SB Nation - Ryan Langerhans

Non-Tendered Players Of Note

Sam Page — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

Kelly Johnson--Since Mike Fontenot got a contract, Kelly Johnson is my new guy. He's got all the makings of a good bench-guy: left-handed and defensively versatile. As a secondbaseman, Johnson has the bat for the position, but a suspect glove, basically what you might expect from the Daniel Murphy 2B project that never was, and not my dream replacement for Castillo. Still, given his nice combination of discipline and power, "platooning" him with Castillo and using him to spell Francoeur versus the occasional righty would be effective. If the Mets sign KJ, I predict he takes Castillo's job no latter than June.

Matt Capps--Capps will never live up to the closer billing he inherited in Pittsburgh, but he has consistently posted xFIPs ~4.00 since making it to the majors. An inconsistent fastball lead to Capps getting tagged for a lot of homers last year, but I guarantee, with a more liberal budget, the Pirates held onto this guy. The Mets have some holes to fill in their pen, and they could do (and probably will do) a lot worse than Capps.

Jack Cust--I'm torn. If a team gets Jack Cust to accept a bench role, there won't be a better lefty pinch-hitter in the majors. That said, Cust will probably look for a DH job elsewhere, and the last-in-UZR Mets might want to look for another type of fourth "outfielder."

Ryan Garko--Mets fans are already clamoring for Ryan Garko as the perfect platoon-mate for Daniel Murphy. He has a .885 OPSvL and a reasonable 1.17 platoon ratio, so the ability to hit lefties is real. Garko, however, has no other attractive talents. He can't field, play anything but first, hit righties, or run. Keeping him on the bench just to relieve Murphy against lefties isn't a very productive use of a roster spot, especially since Manuel will end up pinch-hitting him against righties too often. If anyone wants to convince me Garko is more deserving of a roster spot than Nick Evans, who hits lefties nearly as well, with the added ability to play outfield and emergency catcher, good luck.

As an aside, I'm still perturbed at how easily Mets fans accept this Daniel Murphy-platoon garbage as a good plan at firstbase. What if the Bears are who we thought they were, and Daniel Murphy reprises his role as the worst offensive firstbaseman in the league? What if Ike Davis isn't the super-star of the future? As fans, we often don't realize just how possible these outcomes are. Here's a novel idea I threw out earlier: go get a real firstbaseman. Anyone? No? All I'm saying is, if the Phillies acquire Roy Halladay, I think the only reasonable--no, patriotic--thing to do is trade the farm for Adrian Gonzalez.

Garret Atkins--Although a incentive-laden deal would be tempting, I still have trouble finding where Atkins would fit on the bench. He's basically Ryan Garko with more upside, but also considerably larger and more likely downside.

Ryan Langerhans--The Mariners replaced Endy Chavez with Ryan Langerhans and the Mariners are smart, so let's do that too. Good BB% and decent power make for a league-average hitter with tremendous defensive ability.

Request any I skipped, and I might add them.

On The Ryan Langerhans Non-Tender

Jeff — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:41:58 -0000

I'm back. Yay. Stupid Harden.

So Ryan Langerhans was non-tendered today, opening up a 40-man spot and making him a free agent. As a free agent, he's free to negotiate with anyone, including the Mariners, but there's not a lot of playing time around here to be had, making his return a slim possibility. Langerhans is almost 30 years old. If he wants to have any kind of Major League job security, he's going to need to go somewhere that can promise him a little more action. I don't know if he'll find that opportunity, mind you, but the Mariners certainly can't provide it. So.

For those who understand the kind of value Langerhans can provide off the bench, this is a bit of an unfortunate move, but it essentially became a necessary one when Griffey re-signed. With Michael Saunders, Franklin Gutierrez, and Ichiro locked into the starting spots and Bill Hall available as the utility guy, Langerhans was already in a bind, but assuming a 12-man pitching staff, Griffey took away the last possible roster spot. The M's could've opted to cut Hall, of course, but given Hall's additional flexibility, handedness, potential to rebound, and the fact that dropping Langerhans is free, it wasn't a difficult decision. Langerhans ended up a neat player on the wrong team.

