In the past couple of days, while procrastinating writing papers for college, I have visited this website many times, and seen many a mock draft. I've seen a bunch of different positions being taken with our first pick: We've seen arguments for Tight Ends and Wide recievers. Less ridiculously, we've seen advocates of offensive linemen, tackles, guards, centers. Some advocate a defensive end to replace Cliff Avril/make him expendable. Some have advocated a linebacker to strengthen an already pretty good linebacking corps. Others have stressed the cornerback position. I think anything other than the last sentence is a mistake.

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Normally, I do not like it when people present their opinions lacking any hard evidence, but only having "a gut feeling". But here I am, about to do that. I think it is, to quote some great philosophers, more than a feeling, but its not quite a rigorous statistical analysis. Here goes. I think Yoenis Cespedes will radically outplay his projections, because I think his personality is up to it. My argument after the jump.

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The alleged dirtiness of our star defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh, seems to be a hot topic this year. After his rookie year featuring events like the near-beheading of Jake Delhomme, (not to mention the absolutely out of line brutal beating of Jay Cutler that earned a well-deserved fine) Ndamukong Suh started off this year with the same type of vicious assault on Andy Dalton, and has continued to toe the line separating football and out-and-out psychopathy all year. So, is Ndamukong Suh a dirty player. Allow me to add some perspective to the question. I come to you from two perspectives: As a Detroit Lions fan since the age of 4, ever since I picked up a Mike Cofer football card at a camp carnival; and as an Orthodox Jew with a pretty good knowledge of the Old Testament, working towards eventually becoming a Rabbi. I see many parallels between Ndamukong Suh and the story of Samson the Warrior, found in The Book Of Judges, which will hopefully shed some light onto what I think Ndamukong Suh means to this team.

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So, as we all know, the lions, after a miserable first half, after being down 20-0 and having their offense stifled by a vicious Minnesota pass rush, came roaring back in the second half to win 26-23 in OT. Matthew Stafford had over 300 yards passing after halftime, after being held to 68 yards before it. So, who was the MVP of this game? 

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Hey, long time AN poster here. Im in a "business ethics (yes, my school did get screwed over by Madoff, so its a bit of a touchy subject)" class in a college, and we've been assigned a term paper on pretty much anything we want, so I want to do a paper analyzing different cases from the business of baseball. Obviously the Furcal controversy is one of the cases I'd want to look at, so does anyone know of any good articles summing up what happened from all sides. Also, if anyone has any other good articles on other cases (Pedro Alvarez/Eric Hosmer, Denny Neagle, etc.) or any other good suggestions, thatd be much appreciated.

Go A's!

Heres my plan for resurrecting the lions

 

1. Hire Jim Schwartz, defense coordinator for Titans, as head coach.

He's been a candidate for years now, and has shown hes an intelligent guy with a great understanding of NFL defense. Look what he did with the Titans this year.

2. Hire Mike Leach, Texas Tech head coach, as offensive coordinator

This is potentially a great move, one that the aforementioned Schwartz has expressed some interest in. Leach is a mad genius who has been running his innovative AIr Raid offense for years and years in various places, and one would think, after coaching in disparate places like Finland, he would jump at the chance to prove himself at the ultimate level by turning Detroit into a contender. We've seen how slow the NFL adapts to innovation. It too 6 weeks for the league to solve one formation (wildcat). Imagine how flat footed it would be against a whole new system. Detroit, be innovative for once.

3. Hire back Rod Marinelli for Defensive Coordinator

Crazy, and potentially stupid. But, i feel he still has a good mind and has the respect of the players. Barring that one of the fired coaches like Herm Edwards, Marvin Lewis, Eric Mangini, and Romeo Crenel could do well.

4. Don't waste the first pick on a QB

Especially in Leach's system, a QB is not born, he is made. Drafting a guy who did well in college wont help unless you put a team around him. Work on making an offensive line, draft guys like Michael Oher and Andre Smith, and work on the defense in general. Dont waste the first pick exepecting a magic QB messiah.

5. Dont draft Michael Crabtree

Self Explanatory

Ive Been thinking about the A's recently, while watching the playoffs, and I had a bunch of random thoughts.

