Okay, I'll begin this with the disclaimer that I'm extremely pissed about how that game ended.


Upon further review, the following that have been discussed as reasons to finally get rid of Dusty that I don't believe are really obvious manager errors (in order of occurrence:

• Taking Leake out after 6 innings – He was at 99 pitches.  That's a perfect pitch count for him.  They were up 6, and had a well rested bullpen.  No reason to tax a young arm.
•  Defensive replacement for Miguel Cairo – Really, we need a new 3rd baseman in the 9th inning of a 6-run game?  Doesn't that seem like more of a slap in the face to both Paul Janish and Cairo to take Cairo out and to give Janish 1 defensive inning?
•  Defensive replacement for Laynce Nix – if memory serves me well, Nix is actually a pretty good fielder.  Plus, see above.
• Lincoln in the 9th - Again, I can't believe I’m typing this, but he’d only thrown 19 pitches.  That’s not that many pitches.  I mean, he’d gone 1-2-3 in the 7th and 8th.  He’d thrown more pitches before, even this year.  And, again, they were up 6 runs!  Might it have been a good time for Carlos Fisher to clean up?  Maybe.  Maybe that’s when you get Masset back out there to regain his confidence.  Or maybe you leave the pitcher that’s throwing well in for the 9th.
•  Massett in the 9th – 9-5 with runners on the corners.  Here's an opportunity to show a guy some confidence after a rough outing the day before.  Don't look at the season ERA - it's ugly, yes.  But in May, he's been money with a 1.17 WHIP and 1.93 ERA coming into the game.  All he has to do is get 3 outs without giving up 2 runs of his own.  Not necessarily THE best decision, but I can see an argument supporting this one.
• Bringing in Cordero – I can't believe I'm typing this, but I don't think this was a bad decision either.  I don't think it was the correct decision, though, given that Rhodes had just K'd the hottest Braves' hitter, but it certainly is defensible.  Cordero's really not <em>that</em> HR-prone.  He gave up 2 in 66 innings last year!!

All in all, there are logical explanations for Dusty’s bullpen use.  Especially Lincoln starting off the 9th, the decision I’d been most angry about.  19 pitches isn’t that many, and he went 6 up 6 down. 

Now, Dusty’s not perfect.  Here are some decisions that I think were poor:

• Using Miguel Cairo instead of Paul Janish – Okay, Miguel Cairo got a base hit with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning.  Maybe Janish gets a base hit there, but probably not.  Whole new ballgame without that hit that extended the inning to Votto.  That said, use Janish.  He’s not only the better player now, he’ll be the better player for the future of your team.
• Pinch hitting Owings for Leake in the 7th and not pitching Owings – Leake’s batting .353.  .353!!!  If you’re going to pinch hit a pitcher for him, even if that pitcher is Owings, you better use that pitcher.  Otherwise, either let the guy bat for himself (given he’s gotten 2 hits that game), or pinch hit one of your better hitters (Rolen, Gomes, Heisey even Janish).  Plus, what a perfect time to keep your long reliever ready for, you know, long relief.  Yes, he threw last night.  5 pitches.  He can go again.  He’s thrown the ball to the catcher in a live game 5 times since May 7.  He needs the work.  And we were up 6.  Not a bad time for him.
• Not getting someone up after back to back singles to lead off the 9th – Dusty, you’re using a pitcher who hasn’t pitched 3 innings in years.  Yes, you’re up 6 runs, but after back to back singles to lead off the 9th, you better have someone loosening.  During that 3rd batter, you better send Ramon out to stall a little, just in case, you know.

I think that last point is the biggest one of all.  Not being prepared to relieve a pitcher who you know is being somewhat stretched in the 9th inning to close out a game was a terrible decision.

Ah, I feel much better.  Thanks RR for being my shrink late this night!