While there is obviously a number of different factors in play here, it is kind of sad to know that Langerhans was non-tendered by the one organization most likely to see him for all of his value. This front office - a front office that's become synonymous with run prevention - got him for a reason, and even with everything else, it can't be a good sign that even they couldn't find him a role. But then, Langerhans has received significant big league playing time in each of the last five seasons, so it's not like he won't find a job. This is just one of those depressing things that's going to make him anxious every night when he goes to bed until he gets a contract.

Realistically, losing Ryan Langerhans barely hurts us, as he's not a great player. It's always been more about what Langerhans represents than who he is specifically. That said, the day of his acquisition went to show how far this organization has come in such a short time, so his non-tender is most definitely a bittersweet occasion. For all of his faults, most of us liked Ryan Langerhans, and are sad to see him go. But if nothing else, it was because of Ryan that I found myself one August night standing in the middle of a bar hugging like five other dudes, and I will always cherish that memory. Best of luck to you going forward, Ryan. Your walkoffs were awesome. Yours will forever be the jersey I most wanted to have but couldn't bring myself to buy.

Full of Hitting Depth

Matthew — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:48:25 -0000

Ryan Langerhans, Bill Hall, Michael Saunders, Jack Hannahan, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Carp and Matt Tuiasosopo. Those are the people currently on the 40-man roster who profile as bench bats or a starter at designated hitter, first base or left field for 2010. That's seven names for six spots (the three starting jobs plus three bench roles) and that's before we sign anyone else. Heaven forbid those are the seven Don Wakamatsu has to pick from for those last six spots come end of Spring Training.

Here is where I would love to throw in some clear facts on which players have options remaining, but MLB's player option rules are murkier than lead and so the best I can do are educated guesses. Langerhans, Hall, Hannahan and Griffey are out of options while it appears that Saunders, Carp and Tuiasosopo all have two options remaining.

If the Mariners add two more bats in the DH/1B mold (say Nick Johnson and Russell Branyan), then clearly Carp and Tui head back to Tacoma. However, that still leaves seven players for six spots. The consensus so far has been that Saunders is penciled in as the starting left fielder and thus Ryan Langerhans would appear to be the odd man out, a victim of a overprotective seven-men bullpen. I wonder though, given Saunders struggles in his Seattle showcase, and the roster situation, would it not make more sense to send Saunders back to Tacoma, he only has 387 PAs at the Triple-A level after all, and start the season with a Langerhans/Hall platoon in left field?

If the team only adds one more hitter, then this is moot, but given that it appears the team considers neither first base nor designated hitter filled, it seems an interesting discussion to be had, one with reasonable arguments on multiple sides.

It is also a key discussion no matter where the second hitter is added. If the team did manage to sign Adrian Beltre, and held onto Jose Lopez, then Chone Figgins would get moved to left field and Michael Saunders demoted. Or if the team inked Mike Cameron, same result for Saunders. In either case a lock for the team replaces one of your optionable players and takes a roster spot up, once again forcing you into a two spots for three guys decision.

What This Isn't & What This Is

Jeff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:15:58 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

Wait - WAIT! NO STOP YOU'RE MAKING THIS AWKWARD

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So by now you may have heard that Griffey's coming back. He had such a good time last season that he's agreed to accept a lesser role in exchange for the opportunity to do it all over again in 2010, and the contract he's getting - according to Jerry Crasnick - will again have a low base with a bunch of incentives. The more things change, and so forth.

What this isn't is a baseball move. Or at least, what this isn't is a baseball move intended to improve the team's chances of winning on paper. For one thing, Griffey's coming on as a bench player. Bench players seldom make any kind of significant difference. And for another, let's face it - Griffey isn't good. Not adjusting for park, he has a .330 wOBA over the last two seasons and a .336 wOBA over the last four, offensive performances turned in either as a DH or as a DH-level defender. He's totaled 0.3 WAR since 2006 and, due to the failures of science, he's only getting older. People will argue that there's upside here, that Griffey will hit better now that he's gotten his knee fixed up, but there's no reason to believe them. Griffey's only statistical upside is luck. In terms of true talent, he is essentially a replacement-level player.