1. Daric Barton aint dead yet

Ok, he had a terrible year. But there is precedent for a bounceback. At the beginning of last year, the Toronto Blue Jays' to prospect was Adam Lind, a left handed hitter who the year before had blazed through the minor leagues and had a successful cup of coffee with the big league team, hitting .367. There was a every reason to think that he'd do well. He didnt. He batted .238 on the year, going on a hot streak towards the end to lift it that high. He did show a little bit of power, (11 HR's), but otherwise, it was pretty bad. This year though, he seems to have bounced back, hitting .282 with 9 HR's in 326 AB's, after a little bit of a struggle early on. So, yes, Barton had a bad year, but I think there's precedent for a bounceback. And after all, there were plenty of encouraging signs if you looked for them. He had 65 walks, saw a lot of pitches, did well towards the end, and let's remember, hes only 23.

2. Trade for Alex Gordon

The A's farm system right now is deep at pretty much every position except 3B. Eric Chavez does not appear to be the answer next year. We need a young 3B who can play there when Chavez is on the DL. In other words, we need an everyday 3B. Jeff Baisely does not look like the answer there, as he seems like more of a bench bat. Jack Hannahan didnt do well in his trial. So I think the A's should go after ALex Gordon. Formerly the top prospect in baseball, Gordon has not exactly performed up to expectations for the last two years, but is worth a gamble, as there are encouraging signs all over, from his patience at the plate (66 BB's), to his doubles which could turn into HR's (35 this year, in 493 AB's), to his age (24). So would the Royals give up on their former to prospect? It's not as crazy as it seems. The Royals' top hitting prospect is Mike Moustakas, who has been switched from SS to 3B, which does not indicate that they're so happy with Gordon. They can't move Gordon to 1B, because they have just drafted Eric Hosmer. It seems that Gordon does not exactly fit in the Royal's long term plans. So what would the Royals be looking for in exchange for Gordon? With the departure of Miguel Olivo, the Royals are in need of a catcher, and being that they're thr Royals, they'll take whatever they can get in other areas. This will require some creativity, as Kurt Suzuki is not tradeable, Rob Bowen doesn't exactly make GM's salivate, and Josh Donaldson wouldn't be MLB ready. What we do have, however, is a bevy of left handed starting pitchers, an OF logjam, and a capable closer we could use for trade bait. The Royals have Joakim Soria, so they don't need Street, but they could flip him to a team that has catchers. So, were I to be Beane, I try sending Gio Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Matt Murton to Kansas City for Alex Gordon. The Royals then move Mark Teahen back to his original position, third base, and put Murton in the OF. Then they flip Street to the Rangers for Jarod Saltamachia, one of teh Rangers surplus of catchers and a guy Royals GM Dayton Moore has liked since he worked in Atlanta. The Royals basically upgrade their offense with Salty and Murton, and their rotation with Gio, for their 3B they gave up on. The A's in turn, get an everyday third baseman who can contribute to their great young core, and the Rangers get a good closer for an excess catcher. I think it might work.

3. Sell high on Ryan Sweeney

Yes, I understand that hes big, hunky and the girls love him. But he's a guy limited to a corner OF position who projects to hit maybe .290 with 10-15 HR's a year. That's not a playoff-caliber starting outfielder. That's a fourth outfielder, maybe. Thing is, a lot of teams will overvalue him, because he's huge and just looks like he has 30 HR's locked in him. But he doesn't. Beane should try and swing a trade to net a good young infielder. Maybe to the dodgers for Ivan DeJesus Jr., its not like we're giving up Ryne Sandberg for him...

 

Jack Cust was named the AL player of the week, after hitting .500 with 3 home runs, after a slow start. In an article on the a's official site, Cust credits his recent resurgence to an unlikely source.

 

"Cust believes the harder wood has also contributed to his recent power surge."

 

He's already been busted for steroids...is viagra next?

 

(btw he was talking about a new bat, but i still thought that was hilarious)

I just joined this website, so here goes...

I think the lions should hire Texas Tech coach Mike Leach as at least their offensive coordinator. With an extraordinarily innovative offense he has made an offenseive powerhouse out of Texas Tech, setting passing records with no names such as the illustrious Kliff Kingsbury and BJ Symons. Point is, dude's a genius.
"But Calvinist365, what about Bobby Petrino, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban and other college coaches who went to the NFL and flopped badly? How do you know Mike Leach wont do the same?"
Simple answer. Texas Tech is not a big school. They dont get all star recruits like bigger colleges. The coaches who win, do so because the play with great players. Its not hard to put together a winning team for say, Notre Dame if every single Catholic kid in Indiana who can throw a football wants to be a fighting Irish. However Leach has assembled a prolific offense with the guys every other team rejected.
In conclusion, do we know whether Mike Leach will be a good coach? No. Is he worth the chance? I think so. Look at Michael Crabtree's stats. Then imagine Mike Leach with Calvin Johnson.

