SB Nation - Sean Doolittle

First Base: A Glut With No Players

Nico — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:27:34 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

"Chloroform? Oops."

Imagine playing "musical chairs" at a party, where the music stops and there's an empty chair but nobody standing looking for a place to sit. That's more like the "musical chairs" problem the A's could find themselves with at the one position commonly thought to be over-crowded: 1B.

Brett Wallace? That's the guy who has never actually played over at 1B, the guy who continues to play at the position the A's really need a solution. Sure, he could move over to 1B at some point and stay there, but that's a bit different from saying he's adding to a glut. That's kind of like hearing that someone is from Michigan and replying, "Really? I have a brother who's from Wisconsin."

Speaking of my brother, he and his family had a turkey for Thanksgiving again this year. And as usual, they ate lobster. You see, each year my brother (I'm the normal one), his wife, and their three kids, adopt a foster-turkey -- which is different from a Foster Farms turkey in that these turkeys are neither frozen nor deceased. Tom, as this year's guest of honor was called, was very much alive, trotting around the house while somewhere upstream in Philadelphia a lobster went, "Aw man, really?" to a skilled fisherman. However, as my brother projects to be no more than an average 1Bman, he will no longer be part of this conversation.

Chris Carter? Well, in contrast to Wallace 1B is exactly where Carter has been playing but it seems pretty widely agreed that it's one position where he won't stick. In other words, Wallace hasn't yet proven he can't stick at 3B and hasn't shown he can play 1B, but Carter has shown what he can't do at 1B and it's a lot. LF seems like a good bet, and DH appears to be in Carter's future ahead of "happy 30th birthday, Chris!" 1B, on the other hand, is looking less for Carter like a position he'll play long-term, and more like a place he has stood near for far too long.

Sean Doolittle? Here's a guy who finally has the right combination of "plays the position well" and "might hit big league pitching." However, he now has multiple strikes against his making it as a major league 1Bman. Generally healthy, Doolittle suffered a rather significant knee injury last season, one that could impact him into this year. So before we worry about where he'll play and how well he'll play, we need to wait to see when he can play and whether he can come back at 100%. Then he has to be good enough for the big leagues -- which was never a certainty, just a hope. And then 1B has to be where he lands, and it's not where he was primarily playing at the time he lost a knee.

Speaking of which, I'm thinking of starting a knee replacement company. I'm going to call it the Knee Co. (pronounced "NEE-koh") and...well, honestly that's as far as I've gotten.

All of which brings us back to Daric Barton. A guy who didn't take at catcher, couldn't handle 3B, but has found 1B much to his liking -- so much so that he singles a lot, but then so did Hatteberg -- and now stands as an incumbent who is still young, can field the position well, and was always touted for his hitting.

Could 9 Daric Bartons outscore the 1927 Yankees, or would they just fall off, one by one, into a shallow pool in some Synchonized Swimming nightmare? I don't know. But right now Barton is more than the best 1Bman the A's have. He might actually be the only one.

Could it be...? No, it can't be... OMG it really is! It's a Minor League Update!!!

grover — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:00:25 -0000

Hello again.

Work called me away for a while and it’s been tough getting back into the groove of things. For those who don’t know, I’m a wildland fire fighter and August got a little busy for those in my career field. So when I disappear again for a couple weeks just remember… I envy your access to in-door plumbing.

Anyways, I want to focus this week’s minor league update on the 40 man roster and the options that are going to have to be decided upon in the coming months. Why do this now instead of waiting until September 1st? The topic tickles my fancy, that’s why. As I seem to have (once again) misplaced my Cap o’ Omnipotence I’m forced to resort to basic logic and common sense reckoning to try and deduce the future roster.

That’s right… none of what I’m about to tell you is guaranteed!

The way I see it, there are 28-29 spots on the future 40 man roster all but guaranteed. On the pitching side, Brett Anderson, Andrew Bailey, Jerry Blevins, Dallas Braden, Craig Breslow, Trevor Cahill, Joey Devine, Gio Gonzalez, Jeff Gray, Jay Marshall, Vin Mazzaro, Clayton Mortensen, Josh Outman, Henry Rodriguez, Michael Wuertz and Brad Ziegler all seem certain to have jobs in the Oakland organization next year. That’s 16 pitchers of varying combinations of success/cheapness/options that aren’t going to be released just to make room on the roster. (There’s a pretty good chance that Outman will open next season on the 60-day DL, opening up an additional spot on the 40 man.) Santiago Casilla and Edgar Gonzalez are both arbitration eligible next season but neither pitched so well that the A’s are going to be eager to give them big pay raises, which could mean either or both players could end up as trade fodder or possibly even released. Dana Eveland is still on the 40 man roster as well, but his poor performance led to a demotion that will keep him from seeing any arby money next season. Unfortunately, Mr. Eveland’s suckitude forced the A’s to use his last option this season; meaning he can’t be stashed on Sacramento’s roster next season without first passing through waivers. Chances are Eveland isn’t going to be one of the 5 best SP candidates for the A’s come Opening Day 2010 and as a lefty with a pulse he’d probably get snapped up by some other team desperate for pitching. Therefore, I think this is good-bye to Mr. Eveland.

