So, I tend to rip my Angels fan friend for the Angels signing Cabrera and letting Eckstein go.  An example of the Angels having more money than sense. He defends it with two points.  First, Eckstein probably would not have played as well in Anaheim as he is in St Louis. Second, Cabrera is better defensively. Both likely true, but I still think signing Cabrera was a mistake. But, I just noticed something...

Are the Angels paying $6 million in 2005 for Marco Scutaro?  Offensively, their OBP and SLG are nearly identical. About the only difference is Carbrera is better defensively, although I don't have the stats to show it conclusively.  He does play more innings.

Finally, they have him signed for 4 years $32 million.  And, it looks like a couple of decent guys in Salt Lake are now blocked.

So, does anyone else think Caberera was not a smart signing by the Angels?

Hi all-

Came across this article on the Contra Costa Times web site about Kendall.  I thought especially the out of state ANers may miss it.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/baseball/mlb/oakland_athletics/12274415.htm

I always had the feeling he studied hard for each start. He hardly ever gets shaken off by this staff.  So, all they have to do is throw their pitches.  Kendall takes care fo the rest.

Ok.. Maybe this isn't worth a diary.

In another diary I commented:
"Let the Angels and Skanks beat on each other this weekend, and either gain a couple games on Anaheim or put two more teams behind us in the wild card."

I would like to admit that I was wrong.  Instead of putting two teams behind us in the wild card race we put FOUR teams behind us (counting the Twins, which is technically a tie) since the start of this series.

So, I apologize for bringing too much negativity to what is supposed to be an A's fan site.

So, I keep seeing comments (in regular media and here) that the A's have one of the worst batting averages with RISP this season.  It irritated me though because they have one of the worst batting averages period. It seemed like a non-meaningful thing to say.  So, I decided to see just how non-meaningful it was.  To bring the average with RISP to the same as their regular batting average would require a grand total of 3 more hits. Looking a OBP with RISP is actually slightly higher than the total average.  Therefore, I would argue the A's are performing exactly the same with RISP as otherwise, poorly.

First, Diary...

Yes, it is early, but...

OBP/SLG/BA
Kotsay .438/.483/.379
Ellis .467/.429/.429
Hatty .385/.500/.333
Scutaro .348/.350/.250
Chavez .355/.375/.208

Kotsay is a stud.
Ellis is making his comeback.
Hatteberg is showing why Spring Training doesn't mean that much.
Scutaro is proving he really did learn to take pitches in the off season.
Chavez isn't getting pitches to hit.

Durazo has to start hitting again.  Make teams pay for putting Chavez on at a clip .150 higher than he is hitting.