has yet to show much pop in games. Though his hands work well at short and he has a strong enough arm, his physical frame and thick lower half make it look like he's destined to move to third base down the road. He's an average runner. Oakland lauds Solano as an intuitive player who makes adjustments quickly and should be able to pick up English without much trouble. While he has intriguing upside, he's a long ways from the major leagues, and probably won't make his U.S. debut until 2011.

My buddy thinks the M's offense is "pretty damn good" and says they will win the AL West. I don't see what he sees in them... anyone care to explain?

Originally posted by socalfan21:
My buddy thinks the M's offense is "pretty damn good" and says they will win the AL West. I don't see what he sees in them... anyone care to explain?

Their offense is worse than ours is imo. What they do have is two Cy-Young caliber pitchers in King Felix and Lee pitching behind an elite defense in a pitchers park.

I honestly think we're better than them IF Duke and Sheets pitch 2/3 of the season at their previous levels. We have a possibly even better defense, exceptional pitching depth, one of the best if not best bullpens in the league and of course a strong pitchers park. If this happens we might beat the Mariners at their own game.

If Barton and Sweeney break out into solid regulars, as I said earlier, we might very well be playoff bound. I have to say I like our chances better now than at the end of last season.

For some reason SEA had the A's # for the past three seasons.

Basically since the A's kicked their ass in the season series in 06, something to the effect of going 18-2 against them or some kind of outlandish dominance that helped the A's win the AL West that season, seems as SEA took that personal and they've just beaten the A's down since then.

Hopefully it changes but the AL West IMO might be one of the toughest divisions.

The A's moves this offseason have helped them get into discussion but I still think a lot has to go right especially with health for 10 team, more so maybe then the improvement of the young players, to get the A's into legit competitors with those other three teams in the division.

I hella remember us being like 19-1 against them a couple years ago..

I think we got better pitching and around the same offense as the Mariners...I see Rangers winning the division next year..

Honestly I could see it going like this....

Angels, Texas, A's, Seattle with everyone over .500 and no one with more than 90 wins. I still see the Angels as the favorites. Sure they lost Lackey, but they shrewdly traded Kazmir for scraps, lost Vlad but got Matsui. They lost Figgins but they still have Brandon Wood an you guys should know that all Angel prospects develop in that organization. They also strengthened their bullpen.

Rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Law had three A's prospects in his top 100...

Quote:
24 Michael Taylor

Taylor stands out in a crowd -- at 6-6, 250 pounds, he's one of the biggest position players on this list. It's a strong 250 (as opposed to a fat 250), and now that he has gotten away from Stanford's hittingcoaches, his athleticism is matched by his offensive performance. One consistent criticism from scouts who've seen Taylor is that although his size points to future power, his swing plane is somewhat flat; he's likely to hit for a high average but not to reach the 30-homer power someone as big as he is would be expected to show. It's a legitimate point, but at the same time, a good corner outfielder who hits .300-plus with lots of walks and doubles and 15-20 homers is an above-average player and not far below star caliber. Taylor was traded straight up for Brett Wallace in one of the aftershocks of the Roy Halladay trade, and I have Wallace slightly ahead of Taylor here, but Taylor's advantage over Wallace -- and they're going to be compared to each other for years, even if each player reaches his potential in the majors -- is that he can affect the game on both sides of the ball as a good athlete who should be worth five or more runs a year in the field.

33 Chris Carter
Carter has made impressive strides since his arrival in the Oakland organization as a power-or-nothing hitter with a long swing and no defensive value, and while he's still probably a solid DH with thump, he has a chance to contribute in a few different ways. He made a concerted effort to improve his walks without increasing his strikeouts,becoming more selective while cutting down on his normal swing as part of the process. If he gets a pitch to drive, he'll load his hands a little deeper to give him more leverage and bring his plus power back out ofstorage. Carter is limited defensively and will probably max out as a fringe-average first baseman, although the positional logjam in Oakland may make him a DH by default. Even in Oakland's ballpark he should be good for 30 homers a year and a solid on-base percentage by his peak.