What this is, then, is an acknowledgment on the front office's part of the effect of Griffey's presence. This is a pure chemistry move. There's no other way around it. The front office is smart enough to know that Griffey can't contribute much in the box scores anymore, so their decision to bring him back anyway shows that they believe he makes the team work better together just by being himself. Which, well, we can't prove one way or the other. The rational thing to do is to doubt the significance of any effect until it's proven, and with that in mind the return of Griffey is at best inefficient, but on the other hand it's really really hard to argue against anything that makes Ichiro smile so damn much. Throw in the fact that this can only help with the Felix negotiations and I can't bring myself to be that disappointed. Maybe it's because I figured this was going to happen all along. But I see enough potential justification for this move that I don't feel so bad about it.

Dave has already run down what this means for the roster. Things change if the team decides to carry a six-man bullpen (or if, y'know, trades), but for now I'd hold off on purchasing any Langerhans apparel. That sucks. Ryan Langerhans is awesome. But...hey, Griffey, all right. Now that this is out of the way, here's to the front office focusing on the moves that will actually make a big difference.

Almost as Good as Seeing Greinke: devil & Mrs. _fingers to Attend Baseball Game

devil_fingers — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:47:13 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

You better watch your back (at a baseball game) tonight, fat boy.

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It's been a weird week. I didn't blog much. I mean, compared to certain other people who allegedly are "on staff" here (I think "Kyle Boddy" might actually be a bot that signed me up. After I started writing for this blog, I did notice a lot of strange charges on my credit card and a bunch of erectile dysfunction medication, which I totally don't need, started showing up on our dorrstep) I churned out the content, but whatever.

Here's the deal, though. For the first time since the birth of Branyan Langerhans Fingers, the Mrs. and I are going out. It's a big deal. Some may recall that earlier this summer, we had good tickets to see Zack Greinke pitch when the Royals came up to visit the Blue Jays. Well, not only was that Zack's worst start of the season... but I didn't even get to go because I ended up in surgery for appendicitis.

Mrs. Fingers let the Jays know what was up and to see if they could give us "make up" tickets. And guess what? Despite the massive popularity and success of the Jays this season, they had replacement tickets for us! Thanks, Blue Jays. So, while I won't get to see the Royals and Greinke, I will get to see Roy Halladay. He's pretty good, I suppose, for a guy who probably won't even be worth 9 WAR this season. So that should be fun.

Not much else to say. The Royals are driving me nuts, "real life" has gotten busy, and so on. But here's the deal: if anyone is interested, I will be (hopefully) Tweeting LIVE from the game occasionally. Here's my Twitter feed. I'm sure I'll have all sort of brilliant insights. And I'll get to run into my kid's namesakes as well, perhaps, since the Mariners are in town. Or at least punch Jack Z. in the face for 'the incident.' Have a good weekend, everyone.

Current Series

Mariners lead the series 1-0

Thu 09/24	WP: Felix Hernandez (17 - 5) SV: David Aardsma LP: Jesse Carlson (1 - 6)	4 - 5 loss
Seattle Mariners Lookout Landing @ Toronto Blue Jays Bluebird Banter Friday, Sep 25, 2009, 7:07 PM EDT Rogers Centre Doug Fister vs Roy Halladay Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60. Complete Coverage >
Sat 09/26		10:07 AM PDT
Sun 09/27		10:07 AM PDT

61-58, Game Notes

Jeff — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:23:56 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

We hugging? We not hugging? Dude you gotta tell me quick

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I watched it all go down, and it made me mad. Then I remembered that the win didn't really matter, and it made me indifferent. Then I remembered that the win mattered to Felix, and it made me mad.

Earlier this week I was thinking about launching a series entitled Why Mark Lowe Is Different. Or maybe What's Different About Mark Lowe? Or possibly Mark Lowe: Different! Why? I don't know, I didn't really think about the name. But what it was going to be was a series of posts testing out different theories as to why Lowe's been pitching so much better. I gave him a lot of crap earlier in the season for pitching well below his ability, but then it looked like he had turned it around, and I wanted to know why. I intended to begin with the hypothesis that nothing had changed, and that it was all just statistical variation, and go from there. Pitch type, pitch movement, pitch location, delivery, and so on - in the pursuit of knowledge, no stone imaginable may go unturned.

