The Diamondbacks are for Realsies

At their current pace, the Diamondbacks can do no wrong. Micah Owings (the team's#3 starter) came in to pinch hit today and blasted a 2 run homer to let Randy Johnson off the hook from a poor 1st start. Edgar Gonzalez has been struggling, but thankfully they have #11 pick overall in 2007 Max Scherzer to move into his place, having not given up a run this year in relief. Their dramatic win today moved them into 20-8, already 5 1/2 games in 1st place in a strong NL West, and 2 games in front of anyone else in the MLB.

This team has so much unlimited power I'm expecting them to give in to the Dark Side. Their rotation is anchored by the 6-0 Brandon Webb (Cy Young winner 2 years ago,) followed by American League All Star Game Starter Dan Haren, then Micah Owings who is 4-0 and helps himself with a .416 Batting Average on the month. The back end is comprised of the Big Unit who has the potential to be dominant (though its not likely) and a top 15 pick of last year's draft who has dominating stuff (though Baseball Prospectus sees him more of a closer.)

Speaking of closer, the bullpen remains a key strength. Brandon Lyon has shaken off his rough first outings, and hasn't given up a run since April 6th, accumulating 8 saves in the process. He's set up by Chad Qualls who hasn't given up a run in 14.2 innings this year and Tony Pena. Despite the departure of former closer Jose Valverde, the bullpen is still strong.

The fielding side of the Diamondbacks though is where their longevity will come from. Eric Byrnes at 32 is their eldest player, and he's hardly over the hill. The middle of the order is anchored by Chris Young and Justin Upton, both high-ceiling power hitters (Upton is still only 21 and has the potential to hit 30+ home runs when he reaches his peak.) Finally relieved of the ghost of Tony Clark, Conor Jackson has come alive to the tune of a .341 average, 24 RBI and 23 Runs.

The farm system is so stocked that they could afford to deal 6 good players to the Athletics for Dan Haren and still have enough talent to produce guys like the aforementioned Max Scherzer. Though this system will probably dry up with their recent success, the Diamondbacks aren't a small market team. True, they are in the bottom half of payrolls this year, but their $15 million a year commitment to an ailing Randy Johnson shows that the ownership is willing to give contracts to players who produce for them.

This is a team, honestly, that has no weak links. Even in a tough division, I get more excited every time I watch them. They're young, they're talented, and they have unique personalities that keep the team fun to watch. Out of all the teams that could possibly dominate for years to come, I'm not too upset by the prospect of the Snakes.

Bullpen Barry

The Giants made the decision recently to send Barry Zito to the bullpen, in a long relief role. Pat Misch will take his next start, leaving the Giants with four starters with Correia hitting the Disabled List. The Giants can wait until May 10th to decide whether or not they want to put Barry Zito in that slot, so there may be hope for him.

The Giants decided to make this switch in light of Zito's absolutely atrocious start. He is one of only three pitchers to accumulate six losses in the month of April, racking up a 7.53 ERA in the process. Zito, and a 15:11 BB:K ratio. Zito says he knows something is wrong, but claims he just has to pitch through it. He is incessantly booed at Giants games for failing to deliver on his $125 million contract, which at the time was the largest contract for a pitcher (outdone by Johan Santana's recent Mets contract.)

What does this mean for Zito? This is the first time in his career he's going to miss a start. He's never had to go on the Disabled List, and he's never pitched bad enough to warrant being removed from the rotation. Zito has caught some tough breaks to be fair including poor defensive play, but perhaps the problem lies deeper.

Zito's curveball has often been rated as the best in Baseball. When he's on, he flabbergasts hitters in ways that leave them shaking their head speechless as to what they can do against it. But his heyday seems to have come and gone. Zito has become too reliant on the big break, trying to lure batters to chase pitches out of the zone, causing a high walk rate. This has been constant over the years though for Barry.