As we know, hindsight is 20/20.  With a little over a month gone in the 2009 season, Reds' leftfielders are OPSing a paltry .625, good for 28th out of 30 MLB teams.  The Chicago White Sox's right-handed bat who we were rumored to have been considering trading Homer Bailey for is OPSing .891 with 7 HRs.  I can't run the numbers like many on this site can, but eyeballing it, I'd say that we'd have at least 2 more wins with Dye instead of C-Dick/McDonald/Cherry/Nix starting in left field.

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Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can get back to baseball... except that for us Reds fans, we likely won't have any actual news to discuss - it'll mainly be longing for a decent SS or another good outfielder.

As such, I propose a game.  I know I'm pirating the game off an SB blog that I follow, though I'm not sure if it is this one or another one.  However, since I am no longer in school, I'm not naming my source!

It goes like this, I propose an over/under.  The first responder gives his/her opinion, and proposes his/her own over/under.  It could be anything from player production and statistics, # pitchers Dusty sends to the DL, attendence, other teams' wins, etc.  If you feel so inclined, give a little reason for your opinion.

So, batting leadoff is the following over/under:

Jay Bruce, 30 HR's.

When the Reds were designing GABP, baseball was in the middle of the 'steroids' era, where 'Chicks dig the long ball.'  Consequently, the original drawings had a short right-field fence, likely designed with the intention of maximizing the values of star left-handed hitters Ken Griffey Jr and Adam Dunn.  After this idea was nixed by MLB's front office, GABP was redesigned to have short fences all around.  Ever since, GABP has given up at or near to the top of HR's each year.

I tihnk the makeup of our team is wrong for this ballpark.  The Philadelphia Phillies proved last year that you can win in a HR-friendly ballpark.  Here's the type of team that would succeed at GABP, and how you can build that team on a budget.

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Supply and demand - any economist will tell you that in a free market, this is what determines a price.  As the government has not yet taken over MLB, we have a free agency free market.  As a player in this market, I'd sure like to be any position other than an outfielder. 

Supply Side:

Free agents with OPS > .800 include: Manny Ramirez, Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, Milton Bradley, Raul Ibanez, Cliff Floyd, Bobby Abreu, Jim Edmonds, Rocco Baldelli (in 28 games), Jerry Hairston, and Casey Blake (though he'll likely play 3rd).

Granted, all of these players have flaws, ranging from Manny being Manny, low BA's lots of K's and bad defense for Burrell and Dunn, age with Ibanez and Floyd, injury issues with Bradley and Baldelli, and, is Hairston really on this list?  Really?

Of the above free agents, only Ramirez, Bradley, Ibanez, and Blake were offered arbitration, meaning the 'only' cost of a free agent is money.  This means that teams like the Reds who should value draft picks won't lose one from signing most of these free agents.

Potential trade targets: Names that have popped up as potentially being available for trade include Jermaine Dye, Brian Giles, Xavier Nady, Magglio Ordonez, and one of the St. Louis outfielders (Ankiel and Ludwick).

From the trade targets, we have a team that looks like they'll suck next year (Padres), a team that looks like it's in sell-off mode (White Sox), a team where jobs are being lost like crazy (Tigers), a team that wants to get a young outfielder up (Cards), and a team with excess outfielders (Yankees).  And I'm sure there are many more available outfielders than those I mentioned.

Demand Side:

We've read numerous sportswriters say that they're seeing the market affecting free agent salaries due to lower projected revenues from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships.  Even the Yankees, moving into their goldmine of a park, seem to be affected (Ken Rosenthal brings up the fact that the Mets, Yankees, Jets, and Giants all move into a new ballpark in the coming 20 months).  Other teams will take a double hit, due to reduced ticket sales and reduced revenue sharing from the Yankees as the Yankees can deduct operating costs of the new ballpark from local revenue, meaning less $$ in the revenue sharing pool from its biggest contributor.

The current market conditions seem to be making teams hesitant not only to sign free agents, but to offer arbitration to their own free agents who look likely to get multi-year deals (an aside, that Dunn trade looks like a steal now, doesn't it?).  Additionally, teams are looking at their own payroll and financial flexibility, and seem to be favoring younger (i.e. less expensive) players.  This, too, lowers demand for the middle-age and older free agents.

