SB Nation User Blog: ST

Forbes: Baseball's Most Valuable Teams 2009

ST — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:41:31 -0000

Interesting read from Forbes:

Forbes: Baseball's Most Valuable Teams 2009

including some of the economics of baseball.

From this comprehensive assessment, it's interesting to see each team's business models:

- Yankess rely on lucrative television network deals (YES!) while subtracting the new debt and operating costs associated with its new 1.5 Billion (!!!!) stadium to curtail revenue sharing from its player's salaries for a meager loss of -$3million in an off year of sorts

- Contrastingly, the Florida Marlins have the lowest revenue stream in baseball, but yet reap the highest operating income due to the handouts from such teams as the Yankees, Red Sox, etc. No wonder they are content with the once a decade MLB King, then garage sale after...

- On the other end of the spectrum are the Detroit Tigers with a net loss of $26.3 million dollars and nothing to show for it! I predict a firesale of epic proportions to shed the high player salaries soon. Are the looking soon for bailout money like their local auto companies?

- As for our Athletics, due to major costs cutting in salaries last year and even with the declining attendance figures, the A's raked in a $26.2 million dollar profit most likely helped by the charities of richer ballclubs. The organizational valuation didn't change that much year over year (-1%), but how long will that last staying at a bastard of a stadium?

Why the Baseball HoF is a sham (i.e., the Rickey ballot)..

ST — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:22:48 -0000

Just read this excellent report from the Mercury News:

Rickey won't be unanimous to Hall

In a nutshell, some offbeat writer, Corky Simpson, for a small town Tucson newspaper intentionally omitted Rickey off the HoF ballot because he "wasn't a Rickey guy and that he would vote for him next time". So instead of including one of the best (if not the best) basestealers leadoff outfielders baseball player ever, who did he select instead? How about the likes of fringe players Matt Williams and (to a lesser degree) Tim Raines. This columnist even had the audacity to cite that "Nobody ever played the game with more intensity, nor with more reverence for the sport" than Matt Williams! At 70 years old, I would have thought that he had the enjoyment of seeing Rickey's intensity in his prime years.

Luckily for us, Rob Neyer of ESPN calls him out on it :

No Hall of Fame vote for Rickey … why?

To Simpson's credit, he did express regret about voting that way. However, the damage has been done and the vote can't be retracted. It's retarded how these HoF ballots are casted by the most irrelevant and stupidest of folks (that same Tempe sportswriter also made a mockery out of McGwire's inclusion due to the steroid scandal, yet never once cited the that Williams was a part of the infamous Mitchell report - no Diamondback bias there alright).

Anyhow, I encourage you to show your displeasure with these asinine voters by contacting the Baseball Hall Of Fame themselves to stop this mockery of the HoF:

Baseball Hall Of Fame

San Jose MLB fanbase?

ST — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:46:21 -0000

As sort of an offshoot of the possible San Jose A's being reintroduced thread, I thought it would be interesting to see what folks think who the majority of the fan base down here root for (i will publish a similar thread at McCovey Cove).

Territorial rights BS aside and having first hand knowledge, I feel that A's fans are a vocal, yet small minority here, especially with the minor league SJ Giants right in the heart of the city. However, I am seeing more and more folks open to the prospect of the A's and their "Moneyball" philosophies since we are the heart of Silicon Valley after all. One of my close colleagues here at work (an avid Giants fan and season-ticket holder nonetheless) has recently entertained the thought of going to A's games with me due primarily to 1) The Bondless futility of the team (and the whole scandal surrounding it beforehand), 2) the Zito-fallout, and 3) the luster of Pac-Bell/SBC/ATT Park wearing off.

So what are your thoughts on San Jose?

Poll

What is the prevailing MLB fanbase in San Jose?

Split with either Giants or A's

37 votes

Predominantly Giants

58 votes

Predomninatly A's

15 votes

Whoever Bud Selig determines the fans should root for

18 votes

128 votes | Poll has closed

Sharks buy into Earthquakes Ownership

ST — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:06:53 -0000

Interesting read from the Merc:

http://www.mercurynews.com/sharks/ci_11123589

As it relates to the A's, the most intersting tidbit was:

Could there be more down the road? Notably, Jamison referred to Wolff and John Fisher as the A's ownership group.

"From our standpoint, we're open to anything," Jamison said. "We've talked on different issues and different things."

Now whether that opens a possible window into the Southbay, if the Fremont deal folds, remains to be seen. However, I can see some future marketing impact with the Sharks splashing the Quakes / A's tidbits here and there and doing co-promotional events.

