Official 2010 Oakland A's Thread

I hope you're right.

I don't fault the A's for not going after the prize free agents like Teixeria, etc.

I just think that every baseball fan at the minimum deserves to root for a team that can retain their talent once they hit free agency.

There's hella bugs in the air in Cleveland.

Originally posted by crzy:
I hope you're right.

I don't fault the A's for not going after the prize free agents like Teixeria, etc.

I just think that every baseball fan at the minimum deserves to root for a team that can retain their talent once they hit free agency.

I think the A's not going for big free agents is the fact that nobody wants to go play in Oakland at the Coliseum especially with the way management has manged to alienate what little fan base we had.

I mean we went after Beltre last off season and offered him a much larger contract than the one he signed in Boston. We went after Furcal the season before that, and like with Beltre, he turned us down for a smaller contract in LA.

The only free agents we can get is if we overpay (Esteban Loaiza, Ben Sheets), or if they're old and nobody wants them (Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, Jason Giambi).

Main reasons no FA hitters want to come here. Mentioned the lack of player amenities, small crowds and the coliseum is a pitcher's park due to the marine layer at night and the expansive foul territory.

Well all of that will change. Any new park will have much better amenities in a new park compared to what the coliseum has and Cisco Field potentially in SJ will be no different if it's built.

Small crowds won't be an issue. Although I dont' know if there will be sellout crowds every game, even if the park is on the smallish side, 34k-36k is the rumored capacity, you'd think the A's could draw at least 25k per game.

Looking at the sketches and they are the first preliminary sketches. The OF walls look like they're...

LF line-365

LF-375

CF-405

RF-345

RF-line-300

...RF def could be a HR paradise. Even though it looks as the wall is gonna be a bit taller in from CF to RF than is is LF, that's a pretty short RF porch area. I don't know how HRs will be called from the right side of the RF outfield seats to the RF line where there's just a brick building there and no "bleachers". I think there's a yellow line above those two levels of openings in that brick structure and that you'd need to hit it into the 3 deck "suites" area but what if it gets hit into one of those "openings" in the brick structure, if they are indeed opening, which we don't know if they are would they be ruled a ground rule 2B then?

CF and LF are normal length but a 365 ft LF line? That's a good 20-30 ft further away than most distances down the lines for most parts?

But that RF area with the short porch and remember SJ is a good 10-15 degrees hotter than it is here in OAK/SF and we all know how each of the parks here play rather small or at least more neutral than they usually do especially at night with the marine layer coming in. With the smaller dimensions to go with the warmer weather down in the south bay, this SJ park could be very much hitter friendly.

Now I read somebody who thinks the LF line is only 302 ft?

Damn those are some pretty short distances down the line? Least the RF line you have to deal with that potential RF structure to hit it over for a HR.

LF's wall does seem to be taller than what you see for a lot of parks with their height of their fences.

I really don't hope it becomes a joke of a park offensively. Although I've mentioned before that many teams with good to great starting pitching staffs have been able to win in hitter friendly venues.

Yankees, ChiSox, and Phillies are play in very friendly hitter parks and all of their pitchers can pitch well and pitch well enough to win a world series as each team has done since 05 starting with the ChiSox and the other team winning the past two years.

HOU also plays in a bandbox but made it to a WS the same year they got beat by the ChiSox in 05. Same with COL back in 07 although Coors is a lot more neutral now at least for HRs since the humidor.

Where are you getting these park dimensions from?


Just guessing?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HDMi-qgsh1Y/THLrxALxvhI/AAAAAAAAACc/VRD9W0BNXIg/s1600/EastView_wContext.jpg

Right here, you can actually zoom in a bit in these pics by clicking on the page.

I really do hope that these are the final dimensions. I can live with the RF line being 300 or so ft because of the huge wall structure you'll have to hit it over for a HR. But LF, if it's really only 305 ft or so when it's not shoe horned like that RF wall is because of the curve of the site, then they have to make the LF line at least 320-330 ft. Heck I'd rather have it being 365 which was my first guess but somebody who I guess has better eyes than me said it was actually 302. RF at 345? Wow, that RF is gonna be a HR haven if true even if the wall is 15-20 ft.

Last thing I want if this this gets built is it to be too offensively friendly especially towards RF. I mean moving down to SJ where the weather is a lot warmer then here in OAK/SF with the marine layer, we know how AT&T and the coliseum play a lot smaller when it's hot, just look at this series with SF-CIN with HR flying out of the park and all the runs being scored. You'd have to expect moving to SJ in warmer weather and moving to a much smaller park than either of the ones currently here would make it very offensive/HR friendly.