As it just so happens, it looks as if the A’s are going to need maybe 3 openings on the 40 man roster just to protect some arms that should attract a lot of interest in the Rule 5 draft. Pedro Figueroa hasn’t advanced past High-A ball but he’s a lefty with a low-90’s fastball. Brad Kilby is another lefty who’s put up back-to-back quality campaigns in Sacramento’s bullpen. Fautino De Los Santos is still trying to bounce back from 2008 TJ surgery but he wouldn’t last long if the A’s made him available for the Rule 5 draft. Jason Ray is in the same boat but I don’t think there’s much risk of someone grabbing him and keeping him on a 25 man roster all season.

There’s also a chance the A’s might be interested in bringing back Brett Tomko or Justin Duchscherer next season. Dan Giese should be fully recovered in time for next season; maybe the A’s are still interested in him as a swing man type. Plus, guys like Sam Demel and James Simmons could be knocking on the door next season and they’d need a spot on the 40 man to do so. Like I said, I could see 3-4 spots going to the guys I just listed and we haven’t even looked outside the organization to find help.

The hitting side of things is even more in flux.

Kurt Suzuki, Landon Powell, Eric Chavez (who?) Mark Ellis, Daric Barton, Travis Buck, Aaron Cunningham, Rajai Davis, Scott Hairston, Ryan Sweeney, Jack Cust, Tommy Everidge, Cliff Pennington and Gregorio Petit have spots on the 40 man roster. (Although I’m not sure if Petit has another minor league option available to him in 2010… if someone has a conclusive answer I’d appreciate hearing it.) C Anthony Recker is the most prominent bat in the A’s system that would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and I’m not sure if the A’s would consider his departure to be a great loss. So any Recker fans out there can protect him on their 40 man lists, but I’m thinking the A’s leave him off the protected roster. Chris Denorfia and Eric Patterson are both out of options, so if they aren’t in Oakland come Opening Day there’s a good chance they’ll be playing for another organization in 2010. I can maybe see Patterson as a back-up at 2B and in the outfield but I’ve got to squint and angle my head to one side to see it. I think it’s more likely that the A’s will try to bring back Adam Kennedy to serve as a deluxe back-up option/veteran mentor type.

The real twist comes when you consider the minor league bats that the A’s have in AA or higher that aren’t yet on the 40 man roster. Sean Doolittle, Adrian Cardenas, Josh Donaldson, Corey Brown, Chris Carter and Brett Wallace highlight the next wave of Oakland offense… which could be much more refreshing than the current ripple in the still waters we’ve experienced as of late. Yet again we haven’t looked outside the current organization to determine if maybe there’s another bat to be had.

So bring back Kennedy, add the newbies and you’re looking at 38-39 players on the 40 man roster before the Rule 5 draft. Does anyone see any glaring omissions?

Until the next time...

Billy Beane's Big Gamble

Tyler Bleszinski — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:22:27 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Vin Mazzaro is one of the main reasons I'm tuning into this team right now. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Browse more photos »

There's been a lot of grumbling about the A's so far this year which in many ways is justified. They often look listless on the field and in the camera shots of the dugout. Or maybe we just got spoiled by seeing Milton Bradley and Nick Swisher doing their patented, choreographed celebrations after long balls. I don't blame A's fans for feeling discouraged by this team and not feeling like it will ever pay off in a better product on the field.

Billy Beane made a calculated risk in 2009 and it appears to have failed given the team we're watching on a daily basis. But my question is this? Did Beane really make a calculated risk? Or was much of what he did in 2009 predicated on trying to at least get a competitive team on the field to gain some interest in the area rather than really "going for it"?

I would say that it was the latter. I mentioned this a while ago when Nico wrote his Dear Billy Beane post. I don't think that anything Beane did in preparation in 2009 was stunting what he originally set out to do starting last year and that was to build towards a real winner in 2010 or 2011 that would be a winner for a long time to come.

