SB Nation - Eric Sogard

A’s Roster Shuffling Compared to Angels’ Acquisition of Zach Greinke.

cuppingmaster — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:13:04 -0000

Perhaps the biggest trade deadline deal to be consummated was the Angels' trade for Zach Greinke for SS prospect Jean Segura and two other prospects. Despite their seeming embarrassment of starting rotation riches, the Angels do have some issues the needed to address. Dan Haren has a nagging back injury, and his velocity is markedly decreased this year. Ervin Santana has been oddly inconsistent (I guess he hasn't faced the A's enough to prop up his numbers), and Garrett Richards is a 5th starter.

According to FanGraph's Dave Cameron, depending on who Greinke ends up replacing in the rotation, the Angels will get a 10-15 run improvement during the regular season. He uses ZiPS Rest of Season (RoS) projections to find that Greinke's expected ERA over his final 9 (or so) Angels starts to be 3.28, compared to Santana's 4.83 or Richards' 5.79.

The A's, by comparison, did not make any splashy moves at the non-waiver trade deadline. Indeed, their biggest moves involved the catching position. On July 28th, the A's sent Fautino de los Santos to the Brewers for backup catcher George Kotteras. Even bigger than that, however, was Kurt Suzuki's unexpected one-way trip to Washington, DC, as he was shipped off for now-AA catching prospect David Freitas.

Combine those moves with some injury replacements and promotions, and the A's will also have a somewhat re-tooled roster come the next 4 days. To recap, Dan Straily was recalled on Friday to face the Blue Jays, which demoted Travis Blackley to the bullpen. Pat Neshek, claimed off of the scrap heap from the Orioles, was plugged into the bullen as well, allowing Evan Scribner and Jim MIller to be demoted to AAA. In addition, Brandon McCarthy made a 6IP rehab start Saturday in Sacramento, and is seemingly ready to rejoin the rotation. This is actually perfect timing, as AJ Griffin has shoulder stiffness in his last start, and has been placed on the 15-day DL, so McCarthy will likely replace him directly. Finally, Cliff Pennington is due to rejoin at the team at any time, likely demoting one of Adam Rosales or Eric Sogard.

So, let's try to quantify some of these moves using ZiPS RoS and a few assumptions (after the jump):

For the catching shuffle, ZiPS RoS tells me Suzuki might be an 0.7 WAR catcher over his final 43 (or so) games after being essentially replacement level for his first 77 starts. It also tells me Derek Norris, now elevated to the starting role, will be worth 0.2 more wins over his final 25 or so starts, and George Kotteras will be worth about the same. Now, while I'd love to use those ZiPS projections straight up, it does seem pretty unlikely that over his final two months in Washington, Suzuki will put up 0.7 WAR. There are 77 starts of replacement level catching to tell us differently, and I frankly don't see how Suzuki will hit any better in the National League. So, let's say Suzuki is actually 0.0 WAR. Now, we can say that the switch to the Norris + Kotteras catching combination is worth 4 runs or so over the last two months.

The pitching combinations are a little harder to decipher given the range of roster possibilities. To me, the most likely scenario involves McCarthy making a start Friday, and Griffin rehabbing then returning to the AAA rotation. Going back to ZiPS, then, they have McCarthy having a 3.73 ERA over his final 7 starts. Unfortunately, however, ZiPS did not make projections for Griffin going into the season. He does, however, have a 3.64 FIP we can use to make a back-of-envelope prediction that replacing Griffin with McCarthy is probably a wash (McCarthy's FIP is 3.71).

Dan Straily figures to be in the rotation to the remainder of the season, and directly replaced Travis Blackley. Neither have ZiPS RoS projections, so let's go back to their FIPs: Blackley's FIP is 3.09 and after one start, Straily's FIP is 1.91. Obviously, Straily will not maintain such awesome numbers, so let's say (generously) that he maintains a 2.50 FIP over his final 10 starts, pitching an average of 6 innings per start. When you multiply it out, it turns out that the difference between Straily and Blackley might be 4 runs over the remainder of the season.

Finally, Blackley doesn't disappear but his innings are decreased and moved to the bullpen, where he joins Pat Neshek as an upgrade over Evan Scribner and Jim Miller. For the latter two, their ZiPS RoS show a 3.55 and 4.23 FIP respectively over 35 (15 + 20) combined innings. For ease, let's just call their FIPs the same. For Neshek, his ZiPS RoS show a 5.81 FIP, over 11 IP but with the A's in 3.1 IP so far, his FIP is 1.42. Taking the midpoint of those (3.62) seems fair, and we can give him Scribner's 15 IP for the remainder of the season. The calculation here yields a wash. Doing the same for Blackley, however, and giving him Miller's 20 IP, reveals a 2.6 run difference.