Perhaps the problem lies in his personality. Zito is known for being eclectic and easy-going, and perhaps his routine over the last several years has simply been that he can pitch through it and things will turn out relatively alright. Oakland was always behind him all the time because of his presence in the Big Three (Hudson/Mulder/Zito.) Even when he was poor, Oakland was behind him. This isn't the case for San Francisco. With the loss of Bonds and the sudden realization that the Giants are a very sub-par team, they want results out of their $125 million dollar man. They boo Zito when he is introduced for his poor performance, and Zito is only continuing their hatred with his performance. He can't keep up his easy-going performance when he plays so poorly and the Giants fans demand Zito blood. Giants fans need a martyr to pin their poor play on, and Zito is begging for it with his high contract and antipathy towards inevitability.

I think this will be good for Zito. He needs to rethink his process--some clutch performances out of the pen would reaffirm him to the fans, and a break from schedule might give him more time to iron out the kinks in his delivery that have developed over the years. He hasn't had to fight for a position for a good amount of time, and perhaps this sudden change will light a fire under him and get him to pitch like the Zito of old. He needs to re-learn that he doesn't need to miss bats to be effective. His 30% Groundball/Flyball rate is too low for an offspeed pitcher of his caliber (and about 10% lower than his average), and can be improved upon to produce more outs.

Zito is obviously overpaid for an innings-eating starter with a ~4.00 ERA (which is what was expected statistically,) but his environment is getting to him. He said on the record last year that he was putting too much pressure on himself as the team's ace, and even did well in his only relief appearance last year. With the loss of Bonds and Giants fans looking for the other Barry to carry the team, Zito is simply digging his grave deeper and deeper with every start. He'll come around, but he'll have to do it in the bullpen, since it's clear that this routine is taking him nowhere, and the Giants are going down with him.

The A's revolving door lets in two more

"Are we trying to develop a young team? Yeah, but we are not running an instructional league. We are running a professional sports franchise." -- Billy Beane.

This is exactly the kind of thing that Beane needed to say to put his fans at ease. A's fans were surprised today by the decision to bring back Frank Thomas, who was released by the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a matter of time, really, to see where Frank ended up. Even though he probably won't be able to produce as he used to, Toronto's outright release of him forces them to pay out the majority of his contract, while the A's only have to pay him a Major League minimum of $350,000.

Thomas, who is a big fan favorite, said he never wanted to leave Oakland but the money after 2006 wasn't right. Now that money isn't an issue, Thomas' first choice was to come back to Oakland, and here he lands. This may seem a bit puzzling to Baseball observers, since the A's are already stocked at the DH position with Jack Cust and Mike Sweeney. Daric Barton has taken over full time duties as 1st Baseman, and Geren said he has named Thomas the full-time DH. In all likelihood, this will push Mike Sweeney to the role of Pinch-Hit Specialist, and backup 1st Baseman/DH. In other words, he is what Dan Johnson has been to the A's for the last few years. The other option is to release Sweeney, much like the A's did with Todd Walker last year. This isn't a terrible option, but I don't foresee the A's doing it unless Sweeney expresses anger at having his playing time cut.

Thomas is off to a slow start, but he always has been a slow starter. His first few games were monstrous, but since then he has hit for a low average. On the plus side, he has been hitting home runs and drawing walks, which is what he usually does. The decision by the Blue Jays to release him was rather silly, and Beane capitalized on it. Baseball Prospectus, going into this year, predicted 20 home runs for Thomas while only allowing 425 At-Bats for him predicting injury. That translates to 29-30 home runs if he can stay healthy all year and get 625 At Bats. For the power-starved A's, Thomas' big bat is welcome.

The A's also claimed Rajai Davis off waivers from the Giants, who released him due to a surplus of Outfielders. They seem to have more confidence in Fred Lewis, who has slightly more Pop. Rajai Davis is a true Centerfielder, which is what the A's have been starved for since the offseason. He has incredible speed, and has the capability to get over 40 steals in a season, which he did twice in the minors. He will probably play Center and bat leadoff for the A's as long as Buck is on the disabled list. His OBP average over 3 years around the minors is around 340, which is somewhat low, but I'm sure the A's will work with him to draw more walks than he had been with the Pirates and the Giants, which should raise his OBP.