Teams appear to be wanting to control costs and unload expensive ballplayers.  Additionally, teams are valuing younger players more.  From the trades of Matt Holliday and Nick Swisher, it appears that even trading for an outfielder will cost less in terms of prospects than it would have in other offseasons.

The end result will be depressed player costs for the corner outfielders, both via trade and via free agency.  This is not going to be the case for many other positions - SS, 2B, CF, C, SP - where there seems to either be a dearth of quality players available, or a never-ending need for quality players (SP).

Should the Reds pull the trigger on one of the bigger-names available?

This is where the GM gets paid to do his job.  I'm a firm believer that in baseball, one player does not make a huge difference.  We're looking for a corner outfielder to replace Adam Dunn, whose annual 40 HR, 100 BB, 100 RBI is not overlooked here as it is on certain local radio stations.

If adding one outfielder is all we do, are we basically back at the team we had in the middle of last year?  Do we end up just hoping Cueto and Harang improve on last year's numbers and that Volquez's 2008 was no fluke?  We've been there and done that - see 2008, where we signed 1 big-name player who came in and did fix the problem the team had the prior year, but didn't get us much closer to contention.

I don't like the sign 1 player and hope the rest improve strategy.  My opinion is that if we can only add a corner outfielder, we better improve the team somewhere else (shortstop, catcher, 3B defense, starting pitching depth).  Otherwise, I'll pass - despite a favorable buyers market..

MLB posted the tentative 2009 schedule - the A's will be hoping to repeat last night's feat of beating John Lackey and the Angels, not in Oakland, but in Anaheim.  The A's open in Anaheim and close with the Angels in Oakland.  April will be brutal if the team is trying to find itself:

• 4 at Anaheim
• 3 Seattle, 3 Boston
• 3 at Toronto, 3 at Yankees
• 3 Tampa Bay
• 3 at Texas

That said, we have a wonderful interleague schedule as the A's draw the NL West.  Unfortunately, the rest of the AL West draws the NL West (though the Rangers get Houston as their rival game).

• 3 vs Arizona
• 3 at SF, 3 at LA, 3 at SD
• 3 vs Colorado, 3 vs SF

July is also a brutal month:

• 1 vs Detroit
• 3 at Cleveland, 3 at Boston, 3 at TB
• 4 vs Angels, 3 vs. Twins
• 3 at Yankees, 4 at Boston

If the A's can survive April that will be a positive sign and should set them up to thrive against the NL.  If we're still in a contending position through July, Beane would have good reason to make trades to improve the club.

There are a lot of question marks for the 2009 team - we should quickly get answers in April!

See schedule here

As an Oakland A’s and Cincinnati Reds fan, I often wonder what the Reds would be like if they had Billy Beane running the team.  If BB had taken over after last season, I can see him realizing that the team was more than 1-2 players away from contending and that the minor league system needed some additional strength.  Here’s what I can picture happening:

• Harang to Arizona for a similar haul as he got for Haren (includes Greg Smith, Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, who are on the MLB team, and Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, and Aaron Cunningham).
• Arroyo to another team for prospects similar to those obtained by Blanton (includes Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and  Matthew Spencer)
• Griffey to another team for a minor prospect
• Never invited Corey Patterson within 100 miles of Cincinnati
• Trade Dunn near the trading deadline and called up Jay Bruce
• Kept Josh Hamilton – I just don’t think he would have traded away such an enormous talent.   The only way Volquez would be a Red would be if the Rangers would have taken Joey Votto for him.
• A Josh Fogg-ish pitcher would be in the rotation, but so would Smith, Eveland, Cueto, and Thompson/Bailey.
• Not signing Francisco Cordero.
• All in all, reducing the club’s payroll significantly, leaving more room for large bonuses for draft picks and Latin ballplayers, and giving flexibility going into next offseason.