So, adding up the run additions yields around a 10-11 run upgrade (with some pretty big error bars). Still, in all likelihood, less than the Angels' upgrade to Greinke, but potentially closer than some might have thought.

Obviously, there are a whole lot of limitations and some assumptions here. For one, on the Angels side, Haren's back could continue to be balky, and that might cause more innings to be given to the Santana/Richards combo. On the A's side, it's some of the same injury story plus some decisions to make about the younger pitchers in the rotation. Yoenis Cespedes' wrists continue to be a cause for concern. Jarrod Parker, last night's decent start notwithstanding, has struggled as of late and the A's may want to just limit his innings anyway. Tom Milone has proven to be mortal at home, and could have AJ Griffin knocking at his door once he returns from his shoulder issue. Of course, it could also be Brett Anderson replacing Milone, as Anderson continues to make progress on his way back from Tommy John Surgery. Finally, there are still 3+ weeks in order to swing another waiver wire deal for someone like Steven Drew or Jimmy Rollins.

In either case, it promises to be a shootout to get to one of the two wild card play-in spots, if not also the division. Now, if the A's could only score some runs...

Join me for the gamethread tonight, as the A's face their arch nemesis C.J. Wilson and the rest of the Angels. Hey, C.J. - how's the mound feeling? Here's hoping Chris Carter takes him out to the second deck.

Blue Jays Leave West Coast With A Win Against The Athletics

Minor Leaguer — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:46:49 -0000

Blue Jays 6 Athletics 5

Game 4 of the four-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Oakland Athletics started off with speed and excitement, courtesy of Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose.

In the top of the 1st inning, leadoff hitter Rajai Davis lined a double to left field to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Davis' longest career hit streak was 14, recorded in September 2009 with the A's. Rookie Anthony Gose came up and dropped a very nice bunt on the first pitch from A's starter Tommy Milone. Catcher Derek Norris had a little bit of trouble handling it before he snapped a quick throw to Chris Carter at first base, barely getting Gose. Because Davis was on the move with the pitch, he was able to run all the way around to score the game's first run. It had seemed like a long time since Toronto scored first in a game--it's surprisingly fun!

The A's quickly tied the game up in the bottom of the 2nd on a Norris double, and took a 3-run lead in the following inning with one big swing by Josh Reddick. Aaron Laffey did not look good to start the game, but settled down quite nicely and faced 1 above the minimum for his final finished the game with an OK line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 K. Not bad for someone who shouldn't be in a Major League rotation, I guess.

After the big inning by Oakland, Edwin Encarnacion answered by hitting a 2-run homerun in the next half-inning to close the deficit to 4-3. In the next inning, we saw the baseball gods give mercy to the Blue Jays finally. Moises Sierra and Adeiny Hechavarria led of the inning with two quick outs, and then Rajai Davis appeared to have hit an inning-ending popup to short, but it was not caught by anyone because the bright Californian sun. After a Gose double and an intentional walk to Encarnacion, Yunel Escobar ripped a 2-run single to left field then Kelly Johnson hit a short looper to plate Encarnacion to make it 6-4 Jays.

Brandon Lyon, Aaron Loup, and Steve Delabar came out to pitch the 7th and 8th, with Lyon giving up an RBI-double to Coco Crisp. Lyon struck out the side in the 6th and Delabar had a key strikeout to end the 7th.

Casey Janssen was then called in to finish the game in the 9th with the score at 6-5 for his first save situation since mid-July. It became a bit of a nervous ninth.

Derek Norris hit two balls hard and deep against Janssen, but both thankfully landed foul, before whiffing on a great pitch by the Blue Jays' closer. Janssen then walked Brandon Moss, who was pinch ran for by Eric Sogard. The next batter, Jemile Weeks hit a line drive down the 3rd base line for extra bases, but Yan Gomes made a great snag and threw it across the diamond to a stretched out David Cooper to double up Sogard. The game ended up like it started--with an exciting play.

Blue Jays of the Day! Yunel Escobar (+.193), Edwin Encarnacion (+.185), Casey Janssen (+.183--although he should some of the WPA with Gomes and Cooper), Kelly Johnson (+.111), the Sun (+?).