Beane went out and signed Orlando Cabrera to a low-cost, one-year deal in which that player had all the incentive in the world to perform well to get his value back to what it used to be. Beane gave up a closer that he thought he could replace fairly easily in Joey Devine. Well, that went awry, but he had a backup in Brad Ziegler and then Andrew Bailey. He gave up Carlos Gonzalez who is hitting very well in Triple-A, but he's still in Triple-A and who knows if he'll make that jump adequately this next time or it will take him several years until he possibly turns into a Carlos Pena after three more stops. He got a hitter whose contract is expiring at the end of the year and there have already been plenty of rumblings from around the majors about who might be interested in acquiring Matt Holliday.

The Jason Giambi signing could theoretically be over after this year if the A's feel like Sean Doolittle is ready to become an every day player by the end of the year.

The biggest question mark going into the year was adding Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson to the rotation. And I think that adding them has been good for these young pitchers. In my spring training interview with him, Beane mentioned how rare it was for even the most talented pitchers to come in and be an effective major league starter. Mark Mulder had an especially rough first adjustment to the majors. But I personally think that this experience has been really good for both Cahill and Anderson, who have to make the mental jump to believing that they belong 60 feet, 6 inches away from major league hitters. Anderson may be having the harder time making that adjustment because his splits from April to May are trending a little worse whereas Cahill had a much better May than he did in April, correcting much of the BB/K ratio issue (17 strikeouts to 9 walks) and his ERA for the month of May was 3.89. I think it takes time for those kids to make that adjustment. Vince Mazzaro will also get that chance to see if he's mentally ready for that jump as well.

But in order for the A's to compete in 09, things would've had to have broken perfectly. Even Beane seemed hesitant to call his team a contender during that same interview. His emphasis though was on the young pitching, whereas I believe the biggest problem with this team continues to be the offense. He gambled that Nomar Garciaparra would be able to add some consistent depth and Nomar's continuing health problems have hampered things. Giambi has improved of late, but he's definitely not the Giambi who wore green and gold eight years ago. If anything, the only player who has probably performed better than expected offensively is Jack Cust and that's because he's really worked on cutting down the strikeouts while becoming a better "hitter". He really has turned into almost the ideal Moneyball prototype.

Regardless, I think this sums up best where this team is right now, and again, it's taken from Beane's interview with me back in March:

Blez: Is that where you see this team right now?

Beane: It's hard to say. I think what we want to do is be better than last year and from a macro standpoint people will see that this will ultimately be an organic team and one that came from our minor league system that has some legs to it as far as its performance. But we also wanted to take advantage of some opportunities out there to sort of speed up the development of it. We want to be patient with the young guys but we also have a major league sports team and we want to win games because we do want people to be interest in it and not just go into hibernation until the young guys are good. You can have a five year plan but don't go around announcing it. Do your best, in the interim, to have that five-year plan in the background and go ahead and execute that, but do what you can to keep us interested.

The key to that statement is the end. "You can have a five year plan but don't go around announcing it. Do your best, in the interim, to have that five-year plan in the background and go ahead and execute that, but do what you can to keep us interested." If Beane has failed to do anything this year it's to make this team interesting enough this year with some of the moves he made because they were bargain shopping for those great deals and so many of them haven't worked out.

That being said, all hope is not lost. The young pitchers are getting some great experience that should ultimately help them down the road. And they don't look completely out of place. Well, Anderson does at times, but Cahill and Outman have not. The jury is out on Mazzaro. Dallas Braden has proven that he will be a really nice number four guy given that he has a true competitive streak to him. It's a cliche, but his guts and determination probably outpace his talent. But that's also the truth with Justin Duchscherer too. And he's proven that he can be a really effective major league starter. The A's aren't handcuffed by anything they did to make this team more interesting in 2009. And they're in a position with Holliday to move him for glaring holes at third base and shortstop. And I think that's going to be a big factor in judging whether or not this process has ultimately been worth it or not. It's just too bad that this team in 2009 isn't nearly as interesting as most people, including myself and many other people, thought it would be.

Still I find the most interesting thing about this team is watching the young pitching. The Cahill, Anderson, Mazzaro, Outman, Baileys of this team. Funny because it was one of the aspects of the 2009 team that I feared the most if they were going to compete for the West. Since they aren't competing right now, I can just enjoy watching these guys grow and mature and see a brighter future for the green and gold. Isn't that something we all want?