If everyone were healthy, this changes our ideal 25 man roster, which now would probably look something like this:

C Kurt Suzuki
1B Daric Barton
2B Mark Ellis
SS Bobby Crosby
3B Eric Chavez
RF Travis Buck
CF Rajai Davis
LF Jack Cust
DH Frank Thomas
BN Mike Sweeney
BN Donnie Murphy
BN Jack Hannahan
BN Emil Brown
BN Rob Bowen
SP Joe Blanton
SP Rich Harden
SP Justin Duchscherer
SP Chad Gaudin
SP Dana Eveland
CL Huston Street
SU Keith Foulke
SU Alan Embree
LR Lenny DiNardo
RP Santiago Casilla
RP Andrew Brown

Absent from this list are Chris Denorfia, Ryan Sweeney, and Dan Johnson. Denorfia I imagine will get reassigned to AAA when Buck comes back due to his poor range in the Outfield so far and marginal bat. Johnson was waived by the A's last week and picked up by the Devil Rays. I like the Raj over Sweeney due to his real ability to play center, and Sweeney being marginal so far at the plate. Those two could switch depending on their respective performances over the next few weeks.

We'll have to see how this develops, but it should make the A's better at the plate to back up their league-leading Team ERA of 3.24. Beane has seen his team is outperforming expectations, and these are two moves that cost the A's virtually nothing. This doesn't instantly make the A's the best team in the AL West, but it does address two big concerns: Centerfield, and the lack of power.

John Bowker: The Man, the Myth, the Conundrum

In order to fill a power void, the Giants recently brought up breakout AA guy John Bowker to serve as a pinch hit specialist role. This move was taken with some skepticism, as Nate Schierholtz seemed to be more polished for the Pinch Hitter/5th Outfielder role, but Bowker came nonetheless-and he brought a lot of pop. He's already raked 3 home runs and a triple in 22 at bats, with 9 RBIs. The Giants are thrilled with his early success, and even started him at 1st Base recently in order to harness his hot streak.

"Bye Bye Bowker," as he was called in a recent Giants telecast, wasn't predicted to do much of anything this year. The Baseball Prospectus 2008 almanac, which gives predictions for over 1600 players, barely mentions Bowker. All they wrote was that he found his bat again at AA after struggling in A ball since 2004, but that "He's an inferior version of Schierholtz, and unlikely to build on his progress."

So what do you do with a guy like John Bowker? Ride the lightning until it stops? Conventional wisdom says he can't keep this up forever--he never even played a game in AAA ball. At the same time, the Giants need to cultivate their young players if they want any hope of success down the road.

In my opinion, the Giants should ride the Bowker Train as long as it keeps going. Sure, Bowker will cool down eventually; pitchers will figure him out and he'll stop getting good wood on the ball. At that point, I think the Giants will probably make a switch between him and Schierholtz. Schierholtz will hopefully have learned some better plate discipline down in AAA, and Bowker can refine himself a little more. I just can't imagine he's a finished product at this point since we have a small sample size of him being good. If he doesn't drop hard though, and merely levels off to being league average, then start him in the outfield. This team needs pop, and he's young.

Stopping at 250 is apparently an act of concern

Earlier this week in a Japanese High School game, a young pitcher was getting walloped to the tune of 66 runs in less than two full innings (Source.) The Coach yanked his pitcher after 250 pitches because he may have gotten to 500, and you know, you gotta show concern for the kid.

This is another part of the Japanese mentality. This poor kid gave up 26 runs in the 1st inning, and was still let to pitch the 2nd inning. A lot of times when young players are growing up, they need to be taught fighting spirit. Kids will be walloped on until they can take no more, because they need to face the pressure. When Baseball was introduced to Japan, this sort of exercise took the form of the legendary 1000 fungo drill and similar drills.

The 1000 Fungo Drill was where a player would take the field, and the coach would hit groundballs or flyballs at them just out of their reach until they collapsed in pain from diving so much. In another similar exercise, pitchers would be made to hang from trees by their arms until they basically fell off (after they finished pitching practice.) The idea here was that they could learn lessons about how to play the game. They would be taught to play through the pain and trust their coach.

This is the biggest difference between Japanese and American baseball. I hate using the "Zen" cliche when talking about Japanese baseball, but this sort of incident proves that some of the old boys still have that mentality. American baseball coaches would be labeled as sadistic and cruel for doing this--anything over 100 pitches at that age could quite feasibly break a kid's arm.