Okay the A's need to go for it starting next season.

This pitching staff, starting pitching staff to be exact is ready to compete in the playoffs.

Anderson, Cahill, Gio, Braden, Mazzaro. IMO the way they've pitched this year especially since the all star break having the #1 ERA in the AL, maybe even MLB, and this team since the break is a game or two over or under .500, not sure. But that's unacceptable.

IMO right now the A's have about a 4-5 year window starting next season right now with this pitching staff.

Anderson is signed thru 2015.

Cahill is signed thru 2014.

Gio is signed thru 2015.

Braden is signed thru 2013.

Mazzaro is signed thru 2015.

Pretty sure the A's will give a few of them most notably Cahill and Gio a extension soon so they don't have to worry thru going thru 3 or 4 years in the case of Gio ARB. Maybe try to sign both like they did Anderson thru one year of their FA which would mean Cahill signed thru 2015 and Gio thru 2016. Course we don't know how injuries will effect this team. Anderson has shown thru his first 2 years that he isn't one who looks like he'll pitch pain or injury free for an entire season. Cahill so far so good. Gio like wise. Braden, like Anderson or maybe worse since we know about Braden's foot thing and that he's missed sig time in his first three years with the A's as a full time SP. Mazzaro like Gio and Cahill, don't think he's suffered as of yet any kind of nagging or even serious issues health wise in his minor or major league career.

You'd think too by 2013 or 2014 the A's would have developed some pretty good pitching prospects like a Krol and hopefully Ynoa and gotta think the A's will continue to draft pitchers in the next few years in the draft who could down the road be pretty good prospects.

Now what do they do with hitters?

C-Suzuki is obviously here for the next 4 years I think. He's REALLY struggling bad this month. He's hitting under .123 with an OPS of .362. I don't know what the f**k is going on with him. This has to be one of his worst months of pro league ball that he's ever had. Hopefully the contract he signed not too long ago has added any pressure on him but it seems that since he's signed it, he's been struggling really bad. He's been thru a lot this year with injuries and off the field issues. Still I think he can be a top ten offensive C for the next few years.

1B-Barton, he's rounded nice this month hitting .300. Think he leads the AL in BBs and since the break has hit very well with RISP, something he needs to do if he's not gonna hit 30 HRs as you'd want from a normal slugging 1B and something he wasn't doing at all early in the season. Still I don't know if the A's can live with a 1B who shows very little power when as of now most of the other positions you'd expect power to come from you're also not getting from the current players. Though before the season if he could hit for a pretty high AVG and give you around 10-15 HRs with 35-40 2Bs, I could live with that. So far he's hitting for a decent AVG at .278, he's projected to hit over 35+ 2Bs so he's showing some good gap power but that HR power just hasn't developed. He hasn't hit a HR this month and has only hit 2 HRs once in a month once so far. Defensively he's been pretty good. Jury is still out, I could see the A's trying to replace Barton with a power bat, names like Dunn and even a former A Pena from TB has been mentioned.

2B-I doubt Ellis' 6 million dollar option will be picked up by the A's for 2011 and the A's will buy him out for 500K. Who does that leave? Rosales probably would be the front runner. He's actually shown some solid power this year wtih 7 HRs in 255 AB which would put him 4th on the team for HRs, pretty sad eh that a utility guy who didnt' play full time and has missed close to a month of action is in the top five in HRs for you in the AL. Tolleson has showed a bit but I think he's a utility guy at best. Then you got the AAA guys in Weeks who if he can actually stay healthy is probably the A's clear cut 2B of the future, Cardenas whos shown he can kill AA, not so much AAA although since coming back to AAA earlier this month, he's hitting .310 but with little power. Still only 22, will turn 23 in OCT. Sogard is having a decent year but don't think he's anything more than a utility IF and we already may have that for the next handful of years with Rosales.

SS-Pennignton has done a very good job both offensively and defensively. He's been very streaky but IMO he's exactly the type of "role player" you want on a team that will contend in the near future.

