SB Nation User Blog: RLangford

Why this is a good season

RLangford — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:48:35 -0000

I'm not writing with blinders or rose-colored glasses on when I say this: The season has been a big success so far. And here's why:

If I had told you the Angels were going to have the pitching staff they do and 5-6 guys hitting over .300, I don't expect you would think that we would contend with them. And, of course, how they perform is out of Beane's and the A's control, right?

Now let's look at us. Could you possibly argue that the A's were really going to win 90-95 games this year? They lost Zito and Thomas, and then had to depend on healthy years from typically unhealthy players (Bradley, Harden) plus hope for improvement and health from just about everyone else (Chavez, Crosby, Johnson, Swisher, Kendall, Ellis, and the pitchers.) That wasn't a realistic expectation. And, obviously, it hasn't happened. And we shouldn't go into a season thinking it will happen. Crosby is who he is, not who people thought he would be. Chavy will never be a big star. Swisher is great, but not MVP caliber yet. It would be easy to go on.

So why, then, is this a good season so far?

Well, my hopes for this year were that the A's would be competitive—they have been—and, more importantly, that they'd see reason to have hope for the years that follow. And that's exactly what's happened. Look at the positives from this year (the ones that we can carry into next season):

Dan Haren as a #1 starter. Even if Haren regresses a bit, could anyone have expected this performance? (Actually, I think Nico was touting Haren as progressing to be a clear and dominant #1 last year.)

Joe Blanton as a frontline starter. Blanton has been the biggest pitching surprise of the season to me. For those of us who have watched his games, we know that he has pitched better than his very fine ERA. The improvement in Blanton's key peripherals has been huge. None of us who were hoping for the trade to the Mets are any longer wanting that deal.

Chad Gaudin's emergence as a starter. We might have hoped for this. Some of us may have been promoting it. But we didn't have any reason to expect it. Injuries led to it, and the result has been a pitcher who solidifies our rotation for the future.

Travis Buck. The injuries worry me a little; after all, I'm an A's fan. But Buck's performance this year projects to a very bright future and a second young outfielder to go with Swisher. That's very good news. Did we really expect a viable rookie of the year candidate this year?

Jack Cust. This is beyond good. If Cust is the next Matt Stairs or better, that is an incredibly fortunate development for the A's. A cost-controlled slugging DH means the A's can shift resources once dedicated to the next Thomas or Piazza to a different area of need. Over and above all that, Cust is just incredibly fun to watch hit—and, because of his career path, to root for.

Casilla, Suzuki, and Barton. Three players we feel better about now than before the season. I'm aware of small sample size. But I'd rather that Casilla pitch like he has and Suzuki hit like he has than the opposite. Both have done very well so far, and obviously Casilla's been invaluable since he's been up. As for Barton, his June put to rest some burgeoning fears on this site, it seems.

In sum, then, because of the above I feel much better about the future than I felt before this season. So regardless of how this season ends, if it simply continues as it has so far, for me it will have been a good year.

Bye Bye, Kotsay

RLangford — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:55:25 -0000

Back surgery and likely three months missed.

Milton Bradley should be the A's centerfielder--this is just me talking--with Swisher and some combination of other bodies filling the remaining two spots. Of all the A's likely injured--Harden, Chavez, Crosby, Bradley--Kotsay is, for me, easily the most acceptable. But the key is that Bradley remain healthy.

Worst Contract in Baseball History

RLangford — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:11:50 -0000

Juan Pierre's. 5 years, $44 million.

And don't even bring up anybody else. Like Mike Hampton. Or Denny Naegle. At least they'd done something, albeit minimal. At least there was some reasoning, albeit idiotic, for the Rockies throwing all that ridiculous money at them.

But this. This defies any logic at all. You just gave $44 million to a guy whose limited skill set will likely decline. You just gave $44 million to a guy who, throughout the life of his contract, you will almost always have some better option than. You just gave $44 million to a player who will normally be a net minus.

Unbelievable.

In other news: You all know that Gary Matthews Jr. is 32 with only one very good season to his credit, right? Angels and Giants went for him. Man, that was a bidding war a hardcore A's fan couldn't lose.

Macha--A sort of defense

RLangford — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 02:30:48 -0000

(The following assumes you know the quotes from Kendall, Kotsay, Zito, and Haren.)

I liked Macha as a manager--much more than many of you.

I think things could have been much worse (also better, of course). What I liked about Macha was how he handled the pitching and the fact that he didn't make dumbass in-game decisions like so many managers do. Joe Torre ever letting Derek Jeter bunt--that's one dumbass in-game decision. He didn't do idiotic things like that, so I've been grateful.

But once you hear he's lost the team in the way he had; well, he's pretty much doomed.