It's sad, but sometimes this is how things go. If you ever wonder why Daisuke Matsuzaka can undertake such high pitch counts, and endure high pressure situations with such poise, its because of the environments. Although he was never made to throw 250 pitches in two innings like this poor sap, he was subjected to the same environment.

The Duties of the Manager

The Manager is an interesting position to contemplate. At the surface, the Manager's duties are to decide the starting lineup including pitcher, handle in-game decisions such as players substitutions and calls to the bullpen, and coordinate in-game plays like the sacrifice bunt and the Hit and Run. Beyond that, the Manager has to deal with player anomalies and extenuating circumstances. When contemplating a Manager's skill, both of these elements have to be analyzed.

Many statistical analysts are under the opinion that one's value as a Manager is measured by how few runs you cost your team. Analysts like those at Baseball Prospectus tend to believe that special plays like the Sacrifice Bunt are overused and are almost always used in the wrong situation. By this measure, a good Manager is one who doesn't try to get tricky too often and just lets his players play. This philosophy is often held up by players as well, who believe the "let the players play" style allows players to feel more free and comfortable. Dusty Baker is notoriously bad at this in the statistical sphere, while Ted Williams was quite good.

The intangible aspect to Managing is the handling of players. Alfonso Soriano wants to bat leadoff, and often times he bats poorly when put out of position. The New York Yankees are constantly being stifled and second guessed by a brutal New York Media. These issues are the kind of thing that Managers have to deal with so their players won't have to. Joe Torre is supposedly very good at this.

The main reason I bring this up is Lou Piniella. Piniella at the moment has to face the aforementioned Soriano question (at least he will when Soriano returns from today's Disabled List stint.) Soriano went 0-8 in the #2 spot after two games and Piniella decided to move him into the Leadoff Spot, where Soriano has always wanted to bat. Soriano has great speed, but a career .326 On Base Percentage leaves something to be desired. Soriano is a perfect candidate for the Cleanup role, really. He has great power, and can leadoff more 2nd innings if the 1-2-3 batters go down. He wants to bat in the leadoff spot in order to try and prove he can get back to his old 40 stolen base form.

Piniella here has to juggle the competing interests here. Soriano is better suited in spots where he can get RBIs, and use his power to hit other runners in. At the same time, Piniella has to consider whether or not Soriano has a real emotional tie to the leadoff spot. If Soriano actually will bat better in the leadoff spot because he believes he can, how much does that warrant batting him in an inferior spot?

I'm curious as to what value General Managers place on the balance of these things. How much can a person rely on the intangibles while at the same time accepting one's poor statistical decisions, or vice versa? How good can a manager be at statistical decisions if his players run rampant and throw temper tantrums all the time?

The Harden Dilemma

As the A's have now taken their hot streak to winning 6 of their last 7 games, some A's fans found themselves looking for the proverbial arm pinch to keep them on earth. That came late last week with Rich Harden being put on the Disabled List, making this season feel a little bit more like home.

What do the A's do with Rich Harden? If you don't know, Rich Harden is the #2 starter for the A's. He's gifted with four great pitches: A century fastball, plus changeup, slider, and a splitter that is so erratic at the end it's basically unpredictable. Harden's downfall is that he's very easily injured due to his moderate frame and overexpense in his throwing motion. He's got the stuff to be amazing, but he just hasn't proven any longevity. The debate I'd like to explore here is whether or not to move Harden to the bullpen.

On one hand you have Rich Harden, the amazing pitcher who historically hasn't been able to handle starting. The obvious solution to a guy who has dominating stuff but can only do it for a few innings is to make them close. Mariano Rivera, Francisco Rodriguez, and Joe Nathan are all dominating pitchers that can't start. If the A's could even have Harden for a few innings a week as a lights out closer, that's obviously better than having him start 7-8 games a year in between disabled list visits.

On the other hand, you have what might be a lot of wasted talent. Most dominating closers can get by with one or two pitches. If Harden were to move to the bullpen, he would probably use is Fastball and Changeup in order to reduce the strain on his arm, since you don't need to rely on variety to get the same guys out three or four times a game. Harden has the stuff to strike guys out that many times since he has so many tools to go too in pressure situations. If somehow he could stay healthy, then he would be one of the more dominating pitchers in the league, if not Hall of Fame caliber. A top notch starter is more valuable than a top notch reliever, due to the longevity and reliability, not to mention in a loaded bullpen like the A's with a sketchy starting rotation.