3B-Kouz like Suzuki has been struggling really bad this month, if he were on one of his hot streaks earlier in the season, he can carry for a short time a lineup as he did one or twice this season. He's signed thru 2012 and if the A's keep him, he'll likely earn about 6-7 million each season. He's been by far the A's best 3B they've had since Chavez's last healthy year in 06 which isn't saying much. Maybe him playing thru a full year in the AL will help him the next two years once he figured out the league and pitchers. Though if he could average what he did his last two years with SD, hit around .270 with 30 2Bs/15-20 HRs/80 RBI I'd take it. Well he's on pace to hit .260 with over 30+ 2Bs/10-15 HRs and maybe 70+ RBIs if he has solid last 5 or so weeks to the season. Not great but decent and even though he's not as great defensively as we all hoped, he's not a butcher out there. I really don't see anybody the A's would go after to replace Kouz at 3B in FA or thru trade so I think he stays at least another season.

OF-3 spots. Looks as Crisp will get his 6 million dollar option picks up for 2011 from a report earlier this week. He's been doing very well, pretty streaky himself. Course health wise it's been a disaster from him from the get go missing the first 6-7 weeks of the season. Healthy he'd project to hit .280 with around an .800 OPS with 30+ 2Bs/10+ 3Bs/15+ HRs/80+ RBIs along with 50+ SBs. Course that's if he can stay healthy which he hasn't been since 07 with BOS. But those projected #s would be in line with his best #s in his career with CLE where he was a borderline all star type of talent. But looks as the A's will keep him for 2011 as the CF.

That leaves two more spots and DH. You'd think one of those spots would go to somebody from Cust, Carter or Taylor? What about Davis and Sweeney? Frankly Davis is what we already have with Crisp and he probably isn't as good as Crisp. Sure he's done better the second half as he did last season but IMO the A's need to get power from the two OF spots and not guys who can't even hit 10 HRs ala Davis and Sweeney. IF Crisp wasn't brought back which he probably will be, I could live with Davis manning one of those spots, CF most likely but the A's NEED more power from their corner OFs. Sweeney? Look I like that he can hit you .290-.300 but if he doesn't change his swing and if you read earlier this season that he doesnt' want to change, then he isn't gonna be anything other than a empty high AVG guy manning a corner OF spot with bad knees. I've read for a couple of years now that a lot projected Sweeney as a 4th OF at best due to his lack of power, really had hoped they were wrong and Sweeney would prove them wrong with a much improved power surge in 2010 as he showed a bit the last two months of last season when he was driving the ball thru the gaps like we haven't seen before. But I don't know if it was the knees that were bothering him for much of the season or just that he just isn't gonna develop the power as we all had hoped but he just didn't give me confidence going forward even when he was still hitting .280+ for much of the season.

Course the names mentioned as possible FAs have been Crawford, Dunn, heck even Manny at least a DH candidate. IMO the A's need to add one serious bat thru FA and one bat thru trade.

Even though I praised them earlier, I think the A's would need to deal somebody like Gio to get a bat, course you'd have to package him up with something and at this point I don't know if I wouldn't deal a Carter or Taylor, with Carter probably have more trade value right now than Taylor even after a not so impressive debut earlier this month.

Again the A's have a 4-5 year window and the A's can't waste a season of this great young pitching by letting youngsters for another year struggle early and often. They need to add a bat and if a Gio and somebody like Carter/Taylor can land you a LEGIT MLB bat, somebody like Kemp would probably be a dream scenario, I say you do it. Another guy who the A's may target is somebody like Uggla from FLR.

Losing Gio will sting BAD but I think you can bump up somebody like Mortenson from AAA whos pretty well at AAA with a 12-6 record and looked pretty decent in his one and only outing in the bigs although he's gotten really blasted since moving back down to AAA with an ERA approaching 6 in AUG with some TERRIBLE starts too. Still as a 5th starter to go along possibly Anderson-Cahill-Braden-Mazzaro, wouldn't look bad.

A's are facing the same thing SF faced last year when they had the pitching but not the offense and for some reason their GM didn't want to deal any of their young starters especially ones who'd project to be their "5th starter" for a bat. Really why worry about a 5th SP when all you want from them is to be realistically a .500 pitcher and at least keep you in games. I think Mort could do that for the A's or the A's could find a scrapheap type signing as they've done many times in the past. I just think adding a middle of the order bat outweighs your 5th SP.

Dream land scenario and I don't give the odds of this happening but for the hell of it. A's trade Gio/Taylor or Carter and maybe somebody like Stassi for Kemp if he really wants out and Beane-Colletti have a good working relationship and wants to ship Kemp as far away from the NL West as you can. You get a guy in Gio who could be a #3 behind Bills and Kershaw. A close to major league ready hitting prospect in either Carter or Taylor who I still think this year is an abberation, don't know why the hell he's having this terrible of a year. And you get possibly one of the better young C prospects in another year or two in Stassi and for the A's you wanna win now with Suzuki at C.