Go Shark's / A's!

Padres start to gauge interest in Peavy

ST — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:15:13 -0000

Interesting that SD is already starting the bidding war on him. I've always like Peavy and think of him as a real front line #1 Ace. Considering that the Padres only want "at least two young pitchers in return, along with someone who can become the team's everyday center fielder sometime in the immediate to near future", which fits exactly the strength of the A's presently: depth of outfields and pitching. Would it make sense to deal for him and his salary (see below)? I wouldn't mind a deal of Eveland / Smith + Duke / Casillas + Mazarro / Gio + Sweeny / Cunningham for him. Play him until 2011/2012 (and when the newlook A's start maturing) then unload him when he gets really expensive for more picks or someone in trades. A front line rotation of:

- Peavy

- Gallagher

- Cahill

- Anderson

- Simmons / Mazarro

Espn: Padres start to gauge interest in Peavy

Peavy, 27, will make $8 million in 2009, $15 million in 2010, $16 million in 2011 and $17 million in 2012, and he has a 2013 option for $22 million, with a $4 million buyout.

Harden to skip next start....says no arm issues....

ST — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:28:53 -0000

I think that there has been a huge division in the A's fanbase on the Harden trade as many have blasted Beane for trading a seemingly healthy Harden. However, all is not golden in the land of flameouts:

Sep. 2 News: 9:37 AM

Harden, whose velocity has slipped a little, will have his next start skipped, however he insists that there is no problem with his arm, the Chicago Tribune reports.

This sort of "developement" on Harden is something that we A's fans are very familiar with: slipping velocity, denial of problems, then the inevitible DL trip. I am not here to say, I told you so.....but as many have said all along: this trade was advantageous to BOTH the Cub's and the A's. The Cubs get a very short term front end elite pitcher for the playoffs, while the A's continuing restocking their farm system. I still think Harden is a very special player...when healthy, and i hope the Cubs take special care of the glass cannon so he can step up during their WS run.

edit: found the original Chicago Tribune article but seems to indicate that this was planned, albeit skipping 2 starts was somewhat unexpected.

update: Rotoworld comments from Harden

"I’ve been feeling pretty good, but I guess I’ve had a little bit of discomfort you could call it. But nothing serious," he said. It's always serious when it comes to Harden. He'll go 11 days without pitching before attempting to return to the mound next week.

15 Day DL...here we come!

DLD 08/19/08 - Insomniac Edition

ST — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:15:29 -0000

Yes, it's 2am in the morning, thus necessitating a 08/19/08 DLD....well not really but oh well....so some news from around A's land:

Yes the A's won yesterday! However, Duke got hurt but SuSlu reports that it might just be inflammation continuing from previous start (why am i not surprised he was hurt earlier?). Duke is supposed to take a trip to see an A's doctor, which means he's going on the 60-day DL soon. This in turn prompts our QOTM nominee from "the Babbler" :

The A's don't need to build a new ball park, they need to build a hospital.

With the win, Oakland is in #11 position for the 2009 MLB Draft, .5 games out from Cleveland at #10 and 13.5 games back on the Nats for #1 position (see we're not that pitiful....yet).

Oakland	57	67	.460	19.5	34-33	23-34	491	498	-7	Won 1	4-6	0.1	0.1	0.1
Cleveland	56	67	.455	20	33-29	23-38	577	572	+5	Won 1	7-3	0.1	0.1	0.1
Colorado	57	69	.452	20.5	34-29	23-40	591	654	-63	Won 3	5-5	0.7	0.1	0.7
Atlanta	56	69	.448	21	34-31	22-38	566	566	0	Lost 2	3-7	0.2	0.1	0.2
Pittsburgh	56	69	.448	21	34-31	22-38	583	671	-88	Won 1	3-7	0.0	0.1	0.1
Kansas City	55	69	.444	21.5	28-34	27-35	510	619	-109	Lost 2	2-8	0.1	0.1	0.1
Cincinnati	55	70	.440	22	32-33	23-37	533	634	-101	Won 1	3-7	0.0	0.0	0.0
San Francisco	53	71	.427	23.5	24-36	29-35	475	579	-104	Won 2	5-5	0.1	0.0	0.1
San Diego	48	76	.387	28.5	27-38	21-38	474	579	-105	Lost 1	4-6	0.1	0.0	0.1
Seattle	46	78	.371	30.5	24-38	22-40	521	623	-102	Lost 4	2-8	0.0	0.0	0.0
Washington	44	81	.352	33	23-39	21-42	462	624	-162	Lost 10	0-10	0.0	0.0	0.0

In other A's news, St. Paul native Jack Banaharan had Minnesota fans equal to ~500X his batting average show up at the game.