Well I'm glad I didn't start running that series because that's three games in a row now that Lowe's really struggled. Not that I don't think he's better now than he was earlier in the year - he had a 1.6 K/BB and 8% swinging strike rate through July 5th and stands at 5.3 and 14% since - but that just would've been really bad timing, and I'm thinking that maybe I should just hold out until the offseason before writing anything like that. You know, just in case. Because the thing about relievers is that on any given night they can make anyone look like an idiot.

Mark Lowe: better pitcher, lousy night. Though he deserved a little better, he made far too many mistakes.

Of course, the whole eighth inning wouldn't have happened as it did were it not for a couple fielding miscues that kind of flew under the radar a little bit. The first - a chopper that got by Josh Wilson's glove - came after a homer and a line drive had already caused viewers to sour on Lowe, and the second - a blown pickoff by Russ Branyan that allowed Ryan Raburn to steal home - came after Detroit had already taken the lead and caused Mariner fans to mentally surrender. Mark Lowe wasn't good, but those four runs were by no means all his fault.

Those were big mistakes. I imagine that Wilson will escape blame on account of his night at the plate and that chopper being a tough short-hop, but if he makes that play - as I think most big league shortstops would be able to do - there's a man on second and two out instead of men on the corners and one, and that's huge. In the former situation, Lowe's one out away and has some wiggle room. In the latter situation, the tying run's 90 feet away and odds are good that he'll have to see Miguel Cabrera. The win expectancy swing of that error was -22.5%, as compared to the +16.6% boost from Wilson's home run, and that error took us from being heavy favorites to a coin flip. That's an unfortunate way for Wilson to remember what should've been a happy night.

As for the other miscue, it's funny; rundowns fall into the category of plays that're really hard to execute yourself but that you expect Major Leaguers to pull off with 100% efficiency. Which isn't to say that I excuse Branyan for his mistake, but the whole time he was chasing Cabrera I was thinking "oh God he has to watch two guys and throw on the run." So although I was disappointed by the result, I understood how it could happen. Just like with the grounder to Wilson, Branyan usually does better and knows what he did wrong, but it just so happened that today they both screwed up in the same inning and as such made a significant contribution to the losing effort. Sorry Felix :(

Felix Hernandez (I'm spelling his name out now at least once for Search Engine Optimization!) came out of the game after seven innings and 106 pitches. As you've probably heard by now, the reason he didn't come back out for the eighth was because his legs started cramping up. Not that he would've been able to go much longer anyway, given his season high of 117, but hey, who knows what would've happened?

That's the downside. Literally the only downside to his start is that minor leg cramps ended his night at 106 pitches. Everything before that was peaches. What is there that's left to be said? Were I in a more eloquent mood I could probably describe his performance with a poem or a fake dialogue, but I feel boring, so I'll just tell you that he missed 14 bats and struck out nine guys while walking one. He whiffed the left-handed and awesome Curtis Granderson three times. And he featured a pitch that - I'm going to say it - looked an awful lot like the Royal Curve I at one point thought he had lost. It was a sharp curve with a lot of break both left and down, and it made the Tigers look helpless. Of the 18 he threw, they only swung at three. And hit one. I love that pitch. Not that Felix really needs a fourth good pitch, but I like when he has it because it lets me feel smug. "Oh, Johan has a good changeup? That's neat. Felix has a good everything."

A wonderful start that, even without the win, should help his standing in the race for the Cy Young.

My friend texted me just now to say that Kyle Blanks just hit an inside-the-park home run. Holy shit I love Kyle Blanks

Clete Thomas led off the bottom of the second with a foul pop-up down the third base line. As Ryan Langerhans ran in pursuit and slid to make a catch, a fan reached out a good three or four feet onto the field to interfere. However, rather than call the batter out, umpire Dan Iassonga ruled it a foul ball, offering this justification:

"He said he saw the fan interfere but because because he (Langerhans) was sliding and it wasn't just a routine catch, he couldn't just award him that,'' said Wakamatsu, who ran out to argue.