Aaron Laffey got the win but had Suckage Jay numbers (-.128), and Jeff Mathis barely qualified (-.100).

Chad Jenkins, who was called up before the game today, was in Oakland, but did not see any action. He joins the rest of his new teammates on a flight to Tampa, Florida, who will rest tomorrow before starting a three-game series against the Rays. Let's see if these new-looking Blue Jays can make it three wins in a row!

A's Hit Balls Hard, But Jays Pop Up Winners 6-5

Nico — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:21:05 -0000

How fitting that today's game ended with Jemile Weeks rediscovering his "slashing line to line" stroke -- and lining into a 5-3 DP instead of tying the game or perhaps setting the A's up to win. And how fitting that the baserunning blunder ("back to the bag on a line drive -- you've heard this since Little League") was made by an A's shortstop, Eric Sogard, considering that the starting shortstop, Adam Rosales, and the shortstop Oakland didn't acquire, Yunel Escobar, had a lot to say in the 5th inning about today's outcome.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: Matched up against Aaron Laffey, Tommy Milone takes a 3-run lead into the 4th inning, only to serve up a HR to Edwin Encarnacion and go on to lose the game. This time it was 4-1 A's, courtesy of a Josh Reddick 3-run HR in the 3rd, when Encarnacion launched a two-run HR to make it 4-3.

In the 5th, Milone should have had an easy inning. Two outs, and Rajai Davis hit a pop fly to deep shortstop -- Rosales lost it in the sun and it dropped. Then Anthony Gose slapped a double to LF, which was actually the hardest hit ball of the inning, putting runners at 2B and 3B. The run that would turn out to be the difference was intentionally walked to load the bases. It was Encarnacion, and if I'm Bob Melvin I issue that IBB every time. It did not, however, pay off when Yunel Escobar bounced a 26-hopper (I counted -- ok I didn't) through the hole to LF to plate two runs, and then Kelly Johnson blooped a duck snort into LF to make it 6-4.

And that, apparently, is better than ripping line drives that fielders can catch, which is what the A's spent far too much of their Sunday afternoon doing, right down to the final two outs. One liner that wasn't caught, a Coco Crisp RBI double in the 7th, made it closer, 6-5, but ultimately all that accomplished was to allow the A's to snap their 10-game winning streak in one-run games.

The A's are no longer in sole possession of the wild card lead, as the Detroit Tigers caught them with an A's-like 5-run bottom of the 10th to overcome Cleveland's 3-run top of the 10th, and as a result the A's and Tigers now share the first wild card spot, with the Angels just a half game back -- and heading to town. Hold on to your hats, folks, because it's going to be quite a ride. Don't hit the ball too hard; someone might actually be able to see it.

A’s finish July with a 8-0 loss. Womp womp.

cuppingmaster — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 04:47:40 -0000

There's no other way to put it. The A's were owned by James Shields and the Rays tonight. Shields showed why the Rays kept him, hurling a 3-hit 11-K shutout en route to his 9th win. The A's did not make solid contact, and appeared to be off-balance all night. It's probably fair to say that the offensive highlight for the A's was George Kotteras' first hit in the green and gold, as he roped a single to RF with two out in the 8th. A close second was the Pie Guy doing the bernie on camera.

Tommy Milone was more like RoadMilone than HomeMilone today. The game remained scoreless until the top of the 3rd. After getting Desmond Jennings to ground to Eric Sogard with runners on 1st and 3rd, the A's managed to botch a rundown play, allowing runners to end up on 2nd and 3rd. An RBI single and RBI groundout followed, and the Rays took a 2-0 lead that would prove to be enough. Fast forward to the 6th, and the Rays would tack on 3 more on two RBI singles by Jeff Keppinger and Sean Rodriguez, respectively, and a sacrifice fly by Carlos Pena. A fielding error in the 7th by Brandon Hicks pushed across the sixth run for the Rays.

The A's MVPs of the game might be Evan Scribner and Jim Miller, for saving the rest of the bullpen for tomorrow. Scribner relieved Milone in the 7th and pitched 2+ innings,. Miller closed down the tap for the night, inheriting Scribner's bases loaded mess in the 9th and allowing the Rays to tack on two additional runs

I don't want to be too negative, though. The A's just completed their best July in franchise history, are still only 3.5 games behind the Rangers for the division lead, and have the 2nd wild card in grasp. The immediate feature promises more exciting Oakland A's baseball.