The other added dimension is how he may be best marketable. I hate to talk about players in terms of commodities, but if the A's are continuing their youth movement, then Harden could fetch a lot of prospects. As a closer, he'd fetch probably a package similar to the Swisher deal. If he were a 30 start-pitcher, he'd get something better than Haren and Swisher put together. Beane has to think about how best to look to the future.

At what point does Beane stop the gamble? Harden has said he prefers starting to the bullpen, but the bullpen to the disabled list. I think we'd all like to see as much Harden as we can, even if that means two pitch-bullpen Harden. It's sad to see him have to hit the list so much and hear people scoff at him as a never-was, but A's fans like to hold on to that glimmer of hope that somewhere in that fragile frame we have the next Christy Mathewson.

There isn't a right answer to this question unfortunately, but I think that this is the last season Harden has to prove himself as a starter. The rebuilding plan probably won't be in full effect until at least next year, so he's got time to be marketable. Huston Street's contract is up this year, so if the A's can't sign him to a longer contract, they'll need an heir to his throne if they don't like anyone in the bullpen now. Harden could take next offseason to make the switch and still have half a season to be traded to another team if the A's want to make it so. This would be the Kerry Wood route, and we'll see for ourselves how this works with the Cubs. Otherwise he may end up a Mark Prior--ridiculous stuff, never a chance to show it.

On Eckstein

Spring Cleaning is underway with the A's sweeping the Blue Jays in three very close games, and then taking two from the Indians at time of writing. One thing that ran through my mind through the games with the Jays was David Eckstein, the shortstop for the Blue Jays. He's been called "pesky," "scrappy," "gritty" and many other backhanded compliments, and believe it or not he is a very polarizing figure.

David Eckstein plays every second like there's a gun to his head. He's a decent fielder at shortstop -- the hardest offensive position besides catcher and pitcher, but for different reasons. Shortstop requires immense athleticism, and Eckstein provides it. Furthermore, you'll often see him diving head first into 1st base to avoid a tag, and other such feats. This is where Eckstein gets his "scrappy" label. Eckstein isn't overpowering with his 5'6 170lb frame, and while he does have solid speed to the tune of averaging 18 SB per season (though this has deteriorated over the last three seasons,) he relies on his compact-contact swing to put him in a position to get him on base through this athleticism.

This 100% approach makes him a lovable figure in the eyes of sports writers and fans. Baseball has the interesting element of seeming accessible to the average human being. The average human can'tbox out a 7 foot Yao Ming to get the rebound, or go pound for pound against Warren Sapp at the line of scrimmage, and they don't believe they can. David Eckstein though, with his bunt singles, solid speed and good technique don't seem all that otherworldly though. People root for Eckstein because they want to cling to the idea that if we work hard enough, we can achieve anything. In a baseball world dominated by steroids, Eckstein is the new version of the American Dream. He and Shaun White are probably the two figures in sports that would demoralize me the most if they tested positive for 'roids.

Some people don't like him though. The professional writers over at www.firejoemorgan.com tend to pick on him. Some people tend to think that this "grit," if you will, that Eckstein possesses is some sort of mythical Baseball-turbo-juice that allows Eckstein to shine but can't be mathematically quantified. Some players get better through doping; Eckstein just pulls something extra out of the adrenaline vault. Some of the more statistically inclined fans think that this force is overrated since there exists no statistics to prove it. They see Eckstein as having a sub-par On Base Percentage to bat leadoff, and his reputation as clutch (also not yet mathematically proven) inflates his reputation.

While there is some merit to this disbelief, nobody would argue that just because people haven't mathematically quantified it, that means it doesn't exist. I think the David Eckstein-esque argument that proves to serve up the most heated debates between more traditional writers and Sports Geeks. Eckstein is fun to watch, hard working, and good at what he does for the most part, yet Sports Geeks tend to scoff a bit whenever the essence of "grit" is conjured up. I think there needs to be compromise on both sides. Eckstein is, in reality, an extremely talented baseball player. Anyone who reaches the Major Leagues is more talented than any normal fan, and Eckstein is notable even amongst this class (multiple times an All-Star.) While this ability does come in large part from hard work, it doesn't come from the Baseball Gods shining upon him by bestowing "scrappiness" upon him.