Here's the play in question:

I get what Iassonga means, and there's probably no 100% right or 100% wrong solution to this. But that's an awful long way for a fan to reach out, and were it not for his glove, I'm pretty sure Langerhans makes that catch. Even had this happened in our favor, rather than to our detriment, I would've supported a ruling of fan interference.

The game ended with a 12-pitch strikeout of Jose Lopez by Fernando Rodney with the tying run on second base. The at bat began with two strikes, but Lopez took three balls and fouled off six more pitches before finally swinging through a low fastball. People love to talk about how at bats like this are a battle of wills between the hitter and the pitcher, but the struggle nobody talks about is the struggle felt by the fans who want to get up, applaud, and cheer for the final strike.

After Pitch 1: Atta boy Rodney, great pitch! Two more!
After Pitch 2: One more! One more to go! Yeah baby c'mooooonnnnnn Fernan-DO!
After Pitch 3: Good pitch, he barely touched it! You got this! WOOOOOOO
After Pitch 4: No biggie, no biggie, gotta waste one. Let's get him now, your pitch!
After Pitch 5: Whoaaa can't believe he held up! Great pitch! Do it again, he can't touch you!
After Pitch 6: Barely got a piece! You just have to
After Pitch 7: WHERE WAS THAT
After Pitch 8: In control, in control, it's...c'mon now
After Pitch 9: uh
After Pitch 10: fuck this COME ONNNN
During Pitch 11: :sits down:
After Pitch 11: :makes a scene of standing back up, sighs: :claps very slowly: all right listen up now you piddly son of a bitch
After Pitch 12: YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tonight, 33,710 Tiger fans were given a reason to find Jose Lopez annoying. They won't necessarily remember why, but they'll remember what. When Lopez plays the Tigers three years down the road, one Tigers fan will say to another "oh God I hate this guy," and when the other Tigers fan asks the first Tigers fan why, the first Tigers fan will reply "I dunno he just seems like one of those guys."

I'm (sorta) Back, Baby! Branyan Langerhans Fingers Makes His Debut

devil_fingers — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:01:13 -0000

As my 13 loyal readers may have noticed, I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately. There's a very good reason for that, and it has nothing to do with Kyle waiting for me to pass through waivers so he could try to dump my contract on some other blog. And, no, I haven't been "tracking down" Dayton Moore to discuss "certain issues" with him. Here's the truth...

On Sunday morning, August 9, at 5:50 a.m. Branyan Langerhans Fingers, my firstborn son, entered the world. Yes, he is named for two of the greatest players in baseball today. I can't wait to start living vicariously through him and forcing him to bring his Z-Game. My plan at the moment is to have him bat lefty, throw righty, and pitch lefty. He's gotta make it that way, amiright?

I had stuff to do to prepare, and now, with my busy instruction schedule along with occasionally helping Mrs. Fingers with the more "domestic" aspects of B.L.'s arrival, I'll be easing back into the blogging thing. It will be off and on a bit for a while, and hopefully this will also help me learn to shorten up my lengthy colums. So much stuff has happened since I began my informal hiatus: prominent Red Sox fans whining even after they got Victor Martinez, silly irrelevant nonsense around B.J. Upton, Josh Hamilton, David Ortiz...

Yeah, most of that stuff I don't care about. I'm here for boring stuff about batting orders, looking at contracts from 2 years ago, and other stuff that's either trivial or been done better, elsewhere. That's what happens when you give a dork a computer. I'm not a techno-optimist, but the internet has certainly brought enough information to our fingertips that with the help of a few websites there is a seeming abundance of intelligent commentary on baseball for those willing to seek it out. I'm not sure I have much if anything to add to that, if I ever did.

But that didn't stop me before, did it?

In other words, I'm back, baby!