And, of course, this is baseball and there is another game tomorrow. The A's look to take another series from an AL East opponent at 12:35 tomorrow. Join baseballgirl for the gamethread then!

Oakland 4, Rays 3; Weeks Walks Off In Fifteen

Ian Malinowski — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:50 -0000

There’s a point in the season when you can feel the leverage shift. Scoreboard watching begins in earnest. I pump my fist at called strikes in 2-0 counts. A good game feels like something more – it feels like a playoff game. This was one of those games.

As the game started, it became immediately apparent that Angel Hernandez was calling the high strike. Two years ago, this would have been a major boon to David Price, but that’s not who he is anymore. Now Price works down and works the outside corner. A.J. Griffin, on the other hand, worked that high section of the zone for all it was worth. As an example, here’s how Griffin worked over Ryan Roberts with one out and two men on in the top of the fourth inning. After getting the first strike, Griffin threw a fastball up out of the zone, that Roberts was forced to swing (and miss) at on account of the previously established high strike. With that whiff fresh in Roberts’s mind, Griffin gave him a curve which started even higher, but then dropped into the top of the zone for called strike three. It was a bit of an unfair zone for the hitters, but kudos to the Athletics’ rookie recognizing and taking advantage.

That’s not to say that Price didn’t do his part. When last I recapped a game Price pitched, I talked about how he didn’t have great command of his fastball, but was able to lean on his secondary offerings piece together an impressive outing. This game was the inverse. Price rarely went to his changeup or curve, and when he did, they were inconsistent. Instead Price relied more heavily on his fastball and cutter than he has over the past several games, and he still managed to dominate. In seven innings, Price allowed three runs on five hits, two walks, and 11 strikeouts. No matter how he pitches, he’s amazing. Cy Young.

The A’s got on the board first in the second inning. Yoenis Cespedes, leading off the inning, sent a bouncer to third. Roberts made a good play on it, but Cespedes beat out his throw for an infield hit. This is not news, but for a pretty big man, Cespedes sure can move. In the next at bat, Chris Carter would line a double over the head of Roberts to score Cespedes. One strikeout later, Suzuki doubled in Carter to stretch the lead to two.

In the top of the fourth, immediately after A.J Griffin’s previously described dismantling of Ryan Roberts, Carlos Pena came to the plate with two outs and two men on. It’s funny, but since Keppinger’s gotten healthy, and Roberts has come over from the Diamondbacks, I think the Rays’ lineup may actually be better against lefties than righties. To succeed against right handed pitchers, they really need Pena and Joyce to produce, and today they did. Pena sent a fliner into the gap in right center for a two RBI double, tying the game.

Finally, in the sixth inning, the Rays batters seemed to start to figure out Griffin. Zobrist and Keppinger both took big swings that sent Oakland outfielders back to the wall. Joyce did them both a few feet better slamming a home run out to right center to nudge the Rays ahead.

In the bottom of the inning, trying to protect the newfound lead, Price ran into a little bit of trouble. Gomes started off the inning by flying out to the track. Next, Price got up 0-2 on Josh Reddick, but Reddick refused to give in, and battled back to a 3-2 count. Price sent a 97 fastball down and away, that Molina framed beautifully, surreptitiously bringing it in by about two inches for the backwards K. Pretty sure Price owes Molina a beer for that one. It was a good thing they got Reddick, because Cespedes sent another groundball to Ryan Roberts at third, and beat the throw to first again. Chris Carter walked, before Price blew away Inge on a 97 mph fastball to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh, the Rays threatened but shot themselves in the foot. Pena sent a grounder into the perfect spot in the shift between the second baseman and the shortstop to lead off the inning with an infield hit. Molina followed it up with a single into right, but Pena tried to go first to third on Reddick’s arm, and was nowhere close to making it. Next, with Sean Rodriguez batting, Jose Molina took off for second, and Suzuki threw him out easily. Rodriguez was swinging at a curve nearly in the dirt on the play, so maybe it was a hit and run (I hope it was a hit and run), but still, it was pretty ugly.

With Price at 102 pitches through six, Maddon sent him out for one more. It seemed like a good decision, as Price struck out Suzuki and Seth Smith to bring up the rarely dangerous Dan Hicks. Unfortunately, rarely dangerous is just another way of saying sometimes dangerous, and Hicks crushed a fastball against the scoreboard in right field for a game tying home run, dooming me to never sleep.