David Eckstein is talented, skilled, and good. Can't we just give him credit for that without having to explain it with the "gritty" and "pesky" labels?

A's thoughts

It's been an interesting couple of days when the A's play the Jays, not at the bay, but on a day where they pay to say away to D-J...I'll stop now.

1) Chad Gaudin is on his way back, but he's not there yet. He had flashes of great form--striking out Rios, Wells, and Thomas on identical great sliders was great to watch, but seeing Aaron Hill punt that same slider over the left field fence was bad. Wells took him yard too for 3 runs in the first as he struggled early. After the first few innings, he at least knew what he was doing. He looked like he threw his pitches in the appropriate counts, and his out-pitch slider was in command. He did throw a couple juicy ones, but thankfully AJ Burnett did the same.
SUPER BONUS SECTION: Man, AJ Burnett is one mean looking fellow. He reminds me of John Gruden, the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former coach of the Raiders. When Lyle Overbay (1st baseman for the Jays) took a putout unassisted instead of flipping it to Burnett, I thought someone's face was going to get bitten off. Remind me not to cross him.
2) The Rotation is going down...fast. Harden skipped a start and is now doubtful for Sunday. Duchscherer is on the 15 day disabled list. Greg Smith performed rather well today, and it's probably good enough to keep him in the Duke's spot for now. If Harden goes down, the A's will probably go with Dallas Braden or Lenny DiNardo to replace him. Braden has a bit more upside, and could use work getting his changeup working against Major League Hitters. DiNardo is a bit more established, but the A's are fearful of his second half, when the entire League figured him out and his ERA skyrocketed. I'm not too worried about Duke--he wasn't a key piece of the rotation and the A's have arms in AA that can at least provide a positive VORP alternative, but Harden worries me. The A's really need Harden to at least provide 25 starts to stand a chance, and this is pretty early to already be suffering stiffness.
3) The Bats are picking up, although its the same ones. Sweeney and Suzuki have looked outstanding lately, and I'm pleased with them as well as Mark Ellis. Travis Buck has remembered how to put em where they aint, and the recent trend of extra base hits puts me a bit more at ease. Jack Cust is still in a funk, and he's a key provider of pop in this lineup, but we can expect him to be a bit streaky as part of his nature.
4) The Bullpen excites me more and more with every day. Huston Street settled in, recording two no-home-run saves in a row. Foulke looks like he's returned to form, and will dual with Embree for a Righty/Lefty combo of setup men. Combining those three with Santiago Casilla and Andrew Brown whom I have full confidence in as well as Fernando Hernandez who looked solid today gives me a lot of confidence if our starters can give six quality innings.

On another note, the Giants have taken two dramatic games in a row, and Jonathan Sanchez was 7/13/77 of New York on the mound today. They're close, but these heart pounding games are the kind of wins that will be typical para Los Gigantes. If the Giants are going to win games consistently this season, it will be through good pitching, good defense, and a lot of clutch plays in the big moments (Nice work, Freddy).

The San Francisco Conundrum

The San Francisco have even more trouble on their hands than their 1-6 record would indicate. The Giants fans have made their allegiances clear--they were with Barry. Check out this excerpt from an article on the Giants website, as reported by Chris Haft.

"SAN FRANCISCO -- Opening Day is always a celebration, but the festive mood at AT&T Park began evaporating even before the Giants' 8-4 loss to the San Diego Padres began.

Barry Zito, the Giants' $126 million pitcher who owns an 0-2 record with a 6.30 ERA, was booed during pregame introductions. The hooting resumed when third baseman Jose Castillo misplayed Scott Hairston's grounder during San Diego's three-run third inning, and surfaced intermittently while Padres right-hander Greg Maddux was retiring 19 of the final 20 hitters he faced. The catcalls rang out for the final time in the ninth inning as the Padres scored twice off Brian Wilson."