View from the Other Side: Seattle Mariner Series Preview

Tom Dakers — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:07:53 -0000

I sent a few questions off to Jeff from Lookout Landing, SB Nation's great Mariner site and he was nice enough to send me some answers back (thanks Jeff). Since I'm sitting at the airport waiting to board the plane I thought I'd post it. He's a bigger Adrian Beltre fan than I figured he'd be.

1. You guys have a new manager this year, I know nothing about Don Wakamatsu, what are his strengths and weaknesses?

Don always keeps a cool head, he's helped to bring together what was once a famously divided clubhouse, and he's been good about maximizing the outfield defense, by which I mean keeping Griffey out of left and then making Ryan Langerhans the everyday starter for a little while. So those things are neat. On the other hand, there have been several occasions on which he neglected to pinch-hit in the later innings (most often with Griffey), which tends to get on our nerves. Truthfully, though, it's just hard to complain about him. Given a different bullpen, I'm sure he would've made some decisions that didn't go over very well, but this is a guy who for most of the season hasn't had a single left-handed reliever. Take away the lefties and managers have limited opportunity to get unpleasantly creative.

2. Who has been the biggest surprise for the Mariners?

The nod either goes to Russell Branyan - who's become one of the premier pure power hitters in the league - Franklin Gutierrez - whose offense has blossomed before our very eyes - or Jarrod Washburn - who, albeit lucky, has legitimately improved himself in 2009 at the age of 34. To date, these three guys have been instrumental in the team's playing decent baseball.

3. We are coming up to the trade deadline. Are the Mariners buyers or sellers? Is there any move you think is likely to happen?

This would've been a better question before the Indians used us to clean their dirty cheese graters. We're sellers. We got clocked, and now we're sellers. Washburn is the most likely guy to be moved, and there have been rumors circling about his landing in Milwaukee prior to his scheduled start on Tuesday, but there are other possibilities as well, like Branyan and Brandon Morrow. Having Erik Bedard and Adrian Beltre on the DL doesn't really do our GM any favors.

4. Is Adrian Beltre ever going to be worth his contract?

Beltre signed a $64m/5yr contract in late 2004 and has been worth every penny. Defense. Defense defense defense. He's like our Alex Rios.

5. My youngest son's favorite player is Ichiro, is he going to the Hall of Fame? He's 35 now, any sign that he is slowing down?

Yeah, he's going. No question. As far as signs of decline are concerned, I don't know what to tell you. He still makes contact all the time, he still runs well, he still beats out a ton of infield singles, he still plays good defense...his footspeed isn't what it was when he first broke into the league, so I guess that's one sign of decline, but he's still one of the top runners in baseball, so who cares? Honestly, I feel like Ichiro will slow down only when Ichiro wants to slow down. There's not a single thing Ichiro could do that would take me by surprise.

6. Canadian Erik Bedard is hurt again, what's happened? Is he likely to pitch again this year?

Not sure what's up with him yet, but the team is calling it shoulder inflammation. He went on the DL earlier this year and got an MRI that came back pretty clean, but people seem convinced that there's still something in there. It seems like he should be able to come back in a few weeks, but with Bedard, who the hell knows? Erik Bedard could hurt himself texting.

7. Which reliever do you want on the mound with the game on the line?

David Aardsma. In a lousy bullpen (ignore the ERA), he's the guy that stands out head and shoulders above the rest. I don't know how it works but his belly-high fastball in the center of the plate just keeps throwing hitters for a loop. They have to catch on eventually, right? Right? You might see for yourself what I'm talking about, but then on the other hand we suck right now and you very well might not.

8. Anything else us Jay fans should know about the Mariners? And what food should I try at the park this week?

If we beat you, you'll be annoyed. We are not a team that you play, lose to, and think "yeah, I can see how that happened." It's like the Angels if the Angels were worse. As for food, I'm not all that familiar with Safeco since I live in San Diego, but you should get a dog outside on the street and buy some garlic fries when indoors. Get a couple beers, too. The selection isn't spectacular, but it's better than most ballparks.

Washington Nationals: Minor League Minute...Sunday Wrap-Up.