The thing I love about BB is that he makes pre-emptive moves.  The A’s weren’t going to win this year without a couple big-name free-agent signings, which just weren’t available last offseason.  So, BB, knowing the weakness of A’s farm system, acted to shore it up with short and long-term solutions.  Yes, Aaron Harang is a stud, 2008 injury notwithstanding, but so are the 6 players Oakland got for Dan Haren, including the 2 whose MLB pitching performances are not that far behind Haren’s.

The thing that frustrates me about Reds’ management is that they seem to be stuck between wanting to win now (“Going for it”) and building for the future.  As Billy Beane shows us, there is a way to succeed at doing both.

Has Aaron Harang ever had higher value than he has right now?  What about Brandon Phillips?  Harang has pitched over 230 innings each of the past two years and is averaging 7 innings per start this year.  Phillips provides gold-glover caliber defense, power, and speed while playing at a traditionally weak offensive position.  Both are signed to reasonable long-term deals.  They are the perfect players to build a team around.  So why even consider trading them?

Let's look at the team as a whole.  The Reds have 4 solid young pitchers including Harang and  if Bailey is included in the group.  They have a core of young position players including Phillips, Votto, Bruce, EdE, and Kepp who could be the start to a good team.  But there are major issues with this team.

The way the Reds are going, you have to assume we'll see the mid-summer fire sale of Dunn, Griffey, Weathers, Hatteburg, Bako, and maybe others.  I'd guess those players as a whole will net 2-3 servicable players and a couple low-level, low-rated prospects.  So we're left with holes in the outfield, at catcher, and at a starter.  Could Phillips be turned into a decent outfielder and a starter?  Could Harang be turned into a ML-ready starter, a young prospect, and a couple decent position prospects? 

I don't think the Reds have the guts to make that type of move, but it's time to at least explore the possibilities.  This is a team that needs to chart a course and stick to it, or we'll just keep going in circles.

I don't know if I fully believe this, but I can see some merit.  A few years ago, Ryan Howard was one of the hottest minor league prospects.  The Phillies kept him in the minors an extra year and a half - he was 26 in his first full major league season.  I think their philosophy with him (other than having Jim Thome blocking him) was that they would have more years of Howard's prime by keeping him in the minors.

Fast forward to our situation.  With the number of highly-regarded minor-league prospects we have, keeping them down 1/2 a season longer will control costs and allow the Reds to control them during more of their 'peak' years.  With the arbitration salaries spinning out of control (see Howard = $10M!!!), it becomes even more important to have guys for as much of their peak years as possible.

Howard was the one I thought of with a team keeping a top minor leaguer down - are there any other examples anyone can think of?  Is it worth keeping a guy down a half or full season to be able to have him for more of his prime?

My ideas coming into the offseason for what the Reds should do were a lot different than what has actually been done.  I hold out hope of a Blanton for Cueto+3 other non-Bailey/Bruce/Votto minor leaguers deal, but I'm at the point where I think we're basically set for the season.  While I'm comfortable with what's been done, here's what my ideal (and, to me, realistic) offseason would've brought us:

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I'm currently getting by on the hypothesis that the A's are only 2 'happenings' away from a WS title: (1) signing Barry Bonds, and (2) a healthy team.  I'm going to tackle the first issue in this diary by looking at what the A's numbers 'with Bonds' and 'without Bonds' would've been in 2007.  I've taken out Mike Piazza's 2007 numbers as well as the fill-in outfielders, including Langerhans, Bocachica, Thompson, Kielty, Putnum, and Davanon.  I'm obviously replacing some of our weaker links with Bonds, so the results will be overstated, but take a look just for fun.

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I know we're all fully into 'Play the young guys' mode and 'let's look ahead to 2008' mode, so I decided to give a little preview of one player who we hope will have a big role in our future, Jay Bruce.  Looking solely at the numbers, he compares to a certain player on the current Reds' roster, see below:

            AB       R       H       2B     3B    HR    RBI    SB    CS    BB    SO    AVG    OBP    SLG
Bruce    1045    187    312    90    15    45    194    31    24    106    262    0.299    0.364    0.543
Dunn    1208    263    367    70    4    63    220    60    21    230    270    0.304    0.425    0.525

I will use these numbers to compare Dunn and Bruce in 4 'tools' I look for in a hitter: Average, Power, Baserunning, Eye.  Note that the comparison below comes only from an analysis of the numbers, no scouting reports are used.