The remainder of regulation play passed uneventfully until Wade Davis was called on to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He struck out the first two batters before Suzuki sent a hard ground ball toward the hole by third. Ryan Roberts showed great range, cutting in front of the shortstop to make the play, then pirouetting, and throwing nowhere near first. I’m not sure the other infield hits were really Roberts’s fault, but altogether, I figure this is a defensive day he’ll wish to forget. Davis intentionally walked Seth Smith, and then unintentionally walked Brandon Moss (hitting for the rarely dangerous Dan Hicks) to load the bases. He redeemed himself by striking out Weeks looking on an inside fastball, after getting him to whiff on a high fastball. Like Griffin, Davis worked the top of that high zone quite well.

The Rays didn’t threaten in the top of the tenth, but McGee did keep it interesting in the bottom. Jonny Gomes started it off by bouncing yet another ball to Roberts, who made a good, rangey, diving stop on it, but couldn’t get Gomes with his throw. After McGee struck out Reddick, Cespedes sent a hard grounder back up toward the mound. McGee kicked at it, flipping it up to himself, and then calmly caught and threw to first. Next, he got into a 3-1 count against Carter before being told to intentionally walk him. Not as easy as it looks. McGee threw his intentional ball well over Lobaton, moving all the batters up. Next, McGee walked Inge to load the bases before striking out Suzuki to end the danger.

Howell was tasked with the eleventh after the Rays didn’t score yet again. He walked two, but struck out Reddick to end the inning. Badenhop pitched uneventful twelfth and thirteenth innings. Then, in the fourteenth, things got weird.

Zobrist and Keppinger lead off the inning with back to back singles against Jerry Blevins. With no outs, Maddon pulled Joyce in favor of the switch hitter Brooks Conrad. I get that Joyce carries a large platoon split, and that Blevins does too. Blevins absolutely murders left handed hitting. This is why Maddon made the switch. BUT BROOKS CONRAD IS NOT A GOOD HITTER. He should never pinch hit for Matt Joyce, who is, in fact, a good hitter. Conrad put in a wretched at bat, swinging at balls and taking strikes. Ryan Roberts sent a fly ball to right for the next batter that Zobrist advanced to third on, but by that time there were two outs, and Pena was up.

Here’s why I really don’t understand the move. At this point Pena is a worse hitter against lefties than Joyce. If you really feel that your lefty sluggers have no chance against a LOOGY like Blevins, have Joyce bunt the runners over for your lefty masher in Roberts. If Roberts can’t get the job done, YOU STILL HAVE CONRAD READY TO PINCH HIT FOR PENA. Usually I can justify Maddon’s moves, but this time I’m mystified and miffed. Apparently Maddon believes Brooks Conrad to be a significantly better hitter than I/ZIPS do/does. 3:30 rant over.

In the top of the fifteenth, the Rays had another golden opportunity when the Angels sent in Jordan Noberto. Noberto is not a very good pitcher. But Sam Fuld opened the inning up with a bunt popped up back to the bearded pitcher, and although they threatened, the Rays did not score. That set up the bottom of the fifteenth, when Maddon inserted his last bullpen arm, Kyle Farnsworth (Keppinger, the DH, would have needed to pitch after Farnsworth, as the Rays had no bench players at all). Farnsworth allowed a leadoff single to Inge, and Suzuki did the logical thing and bunted him over. Farnsworth intentionally walked Seth Smith, and then made things bad by unintentionally walking Eric Sogard.

There’s a certain level of good strikeout stuff and suspect control where the intentional walk in this situation stops making sense, due to the danger of subsequent walks pushing the lead runner to third. I’m not sure what the break-even point is, but I suspect that both Farnsworth and McGee are on the wrong side of it.

Maddon pulled Zobrist in from right to form a five man midfield, leaving Upton and Fuld normally positioned and no one in right, betting that Weeks couldn’t pull Farnsworth’s fastball. He couldn’t really, but he came close, sending a high fly ball to shortish right center. Upton got most of the way around it, but his throw to the plate lacked mustard, and Inge beat it to the plate by at least a full step for the walk off win.

This was the Rays’ most likely win of the series, but we’ll try again in another night game tomorrow/today. Joy.