Ed Chigliak — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:00:12 -0000

More photos » by Evan Vucci - AP

8 months ago: The Washington Nationals stand for a moment of silence for legendary Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas who passed away before their baseball game on Monday, April 13, 2009 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Washington Nationals: Minor League Minute...Sunday In The System...

The Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) dropped a 5-3 decision to the Louisville Bats Sunday afternoon. Elijah Dukes stole his 4th base with the Chiefs and hit his 6th double, but going into Sunday's game, Dukes had been 0 for his last 11. Mike Morse, acquired from Seattle in exchange for Ryan Langerhans, was 1 for 4 with an RBI Sunday, and he's now hitting .353 in 23 games with Syracuse...The Harrisburg Senators (AA) beat the Trenton Thunder Sunday, and Jeff Mandel, whose name you might remember from his time with the P-Nats, made his Double-A debut with the Sens and earned the (W, 1-0) for 7.0 innings of work on the mound over which he allowed 6 hits and 2 ER in a 5-2 Senators' win. Mandel was (8-4) with a 3.61 ERA in 17 GS with Potomac...The Potomac Nationals (Class-A) beat the Salem Red Sox by a score of 6-4, and the P-Nats' right-hander Adam Carr completed 4.0 innings pitched in which he didn't allow a hit, but managed to walk 7. P-Nats' LF Dan Nelson was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's, and he's now hitting .283 with 21 doubles, 5 HR's and 34 RBI's in 74 games in which he's posted a .393 OBP, .442 SLG and .835 OPS...The Harrisburg Senators (Class A) lost to the Lexington Legends by a 6-3 score Sunday when the Legends scored 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth for an epic comeback win. Suns' reliever Chris Rivera gave up 5 hits and 5 ER in the ninth to blow a save and take the loss...and up in Vermont, the Lowell Spinners put a 16-6 beating on the Vermont Lake Monsters. RHP Matt Swynenberg, the Nationals' 28th Round pick, 832nd overall in 2009, gave up 7 H, 6 ER and 5 walks in just 1.2 IP in the loss...

This Has Been Your Minor League Minute...

Matt Holliday Traded to Cardinals; Brett Wallace Comes Back to A's

Tyler Bleszinski — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:37:48 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Oh Mr. Holliday, we hardly knew ye. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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The Matt Holliday era in Oakland is over. OK so Matt Holliday wasn't exactly Ryan Langerhans. Or Michael Barrett in terms of his A's career. But it was pretty damn short.

But you have to love this deal if you're an A's fan. Brett Wallace is considered one of the best prospects in baseball, SB Nation's own John Sickels giving him an A- for a rating (and Sickels is notoriously stingy with his grades). The only knock on Wallace appear to be his defense, but almost everyone seems to think he's going to be a true cornerstone offensive player and sooner rather than later.

I'm guessing the more casual A's fans (are there any of those left?) might not understand why the A's would deal Holliday rather than trying to sign a bat like his to a long-term deal, I think this is a deal that makes a ton of sense for the A's because they're filling a desperate hole at the hot corner. And I think you can safely assume that Eric Chavez is likely done for good. So it took a lot of shuffling of assets (Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street and now Holliday) but the A's finally have what seems like a bona fide long-term answer for their woes on the left-side of the infield. Or at least half of the problem on that side. Now there's always the chance that Wallace might not work out, but I'm still pretty thrilled to be getting a player who appears like as much of a sure thing as you can get in a prospect. And it also gives the A's the opportunity to finally figure out what they actually have in their outfield. Like is Travis Buck for real or was his rookie year a fluke? Will Aaron Cunningham take another step forward?

Now one top prospect doesn't make the A's contenders, but it moves more in line with the young team progressing as they should. The key here is cost control as well. The A's weren't ready to have a guy like Holliday around for a while. And this way they're moving towards that great, young, cost-controlled team that they started building towards a couple of years ago. They clearly have the pitching and now they've addressed one part of the left side of the infield conundrum. They may still address the shortstop position with Orlando Cabrera being dealt as well, but it's been such a question mark for the A's for so long with the will he or won't he Eric Chavez question that it's nice to feel some great hope there.

This is a great deal for the A's and I'm excited to see Wallace don the green and gold.