- AVERAGE: By the numbers, it appears that Bruce hits more line drives than Dunn, as shown by the higher doubles and triples.  To me, this says that he has the potential to be a better all around hitter and that he'll use more of the ballpark.  ADVANTAGE: Bruce

- POWER: In the minors, Dunn HR'd every 19 official at-bats.  Bruce HR'd every 23.  Not a big difference, in my book.    Their ISO power stats (SLG - AVG) are also similar.  I would expect this trend to continue in the majors as well.  ADVANTAGE: Push

- BASERUNNING: A popular complaint about Dunn is that he is big and slow.  Check out the SB numbers and you'll see that Dunn was successful 74%, and Bruce was successful 56% - not a good average for Bruce.  Again, however, we go back to 2B and especially 3B and we see that Bruce has far more than Dunn, which, in my book, evens it out.  ADVANTAGE: Push

- EYE: Bruce strikes out more than Dunn (gasp!) - 22% of his plate appearances vs. Dunn's 18%.  Bruce also walks nearly half as much as Dunn (9% vs. 19%).  Bruce's swing is obviously not without holes.  Obviously I'll take a .364 OBP in the majors from Bruce, but on this key stat, ADVANTAGE: Dunn

So, what does this mean?  Will we get the player we hope Bruce will be, or will we get the player Dunn is?  We may get to see sooner than we think...

Ever get a really cool A's-related gift?

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I know the Hamilton posts are like a broken record, but it is a pretty good broken record!  Hamilon was on the Jim Rome show Monday.  I caught the last part of the interview.  When I started listening, Rome was asking the usual questions about Hamilton's past, and as usual, Hamilton was very open with his answers.  Rome was impressed.  

My favorite part of the interview was Hamilton putting a bad day at the park into perspective.  He mentioned losing one in the sun in Wrigley and going 0-4.  He talked about how, on the way home, his wife was on the phone with one of her friends saying how it was a bad day for Hamilton, and he corrected her saying how great of a day it was.  He mentioned the bleacher creatures riding him the whole game.  They would follow his every footstep, "Left... Right... Left" so he would jump occasionally to throw them off.  I bet they loved that!

If there happens to be a link or recording of the interview, would someone post it?  It really was great.

no, not the baseball team, but what my wife and I found out we're expecting in May!  This will be our first and second kids and we're totally excited.  I love the idea of having twins, it'll be an adventure for sure.  The ultrasound technician says, "Well, there are definately two in there, let's see if there are any more."  The world stopped for a good 1 minute as I regained my breath to hear, "well, it's twins!"

So, mark down 2 more A's fans to come!  I'm going to have to train them from Cincinnati, but they'll be growing up in green and gold!

So, I was wondering, are there any twins out there or anyone who has twins that would like to weigh in with advice for a young couple?  Also, should I become a little more of a Twins fan (a suggestion by someone in class)?  Or, have there ever been twins to make it to the major leagues?  Or, what's a good twins joke you've heard?  Let's talk twins, but not the baseball team!

Anyone unconvinced that having young, cheap starting pitching isn't a huge luxury?  Well, here's a bit of proof:  I give you, the 2004 free agent starting pitcher signings:

The BAD or INJURED:
ARI: Russ Ortiz (115IP 6.89ERA 5-11)
CHW: Orlando Hernandez (128.1IP 5.12ERA 9-9)
FLA: Al Leiter (80IP 6.64ERA 3-7 [in Florida])
KC: Jose Lima (168.2IP 6.99ERA 5-16)
SEA: Aaron Sele (116IP 5.66ERA 6-12)
BOS: Wade Miller (91IP 4.95ERA 4-4)
CIN: Eric Milton (186.1IP 6.47ERA 8-15)
TB: Hideo Nomo (100.2IP 7.24ERA 5-8)
NYY: Carl Pavano (100IP 4.77ERA 4-6)
NYY: Jaret Wright (63.2IP 6.08ERA 5-5)