Other observations:

Jeff Keppinger entered this game batting cleanup against a right handed hitter. Good for Kepp, but that’s as good an illustration as you can get on how this season has gone wrong.
Reddick really looks dangerous nowadays. Maybe I’m just seeing his results plastered across his face, but I could swear he’s changed. Calmer stance, longer hair, icier stair, quicker bat. Also, he sports a pretty intense reverse split, so good job by Price and Howell to shut him down.
The Rays set a franchise record by striking out 21 Oakland batters.
The Oakland announcers noticed something interesting about how the Rays were shifting Reddick. Early on in the game, Maddon shifted his infield to the first base side, figuring him to pull the ball. But against McGee, our flame-throwing lefty, Maddon actually shifted his infield the other way, toward third base. As they noted, it ensured that McGee would throw only (or mostly) fastballs, rather than going to his slider. Of course, that was what he was going to do anyway.

Rays Tank:

This week's The Week in Worst features a horrendous swing by Johnny Damon, so that's always fun.
How has Kenny Williams continued to field winning teams with a less than zero farm system? Dave Cameron takes a look.
What's it like being traded? ESPN the Magazine polled players and even have pretty cool graphs. We know how much people love graphs and charts. Ben Zobrist throws a quote in there.

Poll

Should Brooks Conrad pinch hit for Matt Joyce?

No.

16 votes

No!

217 votes

233 votes | Poll has closed

Indians Trade Target: Chase Headley

woodsmeister — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:00:13 -0000

One in a series of articles previewing the upcoming trade deadline. Previous entries:

An argument to make a trade | Valuing Cleveland's Tradable Assets

Trade Targets: Carlos Quentin | Ryan Dempster

Next up in the Showcase Showdown: Chase Headley, switch-hitting 3B-OF for the San Diego Padres. Professional insider Jon Heyman is just one of the writers indicating that the Indians have interest in Headley.

Overview

Headley was a second-round draft pick of the Padres in 2005 coming out of the Univerity of Tennessee and was fast tracked to the bigs, getting his first cup of coffee with the Padres in 2007 after destroying AA. He didn't stick until 2009, playing left field while LGFT Kevin Kouzmanoff held down third. Kouzmanoff was dealt in the offseason (with Eric Sogard for Scott Hairston and (wait for it.......Aaron Cunningham!)), primarily to make room at third base for Headley.

In his age 28 season, Headley is having his best season, with an OPS+ of 123, which would tie him for second on the Indians with Travis Hafner, trailing only Choo (143).

And now the numbers:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos
2007	23	SDP	NL	8	21	18	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	.222	.333	.278	.611	68	5	2	1	0	0	0	/5
2008	24	SDP	NL	91	368	331	34	89	19	2	9	38	4	1	30	104	.269	.337	.420	.757	110	139	5	5	0	2	1	7/5
2009	25	SDP	NL	156	612	543	62	142	31	2	12	64	10	2	62	133	.262	.342	.392	.734	102	213	19	5	0	2	3	*75/D3
2010	26	SDP	NL	161	674	610	77	161	29	3	11	58	17	5	56	139	.264	.327	.375	.702	97	229	11	3	1	4	3	*5
2011	27	SDP	NL	113	439	381	43	110	28	1	4	44	13	2	52	92	.289	.374	.399	.773	121	152	6	2	1	3	8	5
2012	28	SDP	NL	90	387	331	41	88	20	1	10	45	10	4	51	92	.266	.364	.423	.787	123	140	5	2	0	3	1	*5/3
6 Yrs				619	2501	2214	258	594	128	9	46	249	54	14	253	564	.268	.346	.397	.743	108	878	48	18	2	14	16
162 Game Avg.				162	655	579	68	155	33	2	12	65	14	4	66	148	.268	.346	.397	.743	108	230	13	5	1	4	4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/17/2012.

There are two sets of additional splits worth considering for Headley. The first is his platoon splits for 2012:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP as LHB	84		264	219		59	14	1	5	26	10	2	42	68	.269	.390	.411	.801	90	2	2	0	1	1	3	.367	104	115
vs LHP as RHB	56		120	109		29	6	0	5	19	0	2	9	23	.266	.317	.459	.775	50	3	0	0	2	0	1	.289	96	106

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/17/2012.

The second, and the reason why a lot of people think he'd be better off playing somewhere else, is his home and away splits for 2012:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
Home	45	45	194	166	15	42	10	0	2	19	2	2	24	49	.253	.351	.349	.700	58	3	2	0	2	0	3	.342	79	91
Away	45	43	193	165	26	46	10	1	8	26	8	2	27	43	.279	.378	.497	.875	82	2	0	0	1	1	1	.330	121	146

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/17/2012

Jedd Gyorko, a 23-year-old 3b has been slugging in Tucson, making Headley expendable.

Contract Status

Currently making $3.475 million and under team control through 2014.