Macha isn't a bad guy or a stupid guy. He just is generally pessimistic and uncommunicative, and that worked against him. He's too much Eyore to be a leader of men.

Because apparently it does matter that somebody comes out and bitches about a call. It does matter that now and then the skip buoys you up. It does matter that he makes you feel like a part of the team. It does matter that he has energy and confidence that you can draw energy and confidence from when times get tough. Macha fell short in these areas.

So I don't mind Kendall's comments about him not having fire so much. He's just identifying one of Macha's flaws, and one that, whether we fans want to believe it or not, harms the team.

Zito and Kotsay--they sound like pretty typical ballplayers who can't see beyond their own martyrdom (Zito) or inflated sense of self (Kotsay).

Kotsay, in particular, just seems like at times he isn't a very nice guy. He handled a post-game interview at the Coliseum like an absolute prick one time, and his quotes just scream out that he's self-centered, petty, and thus divisive. Remember when he bitched about being pulled from first late in one game in Baltimore?

That was the game after which Urban wrote about Bradley. Bottom line: If Kotsay were black he wouldn't be an ultra-competitive gamer, he'd be a problem. But Milton Bradley gets that role. And really, what a dick Michael Urban seems like in all of this for calling out Bradley repeatedly this year. Yeah, Bradley was the problem in the clubhouse. No, Michael, you tool, Kotsay and Kendall--two likely sources for your bullshit--are the problems, if anybody is.

Kotsay should have sat in Games 1 and 3 vs. Detroit. But he's too clueless to know that. I'm sure Macha would have sat him if he could go back now.

And Danny Haren. He just comes off like the stupid young guy who's following the lead of people it would be better not to follow. Danny doesn't get that Kotsay shouldn't be playing. Glad he saves you occasional runs, dude, but Kielty fricking mashes and gets you runs. So let's just ignore Danny saying that Kots should never have a day off vs. lefties.

Taken together, then: Macha--who again, I liked--needed to go. And in the process of his leaving, we learned some things about some of our players.

Mocking the Yankees

RLangford — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 23:21:21 -0000

Let us pause a moment to consider the pathetic Yankees.

Look what $220,000,000 buys: Jack shit.
Fastest change from "Best offense ever" to "Most overrated offense ever." Joe Morgan: Wrong again (said this was greatest offense ever).
Regardless of who we want the A's to play, it's great to see these 25 Grade A assholes and their management lose. After Game 1, everybody thought it was over and Cashman was on ESPN sounding smug as hell.
Congratulations to Jason Giambi, who took the money to go to a team that benched him in an elimination game. Enjoy the view from the bench. I'm sure it's miserable.
Congratulations to A-Rod on becoming the most miserable and maligned player in major league baseball. Life is so much better for Marco Scutaro than you right now. No, wait, life is so much better for Antonio Perez right now.
Is there anything funnier than Wright-LIDLE-Bruney-Proctor with the season on the line. And your payroll is $80 million higher than the next closest team? So great to see this pathetic collection of mercenaries humiliated.
Barry Zito is making, like, 10 million more dollars than he already would have because of this series. Steinbrenner is going to drive the price of pitching insanely high. Hope Zito doesn't go to them, though. He'll be miserable--too.
Yankees record in post-season since 2000 is awful. No World Series wins and plenty of embarrassment.
Blowing a lead to Arizona in the 9th inning of Game 7.
Having their ass kicked by the Angels.
The choke job against the underdog Marlins--in six.
The biggest ever choke job against the Red Sox. The only team ever to blow a 3-0 lead.
Another loss to the Angels--who even remembers a play from that series, and it was all in prime time.
And now this: losing in four game to a team that bumbled into the playoffs, having just been swept by the Royals, their pitching in shambles.

What a horrible run of playoff failure.

So, really, fuck the Yankees. They're worthless, pathetic, overpaid losers.

Eric Byrnes and ESPN

RLangford — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:48:42 -0000

Shouldn't we have a diary chronicling or at least commenting on our erstwhile leftfielder? Anybody who saw his debut performance before and after Game 2 of A's-Twins had to be just blown away by the ironies and, sorry Eric, the lame analysis.

Two standout moments:

Eric picking against the A's. Dude, isn't this the team that raised you?
Eric saying something like, "You know, I say just go for it" about Torii Hunter's suicidal play. Uh, Eric, that was the most costly defensive decision in baseball so far this year. In hindsight we know the options and the consequences. We have the benefit of reflection. Torii shouldn't have gone for it.

Radio call of the year

RLangford — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 06:54:20 -0000

This needs to be said:

Vince Cotroneo's call of Kotsay's inside-the-park homerun was unbelievable. It was as good as it could possibly have been, and the most memorable call since Korach's call of Tejada's homer for the 18th win of the 20-game streak.