The OKAY:
BOS: Matt Clement (191IP 4.57ERA 13-6)
BOS: David Wells (184IP 4.45ERA 15-7)
ARI: Shawn Estes (123.2IP 4.80ERA 7-8)
PHI: Jon Lieber (217.1IP 4.20ERA 17-13)
SD: Woody Williams (159.2IP 4.85ERA 9-12)

The GOOD:
LAA: Paul Byrd (204.1IP 3.74ERA 12-11)
WSH: Esteban Loaiza (217IP 3.77ERA 12-10)
LAD: Derek Lowe (222IP 3.61ERA 12-15)
NYM: Pedro Martinez (217IP 2.82ERA 15-8)
CLE: Kevin Millwood (192IP 2.86ERA 9-11)

So, out of the 20 biggest signings, 10 were terrible or injured, 5 were okay, and 5 were good.  Compare that to our starting 5... only 25% of them had ERA's lower than our HIGHEST ERA.  

OAKLAND:
Zito (228.1IP 3.86ERA 14-13)
Harden (128IP 2.53ERA 10-5)
Haren (217IP 3.73ERA 14-12)
Blanton (201.1IP 3.53ERA 12-12)
Saarloos (159.2IP 4.17ERA 10-9)

We can sit back and appreciate the luxury we have of having a brilliant GM who understands where bargains are to be had and where other GM's overpay.  Let's hope he continues exploiting this!

So, I say we avoid the AJ Burnetts and Jarrod Washburns of the world and stick to the organizational philosophy of getting young, inexpensive pitchers.

TO AVOID ANY SWAYED POLLS, PLEASE VOTE BEFORE READING ON!!!

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Okay, I had two 8-hour road trips this weekend with my wife sleeping in the seat next to me and consequently had all the time in the world to do some thinking about baseball.  The question popped into my head of "Should a pitcher win the MVP?"

Logical arguments say that the MVP should go to a player who plays every day.  But, how much influence does a single pitcher really have?  Here are some things I thought of:

An MVP pitcher will average 7+ innings pitched with a WHIP around 1.00.  Therefore, a pitcher will face, on average, 28-30 batters per game every fifth game.

An MVP batter will average 4.5 or so AB's per game and will, in the same five games, appear at the plate 22.5 times.  

Obviously, plate appearances are not the only important thing an MVP will affect.  Unless the batter is a DH, he will also make plays in the field, so we should not discount this.  A pitcher will influence the freshness of his bullpen and the sharpness of his fielders.

So, vote, state your case, and smile seeing Oakland on top of the AL West!!!

This is an AP article I found on Yahoo Sports.  I'm mad that the 20-game suspension was overruled on a technicality!  And Selig is the commissioner, he should have the right to act quickly on a situation that was as serious as that one.

Anyway, here's the article:

Kenny Rogers reinstated by arbitrator

By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer
August 9, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kenny Rogers was reinstated Tuesday when an arbitrator ruled that commissioner Bud Selig overstepped his authority by suspending the Texas pitcher for 20 games and fining him $50,000 for shoving two cameramen.

Rogers has already sat out 12 games. He will return to the Rangers for Wednesday night's game at Boston, and his fine will be converted to a charitable contribution.

The ruling, by arbitrator Shyam Das, followed a hearing Monday in Chicago.

``I strongly disagree with arbitrator Das' decision today,'' Selig said in a statement. ``It sends the wrong message to every one of our constituents: the fans, the media, and our players.

``There is a standard of behavior that is expected of our players, which was breached in this case. The arbitrator's decision diminishes that standard and is contrary to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. In my opinion, the decision is seriously ill-conceived,'' he said.

I just read this on ESPN.com.  It makes me proud to be a Reds fan, too.  What a classy thing for a baseball team to do in such a tough situation for a little boy.  It makes me respect Griffey even more than I already do!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2125852

Cincinnati Reds: Players rallied around a 6-year-old boy after his grandfather collapsed in the stands this week.