Now Dunn? Who knows. A's need to land power bad. A's have so much money coming off with as I've said many times before Chavez, Sheets, Ellis, Duke, and maybe the A's offer ARB to either Davis or Sweeney who'd both estimated to make around 2 million. That's close to 30 million not on next year's payroll from this season even if you take out Chavez 3 million and Ellis 500K buyouts for 2011.

A's will have at least 20 million to spend on one big name FA and that one big name a lot of A's fans want is Dunn. Maybe offer him a 3/4 year deal worth anywhere betweeen 15-17 million which would be around what both NYM with Bay and STL with Holliday got last year in the offseason as the biggest FA signings for a hitter. A's have to sell him that you come here along with the added improvements offensively that you have to make, that this A's team is ready to compete and compete seriously for a playoff spot and that's something Dunn hasn't been in his entire MLB career with CIN, ARZ and now WAS. Course the A's will face stiff competition for Dunn this offseason as he'll probably be the top bat or at least in the top 2 or 3 FA hitters.

Time to go big this offseason.

Crisp-CF
Barton-1B
Kemp-RF
Dunn-LF
Cust-DH
Suzuki-C
Kouz-3B
Rosales-2B
Pennington-SS

SP-Anderson, Cahill, Braden, Mazz, Mort

RP-Blevins, Ziegler, Breslow, Wuertz, Bailey

...and pray that Devine comes back. Heck maybe add HRod who maybe getting it now.

7.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs, BB, 11 Ks in AUG. If you saw how WED's game finished out. He K'ed the side with fastballs that were all 101 MPH. Makes you drool about how dominating he can be with his stuff.

Another name mentioned is Choo from CLE.

Now he has this military service thing going on so who knows. He may come cheaper. But Choo has shown he can be a .300/.375/.450 with 20-25 HR/80-90 RBI type of talent in the AL too.

One kind of scrap heap signing could be Webb from ARZ. Although that smells of another Sheets.

I agree with everything ya said pride... add a few big bats in the offseason... having one of the better pitching staffs in baseball with the offense we have is a disgrace. I cannot believe we aren't a better team. We need hitting ASAP. Dunn and Kemp would be monster additions. Hopefully Carter or Taylor could contribute as early as next year so that we would be adding 3 bats to a powerless offense.

That's a good idea with Choo. That would be a pretty good deal and Cleveland could definitely use some pitching. Don't know what it would take to land him and someone like a Matt Kemp as well. I still like the idea of trading for someone like Aaron Hill, a star who is having an off year. Or taking a shot on a former top prospect who hasn't been as successful as people had though would be, such as a Travis Snider from Toronto.

Don't like Dunn, he's a career NL player who's getting up there in age who's strikeout rates are rising and walk rates declining this year. I'm staying far away.

About Manny, he seems like the type of player we would take a shot on, but the difference is that someone like Frank Thomas or Mike Piazza were both good in the locker room while as we know Ramirez is notorious for "being Manny." You can't really expect more than 100 games from him and at most 20 home runs. I think we could do better.

Suzuki, I think he's ob struggling with the pressure of being the A's best offensive threat. Surround him with better offensive guys to take the pressure off him and he'll be back to normal. He's trying too hard to be a power hitter and getting away from what made him good in the first place.

CF Crisp
1B Barton
LF Choo
RF Kemp
2B Hill
C Suzuki
3B Kouzmanoff
DH Carter
SS Pennington

With Cust or a free agent, Davis and Rosales as important bench pieces.

Anderson goes down again, although this probably had more to due with him slipping on the mound screwing up his knee, hopefully not too serious.

Choo, Kemp, and Hill...no way the A's can get all three. I don't know if they have the farm system to get all three.

Choo-obviously he's fit well here being a legit 3 type hitter something the A's don't have. I don't know how likely CLE is gonna give up on their best bat who I still think is cost controlled for another 2-3 years especially when Sizemore's career in a huge question mark with him being injured for the past few seasons.

Kemp-again if he really wants out, I'd go after him. I've read that some think he's a shown to be a poor defender at least this year and has a bad attitude, I don't know why he's struggling. Look early in the year that first month or so looked as he was gonna have a breakout season for the LAD.