If you missed it, listen to the warm up on Friday to hear the call.

Cotroneo's been criticized some this year, but this is definitely a time to praise him.

Dear Anaheim Angels:

RLangford — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 06:58:19 -0000

You are no threat.

Can we just stop pretending that a team that's 6 games over .500, a team that hasn't been much better than that all season, a team that could only split at home against the Boston B-team and the Yankees' 5/6/7 starters, a team that can't field, a team that can't take a walk, a team that pitches poor Scott Shields two innings in any game it has a chance of winning, a team that hasn't put together a meaningful stretch of good baseball, a team...

I could go on, but please can we stop pretending that that completely average and uninspiring team is any threat to us. Can we stop with the "If the A's play .500 the rest of the way" scenarios, as if there is any chance that the Angels will possibly play 10 games over .500 the rest of the way.

I, for one, am sick and tired of pretending that the Angels are worth a shit. I'm sick of being afraid of Jared Weaver and whoever else they're tossing out there. I'm sick of pretending I'm threatened by their sorry-ass lineup of Chone Figgins and a bunch of other slap-happy dink hitters. I'm sick of hearing about their youth that's amounted to one pitcher and one hitter this year--the rest has been crap. Saunders, Napoli, Morales...who cares about these guys?

They'll be good next year, you say. So what? I don't give a crap about next year right now.

The Angels haven't done a damn thing the whole season. Haren put them in their place a month ago and they haven't been heard from since. Their big moment was when the Royals swept us 10 days ago. Well, I hope they enjoyed it because that's a distant memory now.

So to the Angels and their fans I say this:

Go away, you don't matter any more.

The 2004 Collapse

RLangford — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 06:34:02 -0000

This year is nothing like 2004--not even close.

Any comparison is pointless, mostly because the A's are such a radically different team.

But I thought it would be worthwhile to point out that the A's collapse that year revealed that they were in fact a pretty bad team. Beane saw this and, god bless him, acted.

How bad were the "September, 2004 Oakland A's"? We all, of course, can point at Mulder and Mecir and Hatteberg, but truly it was a team-wide failure.

Consider these numbers:

*In their last 26 meaningful games that season the A's went 9-17.

*7 of those 9 wins were by one run.

*The A's were outscored by an amazing 57 runs during that stretch: 153-96.

They were truly awful, one of the worst teams in baseball by season's end.

This year, of course, the A's aren't anything like that. All signs indicate that they will be a very good team all through Septembrer. Every single aspect of this team--starters, bullpen, offense, and defense--is better than the 2004 squad.

When I look back at that September, I always think to myself that being so very awful actually saved the team. It led Beane to act. And the team we have right now is, in part, a result of those actions.

That horrible month was very likely the best thing that could have happened to the organization.

Under the Radar: The A's and the Media

RLangford — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:31:19 -0000

Nobody's taking notice, right? And those who do are often being dismissive. That's okay. They're missing a story that we're all seeing firsthand, a story that they will eventually catch up to.

It's funny to see the Dodgers post essentially the same record as the A's for 17 games, but be at the center of ten times the number of stories. Everybody loves the Dodgers, it seems; yet everybody wants to explain why the A's don't really deserve any love.

Take the story at Baseball Prospectus today (paid content). As Salb detailed in the DLD it misanalyzes the A's in some significant ways. But that's to be expected. The guys at BP often write with an undeserved authority. Joe Sheehan, who wrote the article, is definitely one who does. Sure, there are many good insights to be gleaned at BP, but an overview of our team isn't going to be worth much to most of us. And that goes for the stuff at ESPN, the Hit Lists and Power Rankings, the flippant columns by the likes of Bill Simmons. It's all going to tell us much, much less than we already know.

Because most of us know the team better than BP and ESPN and the rest do. We watch them much, much more; can contextualize statistics; we know the difference in performance between now and, say, April; and we see beyond run differential to how they're actually winning. We know about Swish's weight loss, about Chavy's forearms, about Haren's last five starts, about Loaiza's slight improvement, about Calero's value, about Frank Thomas since Chicago, and on and on.

The very, very obvious story to write about the A's right now and that most people are writing--if they even bother--is that they'll win the West but nothing more. That they're no real threat. Whatever. That's now. That story will change. Dan Haren will likely be a developing story. The A's offense "since the return of Bradley" will be a developing story. Their bullpen and Frank Thomas will get more of the attention they deserve.

If the A's continue to win, their winning will need to be explained beyond, "They're lucky and they play good defense." They will have to be reckoned with--by both the media and by their playoff opponents.