93 Grant Green
Green came into the spring of 2009 as the top college position player in the draft, but was passed by Dustin Ackley after a rough spring --especially in the field -- and the A's think that allowed them to grab a top-10 talent with the 13th pick. He's strong with good hand speed andmight hit for more power if he didn't leak or let the ball travel deeper,although his swing is probably more geared to line-drive contact thanbig flies. He's patient and should post at least adequate OBPs, although pitchers can get him out now by changing speeds on him, an adjustment he'll have to make by AA, if not sooner. He's a bright player with a good work ethic, so he has a good chance to make some of these changes given more pro experience. The A's absolutely see him as a shortstop, but many scouts and I have questions about his arm and footwork there. I wouldn't be shocked if he moved to third base or even ended up in center field, where his speed will play up and footwork and arm issues are less problematic.

I hear Taylor getting compared a lot to the young Dye...I know hes really big like Dye, but does he have the great arm too?

Quote:

3. Michael Taylor, of Born: Dec. 19, 1985 • B-T: R-R • Ht: 6-6 • Wt: 250
Drafted: Stanford, 2007 (5th round) • Signed by: Joey Davis
Background: Taylor played a season of high school baseball as Zack Greinke's teammate, and his size and athleticism made him a top high school prospect. His grades helped lead him to Stanford, where he came around as a college junior, and he's been unstoppable the last two seasons, clubbing 39 homers and batting .334.

Strengths: Despite his size, Taylor has few holes and has become an excellent hitter, squaring up balls consistently and smashing line drives to all fields. Pitchers try to tie him up inside, and while he can be vulnerable there, he has shown the ability to make adjustments. He has excellent raw power, average speed and good baserunning instincts. He's a solid defender with an average-to-plus arm who grades as above average in left field.

Weaknesses: Taylor could stand to be more selective to get to his power more consistently. He needs to learn to loft the ball to become a true 30-homer threat. Conditioning probably will be a long-term issue for Taylor, who does a good job of staying on top of his juvenile diabetes.

The Future: With Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth ahead of him and Domonic Brown coming on, Taylor seems like ideal trade bait. He also could be a replacement for Ibanez, whose contract doesn't expire until after 2011. He's slated for Triple-A in 2010.

Originally posted by ninerpride:

Quote:

3. Michael Taylor, of Born: Dec. 19, 1985 • B-T: R-R • Ht: 6-6 • Wt: 250Drafted: Stanford, 2007 (5th round) • Signed by: Joey Davis
Background: Taylor played a season of high school baseball as Zack Greinke's teammate, and his size and athleticism made him a top high school prospect. His grades helped lead him to Stanford, where he came around as a college junior, and he's been unstoppable the last two seasons, clubbing 39 homers and batting .334.
Strengths: Despite his size, Taylor has few holes and has become an excellent hitter, squaring up balls consistently and smashing line drives to all fields. Pitchers try to tie him up inside, and while he can be vulnerable there, he has shown the ability to make adjustments. He has excellent raw power, average speed and good baserunning instincts. He's a solid defender with an average-to-plus arm who grades as above average in left field.

Weaknesses: Taylor could stand to be more selective to get to his power more consistently. He needs to learn to loft the ball to become a true 30-homer threat. Conditioning probably will be a long-term issue for Taylor, who does a good job of staying on top of his juvenile diabetes.

The Future: With Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth ahead of him and Domonic Brown coming on, Taylor seems like ideal trade bait. He also could be a replacement for Ibanez, whose contract doesn't expire until after 2011. He's slated for Triple-A in 2010.

He sounds pretty athletic for his height

Dye? That's probably best case scenario.

Maybe more realistic in terms of a hitter and maybe defender at least is somebody like Rios the former TOR and now current ChiSox OF.

Course you'd want the Rios from 06-08 and not the one we saw last season where he just stunk for both teams. But in those three years before, he hit at or around .300 with well over a .800+ OPS and 40 2B/20 HR/80 RBI. Probably won't steal as many bases but don't see Taylor K'ing that much either.

Taylor does have about 30-40 lbs on Rios so possibly he has more power potential also.