Hill-you mentioned his name a few weeks ago but I see TOR no way selling on this guy low. This guy was IMO one of the top offensive 2B last season only behind the likes of Utley and Cano. Just can't see them dealing him when he's coming off a poor year. Now I don't know how his contract is structured but I think he'd be pretty close to being a FA.

Dunn-even with his negatives he's showing this year, the guy IMO is a lock to hit at least 30 HRs and drive in 90+ RBIs in ANY LEAGUE and in ANY PARK.


Trading chips the A's have. Obviously it looks as Anderson, Cahill, and Suzuki are the untradeable pieces for this team.

Mentioned Gio, he's likely to draw more trade value over Mazzaro due to him being a LH who has the ability to K even though he has BB issues. He's signed up for more cost controlled years over Braden and Gio doesn't have the health issues that Braden does. Maybe HRod has some trade value. The guy has been somebody a lot of A's fans have been thinking about trading the past offseason or two. But as i pointed out, he maybe finally getting "it" with the way he's pitched this month.

Carter-guy is gonna hit probably 35 HRs with 100 RBIs with a .900 OPS at AAA this season, that's of course if he stays the entire year there and not be a SEP callup which isn't a lock to happen. Will turn 25 before the start of next season so it's go time for him. Unfortuanately the A's need to get immediate results and again as we've seen many times thru out his career, it takes a while for Carter to adjust and hit well in a new league, think we saw that thru his first 20 or so ABs in the bigs. Can the A's wait him out for half a season in 2011 and even then, will he be that huge of an improvement over a proven MLB hitter the A's could get if they deal Carter for him.

Taylor-I don't now what the f**k happened to him. This guy was a borderline top 5 OF prospect in the bigs before this season. He isn't hitting for AVG or power at AAA. Some say he's been pressing because of the new environment, some say he's been playing hurt and with him being a diabetic that it takes longer for him to heal from said injuries. Still can't discount what he did the previous two seasons that made him a top 20-30 prospect in the bigs.

Speaking of Wallace for HOU is having a HORRIBLE start to his MLB career. Just horrible, rooting for this guy still because he grew up an A's fan but maybe Beane saw something that he didn't like. Still think Wallace himself will be a good MLB hitter.

Weeks-can he stay healthy? I don't know. Having an alright year but not lighting things up. I don't now how much value a soon to be 24 year old at the start of next season who has health issues will bring you.

Green-probably having the best overall year with the bat, yes even better than Carter, out of any A's prospect. Defense is a huge issue, think he has averaged an error ever 3rd or 4th game which isn't good. Now how legit is the power he's showing since he is playing in the Cal League and Stockton, we'll see in future seasons but he's actually a prospect whos seen his stock go up this year.

Stassi-even though he's had issues with K's this season, still think he will end up being a very good C prospect in a few years. Will turn only 20 at the start of next minor league season.

Krol-probably the A's best SP prospect right now. Had a very good year at KC and having an alright debut at Stockton.

DLS-electric arm, looks as he's back. #s don't indicate how well he's doing. Had a few horrible outings so that's messes up his ERA a bit but the K/BB ratio is very good.

Really don't know if there are any other prospects other teams would want. A's have some intriguing prospects in the lower minors like a Dixon who I've read could be another M.Byrd(TEX/Cubs) if he makes it to the bigs or Choice although I doubt the A's deal their #1 pick so soon especially since he's killing the ball right now at VAN even with the amount of K's he's racking up.

A's were totally outclassed by the NYY not only this series but the entire season.

Funny the A's really have shut down most offenses they've faced this year other than the NYY. Forget about trying to compete with the A's lineup when you play in that bandbox too.

Think this was the 3rd time the A's were one hit this season. Hate to beat a dead horse but damn, this offense needs help BAD.

A's claim former FLR and BOS OF Hermedia off waviers.

His was a name mentioned as a possible pickup on a lot MB/blogs not only this year when he did get released, but in previous seasons too as a possible target for the A's.

Had a very good 07 season with FLR .296/.369/.501 with 18 HRs. Hasn't really progressed since in his last two years with FLR and this season with BOS.

Still only 26 and even in his years following 07, he still showed a bit of pop. Averaged 15 HRs in 08 ad 09 despite missing 50 games combined those two years. Did have 5 HRs in 158 ABs this year.

Hey the way the A's are doing poorly with the offense, adding any kind of bat to the org should be a goal. Maybe the A's get lucky and Hermedia becomes the bat he was a few years ago where he did pretty well in a pretty pitcher friendly park in FLR.

Question is he even any better than a Buck or Jackson are.