"We just tried to make a bad situation a little better," outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

While paramedics were working on the grandfather, a security officer took the boy to the Reds' bullpen. The Reds did not release the name of the grandfather, who died Wednesday night of an apparent heart attack.

The boy, identified as Antonio Perez, sat with players for the last two innings of the game, and Griffey went and got him when the game ended. The boy participated in the Reds' high-fives celebrating their 8-5 victory over Atlanta, and he then joined the players in the clubhouse.

Clubhouse manager Rick Stowe said the Reds showered the boy with bats, wristbands and autographed baseballs. Shortstop Felipe Lopez gave him the batting helmet that he wore in this year's All-Star game.

The players entertained the boy until his parents arrived.

"We play a game," Griffey told the Enquirer. "What he was going through doesn't compare. It was important that the little guy not be by himself."

One of the arguments coming from Around the Horn against moneyball has to do with the opinion that moneyball doesn't take team chemistry into consideration.  Here is my take on how moneyball DOES take chemistry into consideration:

1. The players are brought up together.  As players are taken from the comfort of school and thrown into their new career, they develop bonds with the guys who they're living with, riding the bus with, and developing with.  These bonds carry over into the majors.  Those teams with the most homegrown players have an advantage in team chemistry.
2. Winning.  Funny how a team's chemistry is lifted by winning.
3. No superstars.  Superstars often breed discontent.  When you aren't bringing in superstars from the outside, it eliminates this risk.
4. Drafting college players.  21-22 year olds are more mature than 18-19 year olds.  They have more life experience.  This also likely improves chemistry.
5. Team roles.  This, in my opinion, is the most important.  By finding players who fit as a TEAM instead of piecing together the best homerun hitters (see NYY), you are able to define roles.  For example, Bradford knew he was the groundballer.  Duke knows he's a setup man but can be called on for multiple innings.  I just think that building a complete team builds chemistry, regardless of who is in the dugout.

Anyone noticed Barton's numbers since his promotion?

Name           G   AB  R  H  2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO  OBP  SLG  AVG  E
Daric Barton 11  34  9  13  5   0   1    8   21  7   5   .476  .618  .382  1  

It seems that he has gotten over his preseason surgery in a big way.  7/5 BB/K ratio is impressive.  The OPS at 1.094 is impressive.

Has anyone gotten to see him in person to see him against the AA pitching?

And when will he be promoted to AAA and the bigs?

Here we sit at 47-44, three games over .500.  We've been playing top-notch ball for the past month, beating the likes of Atlanta, NYMets, Phili, Seattle, the Giants, and the White Sox.  And yet, we don't seem to be gaining much ground on the Angels because they're on a tear of their own, minus a blip against Seattle.

Here are both teams' remaining schedules:

Angels have 70 games left:
13 against Oakland
18 against the weak sisters (TB-9, Seattle-9)
17 against the powerhouses (NYY-7, BOS-7, CHW-3)
22 against the other wildcard contenders (TOR-6, BAL-6, DET-4, TEX-6)

A's have 71 games left:
13 against LAA
12 against the weak sisters (Seattle-6, KC-6)
7 against the powerhouses (NYY-3 and BOS-4)
39 against the other wildcard contenders (CLE-6, DET-6, MIN-10, BAL-7, TEX-10)

More food for thought:
If the Angels win 35 games (play .500 ball) the rest of the way, they'll get 90 wins.
The A's will need 43 wins (.600 ball) to tie them.

So, as of right now, do you believe we can catch the Angels?  

Thanks to Blez, we now have wonderful polls going (over 1000 voted for the last poll!).  But I think we should have a space to discuss why we voted for who we voted for.  Well, fellow ANers, here you have it!  Defend your position of who is the first-half MVP for the A's.  Have at it... you can even defend your position of Macha, Young, Beane, or Blez being first-half MVPs!

say no playoffs for the A's.