In a sign of the evolution of Moneyball, the A's have found a new market inefficiency hence on Sept. 6, they decided they would rather lose 2X in one day then one time over 2 days (Take that Theo E.).

The A's also expressed their confidence in Daric Louganis aka Staplehead. At only 23 years of age, Beane likes Daric's experience which will set him up to eventually take over Larry Davis' fanny pack.

From the A's / Twins game, caption this:

Dump away while i try to figure out how to get to sleep with a Euro con-call in 4 hours =(

"This is NOT rebuilding. Billy Beane reloaded."

ST — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:09:03 -0000

With our beloved A's doing well now, I want to turn back the clock on a prediction someone made earlier during the turbulent trying times of the offseason (and that I've made as my signature since then): "This is NOT rebuilding. Billy Beane reloaded."

There is a detailed analysis of the Dan Haren trade over at the subscriber-driven Baseball Prospectus, and for Angel fans, it is not a pretty picture.

In short, don't pop the division crown corks any time too soon, especially you pre-2009-11 AL West crown revelers.

The gist of the article is that the 6 prospects that the A's received from Arizona are SO good, that Fremont's pre-trade #11 prospect is now it's #16 prospect - and BP doesn't rate players over 25 as prospects, thus eliminating former-D-Back minor league pitcher Dana Eveland from it's consideration.

The analysis adds four of the players acquired in the Haren trade as firmly entrenched in the Joakland Top Ten prospects. Many pundits have given Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez a Carlos Beltran ceiling, and author Kevin Goldstein (the John Sickels of subscriber shakedown baseball websites) slots him as the #2 prospect for the She-Wolffs, implying that there is more than just an outside chance that Gonzalez will be the opening day centerfielder under Mount Davis. He calls lefty Brett Anderson the best teenage pitching prospect in baseball. Position players Chris Carter and Aaron Cunningham are #5 and #7 prospects respectively in Goldstein's very educated guesstimation.

This is NOT rebuilding. Billy Beane reloaded.

Before you point out all of the trouble facing Tarp Town, what with its proclivity for injuries and/or Kotsay/Krosby deadweight, consider that if Billy Beane is within 5 games of first place in July, he can take on two months of payroll for just about any star rental, and could trade a host of these glamorous prospects for serious pennant race mojo.

The Dan Haren trade should give Angel fans the queasy tension that early season games against the Athletics are of double import - Billy Beane's team cannot be allowed to sniff first place in midsummer. Complicating matters even more is the pathetic state of the Mariners and Rangers. Talk about the Green and Gold cakewalk - we all know that had the Mariners simply played .500 ball against Choakland in 2006 that the division crown would have comfortably rested in L.A. of Anaheim. With these two gelded inbred franchises being allowed on the field, there is no end to what the Connie Mack Attack can achieve in the A.L. West standings in 2008.

In other words, pop that bottle on New Year's Eve for the new year, not October.

Who "woulda!" predicted that this was brought to you by the the ringleader of the Huntington Beach Rat Lovers of Anaheim, Rev of Halo's Heaven! See http://www.halosheaven.com/2007/12/16/161215/74

Whatever happens in the months ahead, our overachieving A's are doing what no one expected and hopefully this is the dawn of very good things to come! :)

哎哟 - 对不起，我不知道英文 :(

Free A's ticket to tonight's game 9/18 (Field Level)

ST — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:36:26 -0000

Unfortunately i won't be able to make it out tonight and neither will my friends, so I have one free Field Level ticket for any fans out there. It is a field level ticket and has a complimentary free parking as well. The only catch is that you have to pick it up from my office near San Jose Airport.

Email stranx44@yahoo.com if you're intersted.

(diary to be named later)

ST — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:26:10 -0000

With the recent slew of trades left and right by the A's for (insert player / cash to be determined later), I was curious of the league mandates for such strange ambiguous stipulations in a trade. I mean, typically you have your straight player x for player y trade. But in scenarios where it is (insert player / cash to be determined later), how is it dertemined that Jack Cust is worth only cash considerations, and not say a Daric Barton? Or how is Denforia (who hasn't played one bit), worth someone like McBeth, a wonder prospect in the minors. Does MLB / MLBPA have any stipulations as to who/what amount/etc. has to be settled by what date? Just curious how it works out.


Sep. 2	News: 9:37 AM Harden, whose velocity has slipped a little, will have his next start skipped, however he insists that there is no problem with his arm, the Chicago Tribune reports.