Roster Fit

He could fit in either at 3B, especially with Chisenhall essentially done for the season, which would likely limit both Hannahan's and Lopez' playing time. He could also play left field, plugging that gaping sinkhole and making Johnny Damon expendable. Or, he could do some of both, rotating between the two. He would also likely make Chisenhall offseason trade bait.

Estimated Cost

I see no reason to peg the cost much differently than what Ryan estimated that Quentin would cost:

RHP Jeanmar Gomez OR Zach McAllister

-or-

LHP Scott Barnes AND RHP Cody Allen

San Diego needs pitching - I mean for crying out loud they've given Kip Wells starts this year. We might find some interest in moving Huff in this deal - he's the kind of fly ball pitcher who could thrive in Petco. Headley will likely bring a good haul for the Padres - he plays a difficult position and he will be under team control for two more full seasons after this one.

In dealing with San Diego, one must remember that the ownership of the franchise right now is up in the air. MLB owners will meet on August 16 to consider a new ownership group for the team. It might not be in the best interest of the franchise to be seen selling off popular players for yet another rebuild just before new ownership takes over.

It’s time for Chris Carter to return to Oakland

cuppingmaster — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:41:50 -0000

As Manny Ramirez was officially released on Friday at his request, the A's 25-man roster (and by extension, the 40-man) is starting to gel. Brandon Moss has firmly grasped the 1B position, winning AL Player of the Week honors last week. (His Oakland mayoral candidacy, however, may have to wait). Seth Smith, Josh Reddick, Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jonny Gomes are all in the OF/DH mix. Adam Rosales and Eric Sogard will apparently pass each other at least 5 times on I-80 somewhere around Vacaville.

One name, however, is conspicuously absent from this list. As of this moment, DH candidate Chris Carter tolis away in Sacramento. Most A's fans know something of his story: he's a large, right-handed power bat who can play defense like Bartolo Colon hits MLB pitching. Some fans think he is all but washed up, after two brief, but relatively unsuccessful stints in 2010 and 2011. Some fans, such as myself, believe he has gotten short shrift. Here, I present my arguments why, in the absence of Manny, Carter should be given the majority of the remaining DH at bats this season.

First, for the basic statistical review:

Basic slash line: .267/11/49

Triple-slash and more: .267/.351/.475

wOBA .364

wRC+ 114

ISO .208

My argument, however, is less statistical and more practical. Indeed, he has yet to reach the eye-popping numbers he had in AA in 2009.

First, and foremost, is that Chris Carter has never been given an adequate chance. While many A's fans recall his brief stints in 2010 and 2011, it's only been 124 MLB PAs for him. For comparison's sake, a young player across the Bay, Brandon Belt, has received more MLB PA this year than Carter has in his whole career. That is practically the definition of a small sample, and equates to a little more than a month's worth of regular playing time. That he was wholly unremarkable in those PAs is besides the point. If you believe, as some do, that Chris Carter has always adjusted to higher levels given time, well, now is the time to do that. Which brings me to my second point...

When else WOULD be the time for Chris Carter? While the A's have recently been on a nice run, let's also put this in perspective: the Padres and Rockies are demonstrably worse than the A's are. A .500 record would be quite the accomplishment for this team. With all due respect for Jonny Gomes and his contributions to the A's this year, he really doesn't have a place on this team. He's one of the mishmash of outfielders the A's had acquired in hopes of piecing together a starting OF. Then, the A's signed Cespedes and it threw a monkey wrench in those plans. The "mostly-DH" position is really the only one Chris Carter can play.

Third, is that a competitive team does not generally consist of rookies and other inexperienced players. Most players need to survive at least a year-plus of adjustments at the MLB level in order to judge what their career arc might look like. Today, Chris Carter is 25 years old, and pushing the definition of prospect. Also, if Carter is going to be a middle-of-the-order power threat, his most productive years are bound to be starting around his age 27 season. So, if the A's hope to extract maximum value from him on a competitive team sometime around 2014, he needs to start seeing consistent MLB pitching very shortly.

The 4^th and final reason is, frankly, why not? If Chris Carter is the power hitter the A's have cracked him up to be, it would sure make the A's an exciting team to watch if Cespedes and Carter were punishing long HRs. Let's be honest: the A's surely aren't waiting for his glove to mature because Chris Carter does not have an MLB position. Every scouting report on him ever has taken him for a below-average defender. If he's not going to be anything other than a failed prospect, it's time to find that out now.