Reynolds:
"they have too many teams to jump."
"They've played their best baseball the past two weeks."
"Texas and Anaheim play in the same division."

Kruk:
"Don't have enough firepower in the lineup."
"If one of these guys go down, they're in trouble."
"Don't have the juice in the lineup that one guy can carry them for an extended period"

Carl Ravich
"Never been much of a buyer at the trade deadline, you wonder if this takes them out of being a seller"

Hmmm... Kruk's point about if one of these guys go down is true as is Reynolds' point about playing their best baseball.  But, this streak can continue if they continue to get the pitching they're getting.  No mention of that

Well, I haven't bought much into the media bias everyone cries about because I grew up watching Sportscenter about the time the A's began their games.  Well, call me a believer after today's game.  Yeah, watching Hudson round the bases for 53.8 seconds was interesting, but how many inside-the-park home runs are hit per year?  Seems like less than 10.  And all SportsCenter shows the ball banging off the wall and Crosby rounding third and diving into home.  Not to mention Kotsay's play which I had to read about here.

So, after the disappointment of SportsCenter (Manny's Grand Slam shouldn't have been a top 10!), I turned to MLB.com to watch these spectacular plays... but they aren't there!  

Is there any way anyone can help a poor ANer outside of the friendly news coverage of California with some video from these games?  Pics are great, but I want to see video... free video!  Please help!!!

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rangers-rogersinjured&prov=ap&type=lgns

Kenny Rogers broke a little bone near his pinky that'll cause him to miss his next start against the Angels and possibly one more after that.  Just what we (and they) need, facing one of the hottest teams in baseball.

On another note, we're 6.5 down in the wildcard...

on Sportscenter, he said that the trade was a must-do for St. Louis, but that now, Haren has pitched better than Mulder with 70% quality starts compared with 50% for Mulder.  In addition, he added that Calero is a very good reliever and Barton, an outfielder, is one of the best minor league hitters and will be in the bigs next year.

This reaffirms what we've been hearing from Gammons, that Barton will be an outfielder.  Hmmm, as far as I know, Barton hasn't even played a game in the outfield.  Anyone with some inside information?

I posted a few numbers during yesterday's game thread, but thought AN may be interested.  We've seen a bit of a Dr. Jekyl, Mr. Hyde in our pitching staff this year.  Check out these monthly splits:

         W   L  WHIP  BB/9  K/9   OPBA   OPS    ERA   MLB Rank
April   12  12  1.30  1.98  6.71  .244    .684    3.65   #6
May     7   20  1.48  1.54  6.36  .263    .784    5.43   #29
June    13   8  1.18  2.28  6.57  .234    .666    3.26   #2 (Seattle is #1)

Also, in the last 7 days, the team's ERA is 2.19 (#1 in MLB)

So, what should we expect?  Now that we don't have to suffer through Glynn and Etherton and instead get to watch King Rich, will our pitching staff be the April/June version, will we see the May version come back to haunt us, or will we be somewhere in between?

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050621&content_id=12134&vkey=p r_milb&fext=.jsp

GENEVA, Ill. -- The Kane County Cougars, in conjunction with the Oakland Athletics, announced today that first-round draft pick Cliff Pennington will make his professional debut in Kane County.
Selected 21st overall, the shortstop fills the vacancy on the Cougars roster left by right-handed pitcher Joe Scott, who was sent to the Vancouver Canadians (short season, Claa A, Northwest League).

Sealing the deal on June 8, the A's picked up Pennington following his junior season at Texas A&M, one of five Aggies selected in the First-Year Player Draft. Slotted third in the Big 12 Conference in batting average (.363) and stolen bases (29), the switch-hitter led his squad in 12 categories during the 2005 season, including his .363 average, earning him All-Big 12 and team MVP honors. Additionally, Pennington garnered All-Big 12 Conference second-team recognition in both his freshman and sophomore years.

Hailing from Corpus Christi, Pennington's first professional game will come this Thursday, when the Cougars battle the Clinton LumberKings to start the second half.