The San Francisco Faithful are clearly displeased with the Giants' 1-6 start against the Dodgers, Brewers, and now Padres. Receiving this kind of treatment in one's home opener is a terrible harbinger of things to come. This should be a very interesting season to examine in terms of how the fan base will react. This is their first season in a long time without Barry Bonds, and while this isn't the first time they've been abysmally poor, it is the first time they don't have Barry to fall back on to draw fans.

I've often talked among friends about the dualistic nature of San Francisco fans. There are Giants fans who are among the traditional encampments. First there is the die-hard fan, who will always support the team no matter what (even in the 90 loss seasons.) There's the Sports Geeky fans who know the team will be bad, but love Barry cause he's the king of On Base Percentage among other things. Yet San Francisco also has a very large encampment of Barry Fans. These people have grown up, or at least become so ingrained with the leadership of Barry Bonds that the sudden broadside of a team without him has thrown them into a state of shock. These fans are suddenly coming to grips with the fact that this lineup is very old, and hardly anybody in the farm system is superstar caliber (save Angel Villanova, but only the most knowledgeable fans know of the 18 year old High-A player.)

These aren't new facts though. A lot of people who follow the Giants have long pointed out the fact that the ownership hasn't made moves to win championships by improving weak points, or at least haven't made the right ones. The Barry Homers though have gleefully ignored this fact because of that glorious 2002 season when they won the pennant, and the fact that anything is possible if Barry is batting cleanup.

This team isn't the 2002 Giants though. This is a team so unprepared for injuries that, in light of injuries to Shortstop Omar Vizquel and utilityman Kevin Frandsen, their best option for Shortstop is Brian Bocock, who last year had a subpar (.220/.293/.328) year at High A ball. This is a team so oblivious to its inability to contend that it insists on starting Dave Roberts in Left Field instead of giving youngsters Rajai Davis, Fred Lewis, or Nate Schierholtz more opportunities to develop at the big league level.

Finally, this is a team so incognizant of the impact Barry had on them as a team and its fans that it has basically erased his image from their stadium (I could reference a ton of articles, but I'll go with this one) His image and any mention of his home run record are nowhere to be found. I understand that the team wants to turn over a new leaf per se, but the Giants' Front Office Brass doesn't seem to understand how they are alienating their fans by doing this. Not only do they give the fans a sub par team to face the season, but this move almost seems like a slap in the face. It's a proverbial "This is our team, deal with it. No Barry. Don't like it? We don't care."

Such blatant disregard for the opinions of fans is disconcerting. The fact of the matter is that profiting on a baseball team is ridiculously easy in business terms. Perhaps the Giants Front Office realizes this, and much like the Marlins run their operation, they don't particularly care if their team is poor and has no drawing power for a few years--people will still attend, if only to boo.

Opening Impressions on the A's

Your Oakland Athletics have finally finished their opening series (plural?) with the Red Sox, with a 1-3 record. It's logical at this point to begin bracing one's self for a long year, but let's look at some of the big factors piece by piece.
1) Huston Street isn't at his top form yet. He's given up home runs in both appearances so far, and he really needs to come to grips with his slider. Street needs to be at his top form for both plans: If the A's are going to go for it on the off chance the Angels never recover from blows to their rotation, Street needs to be our go to man for the postseason. Likewise, if we are sticking with Codename: 2010, Street needs to keep his trade value up for Beane to net some good prospects for him and allow Joey Devine to move into the pen and get some big league work in. I'm not too worried here--Street has always had a pretty high blown save count. The A's will rely on him a lot this year though, with the offense being somewhat subpar, the games will be close.
2) I'm not sure what to make of the offense yet, but my gut isn't agreeing with my decision nonetheless. The team leaders right now in hitting are Kurt Suzuki, Bobby Crosby and Jack Hannahan. While I'm thrilled that the three of them are producing, I'm wondering where everybody else is. Buck mentioned in an article on the A's website said. "It's everything -- my whole body, from my feet to my head. But seeing and identifying the problem, that's a step in the right direction." That concerns me more than anything. I would hope these things would be worked out in Spring Training, but Buck had a good second half last year. Regardless, I'd like to see him and the others maintain some regularity in their hitting so as to facilitate Beane's aforementioned decision.
3) Rich Harden looks good. I can't say enough about how key this is to the whole process, and even though he's been limited in his innings (good move Geren,) I like what I see. Sports Illustrated's recent Baseball Preview toyed around with the idea of making Harden a Sunday Starter, but I think the depth of the bullpen is more suited to allowing Harden to stick to a low inning plan rather than a fewer starts plan. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this isn't the baseball gods toying with us.
4) The Angels look good, unfortunately. Other than the game against the Twins where they had trouble producing, they look really solid. Garland and Saunders were both lights out in their opening performances, and their offense has four members who out produce our best guy. It's intimidating to compare outfields with them, when their pinch runner (Reggie Willits) would be a automatic starter on the A's.