This year was originally designated a rebuilding year, and that's when a system must evaluate the higher-level talent it does have and then groom its very young talent to fill in those future gaps at the MLB level. Yes, the on-field result might not be pretty. But with the A's having been shutout 11 times thus far, fans should be used to not pretty on a semi-regular basis. At least if the A's are going to lose, they should lose with up-and-coming players learning the league than with older veterans whose careers are on the downswing.

Join dwishisnky for the game thread tonight around 7:05. These next few games will be great for us and other SoCal NRAF - Vin Scully calling A's baseball. It's the closest thing to Bill King's return I'll get.

On the beauty of perfection

YonYonson — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:01:53 -0000

UPDATES: Per Susan Slusser, Evan Scribner has been sent to AAA to make room for Tyson Ross, and Eric Sogard has been recalled from AAA with Adam Rosales sent down, while Kila Ka'aihue has cleared waivers and has been sent to Sacramento. -Nico

"There is one word in America that says it all, and that one word is, 'you-never-know.'" — former Athletics pitcher Joaquín Andújar.

One of the most beautiful things about baseball is that, like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

Yes, before I get started, this post was motivated by something that happened on a rival team — but it's been relevant to the A's twice in their history. If that's enough to turn you away, then just come back at 1 p.m. for the game thread.

A game ticket is really more like a golden ticket. To me, there's an inherent excitement in knowing that the ticket you hold to today's game, to next Wednesday's game, to a random night game in September, could be your entrance into history. Earlier this week in San Francisco, people who paid for bleacher seats and people whose corporate perks included behind-home-plate views got to witness history.

Think about that for a moment. Life doesn't give you that kind of value often. How many times could you walk into a dealership with $5,000 and ride out in a 1982 Toyota Camry or a brand-new Lamborghini? That's the beauty of baseball. Paid full price? Got the ticket free from a friend? Rushed over to the park after work, buying a ticket from a scalper? You all get the same experience during a perfect game.

The A's face the San Diego Padres in game two of this three-game series at 1:05 p.m. Tyson Ross opposes Ross Ohlendorf, who is probably the hardest-throwing government intern of all time.

Baseball and the perfect game, as well as its cousin no-hitter, are unique. Sure, you can buy a ticket to a football game and hope to see a 300-yard passing game. You can buy a ticket to a basketball game and hope to see a triple-double. You can buy a ticket to a hockey game and hope to see a hat trick.

But I'm not sure how many of us freak out when a quarterback has 250 yards in the third quarter. Or when a basketball player just needs four more assists for the triple double. Or when the second intermission ends, and a player is one goal shy. There's not the same waiting in anticipation. You can say "300-yard game," or "triple-double," or "hat trick," in the middle of these feats. There's not really anything to jinx.

Baseball is a different animal. As A's fans were fortunate enough to find out on Mother's Day 2010, after the fifth inning, the entire stadium is on pins and needles. Every third ball, every "maybe" foul tip, every time the batter makes contact... there's a shared experience with everyone.

I still regret not going to the game on May 9, 2010.

I had gone the day before, a 4-2 win over the Rays that brought the A's to a game within first place in the AL West. Imagine that! I was living in Stockton at the time, but that night I partied at a friend's house in the Bay Area and spent the night. Since I was a poor journalist/recent college graduate, I had to make my trips out to the Bay Area count. I considered just showering up that morning at my friend's house and heading back out to the Coliseum. My mom and I had already celebrated Mother's Day, so I figured, why not?

That morning, however, I decided to just head home and nurse my hangover. I woke up, drove back to Stockton and went to sleep again at about 11 a.m.

What woke me up? An explosion of text messages, all containing some combination of "OMG! PERFECT GAME! DALLAS BRADEN! 209!"

I was ecstatic at first. Then I realized... I could've been there. I should have been there. But who knows? Maybe had I gone, one of Tampa Bay's hits would've blooped in for a single.

Perfect games are wildly unpredictable. That's why when I listened to the radio as Matt Cain inched closer and closer to history, I felt conflicted. I was jealous, of course, that the first perfect game I got to experienced involved a San Francisco Giant. After Cain got the 27th out, I remembered the euphoric feeling from May 9, 2010. I couldn't hate Giants fans for that. For one night, all of the thousands of people in that ballpark and millions more listening on the radio or watching on TV or following on Gameday or getting updates via carrier pigeon, were connected. How cool is that?

By holding a ticket to a future game, technically, you have a chance to see a perfect game. That's the beauty of baseball.