As I've stated before--it's going to be a hard April. The A's schedule is very rough (4 against the Red Sox, 6 against the Indians, etc.) and the A's are still trying to see what works with all of its cogs in new sprockets. Duchscherer is on the hill tonight, and I'm hoping that his wide array of breaking stuff will be able to keep guys off balance for a whole game. His fastball is only upper 80's, so their is the chance that guys will figure him out when they come around to their 3rd matchup. Considering the fact that he's being converted from a reliever and may have stamina issues, the 6th inning will be the most pivotal for him.

A's overhauls

So there was big news today that Billy Beane, having decided that the health of Eric Chavez was too much for this team, decided to do all it took to make this team ready to compete.:

1. He traded Joe Blanton to the Astros for Miguel Tejada.
2. He then made a phone call and traded Huston Street to the Yankees for Jason Giambi.
3. Putting the touches on a long standing deal, he dealt Rich Harden to the Orioles for Ramon Hernandez.
4. Gutting the Farm System, he sent Carlos Gonzalez, Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney to the Giants for Barry Zito.
5. Mark Ellis was sent to the Cardinals for Jason Isringhausen.
6. Chad Gaudin, Justin Duchscherer, Emil Brown, and Cash Considerations were sent to the Braves for Tim Hudson.
7. Jack Cust was offered to the Yankees for Johnny Damon, who also wanted Kurt Suzuki, and the A's obliged.
8. Bobby Crosby, Mike Sweeney, Brooks Conrad, and Andrew Brown were sent to the ChiSox for Jermaine Dye.
9. Free Agents Jeremy Giambi and Terrence Long to 2 year deals.
10. After Bob Geren promptly stormed out in frustration, Art Howe was hired as the interim manager.

Beane was quoted as saying after the frenzy was done saying "Hey, let's face it, this is a weak division. I know what I'm doing here--I do it all the time. These signings will put us over the other teams in the league, and we will win baseball games."

When asked about how he will deal with the overwhelmingly large payroll boost he'll need to pay these players, Beane quipped "Well, we've been sort of saving money up over the years. People think we're a small market team, but it's sort of like saving up one's allowance for a Nintendo Wii. We haven't bought any big players for a while, so this is our proverbial Nintendo Wii."

The "Nintendo Wii" philosophy has drawn a lot of criticism among the community. Baseball Prospectus Joe Sheehan claimed that "This is exactly the kind of statistical know-how and surprise that makes Beane the best in the game. Whereas he used to win by putting value on undervalued guys, now he'll win by putting value on old men, who are now as undervalued as fat guys were in 2002."

Scouts are against it. Joe Morgan was quoted on his telecast last night as saying "Billy Beane wrote the book on idiocy. Moneyball? More like "Dummyball!" While I do like all of these old men and will continue to support them in all of my telecasts, Billy Beane's book is the single stupidest thing I haven't read."

Ironically, Micheal Lewis recently began work on his new book "Dummyball: The Art of Making Everyone else think they're Dumb in an Unfair Game," which is planned for release early next year after the A's win their inevitable World Series ring.

The Giambi brothers, after bumping heads and cheering upon seeing eachother in today's lineup, stated that "This is the greatest thing to happen to us since ster....ility. We sure do love sterility when being injected with completely legal B12 Vitamins to help our careers. Yup. Go A's."

It's the opinion of this blogger that Beane seems to have done it again--We're once again in a position to win the Championship thanks to Billy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy season tickets in the hopes that we'll have a payroll to keep these guys around for a few years while they play from the Geriatric Ward.