For more info, see this article written by Michael Lewis, same guy who wrote "The Blind Side" and "Moneyball"
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/magazine/04coach.html?pagewanted=all

This is just a general baseball diary for those of you who are statistically inclined.

After being disgusted at seeing people rave about a certain player leading the league in "runs" which is pretty much dependent on ur team, I decided to try to make a stat that reflected the contribution the player had to making runs, regardless of his team's performance. So after some tinkering, mostly with the Total Bases formula i came up with this

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Today was Jackie robinson day in baseball today. players wore the number 42 to honor the man for breaking the color barrier.
But you must ask the question what exactly did he do? People say he had courage to break the color barrier. That he did. But maybe we should give some credit to Branch Rickey. Branch Rickey has been considered the smartest baseball GM in history. It was said of him (during the cold war) that if he sat down with russia all theyd have left was siberia and some left handed pitchers. He had an eye for talent. However, his best and most revolutionary idea was that we should allow blacks to play baseball. Branch Rickey, who was the GM for the dodgers had the idea to sign Robinson. He was the initiator. Robinson only agreed to play. Rickey had the courage to come up with the idea of ending the racism that had permeated baseball. Rickey had the courage to seek value where nobody else was willing to see it. Yes, we should give credit to Robinson for being the one to do it. However, give Rickey his due.

Poll

Do you agree?

54%

Yes

25 votes

28%

No

13 votes

17%

You're a racist douchebag

8 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed

On ESPN theyre having a poll to see who the people think who the Best GM is. The list was

1.Billy Beane (A's)
2.John Schuerholz (braves)

3. Omar Minaya (mets)
   
4. Theo Epstein (red sox)
   

5 Brian Cashman (yankees)
6. Kenny williams (White sox)
7 walt Jocketty (cards)
8 Dave Dombrowski (Tigers)
9 Terry Ryan (twins)
10 Mark shapiro (indians)
11 Ned Coletti (dodgers)
12 Kevin Towers (padres)
13 Pat Gillick (phillies)
14 Bill Stoneman (angels)
15 JP Riccardi (blue jays)
16 Brian Sabean(giants)
17 Larry Beinfest (marlins)
18 Jim Hendry (cubs)
19 Tim Purpura (stros)
20 Doug Melvin (brewers)
21 Josh Byrnes (d-backs)
22 Jon Daniels (rangers)
23 Dayton Moore (royals)
24 Wayne Krivsky (reds)
25 Jim Bowden (nats)
26 Dan O'Dowd (rockies)
27 Bill Bavasi (mariners)
28 Andrew Friedman (d-rays)
29 Mike Flanagan (orioles)
30 Dave Littlefield (pirates)
 A couple of comments. #1 is no surprise. In my opinion though, #'s 16 and 22 should be switched. Sabean had his infamous Liriano trade and from what I see does not value young players well. on the other hand, Josh Byrnes of the D-Backs has put together a very formidable young team that should compete this year.

I think that the a's should pursue Jonny Gomes, as the title states, for a number of reasons

1. He's Good Good power, Great patience at the plate, decent fielder,
   
2. He's cheap. The D-Rays have a number of OF's they want to bring up. Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, etc. Right now, he seems a little out of their plans. Maybe a decent package of prospects will net him
   
3. He's from the Bay Area
   
4. He seems like a decent guy for our clubhouse
   

 

Ok, can we just have a plain out vote? All those who would want bonds vote Bonds. All those who dont vote No bonds. That way we shall see what the a's fans want.
For me, yes i think Bnds is on steroids, but who knows how many players are? Yes, he may be an a-hole, but that was also milton bradley's reputation.hmmm..itll be intresting to see them get along. Of course milton cant say that Barry doesnt care about black people....Id say Bonds

Poll

Bonds or No Bonds

37%

No Bonds

49 votes

62%

Bonds

81 votes

130 votes | Poll has closed

Earlier this year i wrote in frustration how the a's and my favorite football team, the detroit lions were so dissimilar. But in light of the recent events of frank thomas leaving and sudden vacancies I have a new insight into a's-footbal relationships. The A's are very similar to the Indianapolis Colts. Smart front office, recent injury history, the inabilty to get far in the playoffs thus far. Now last year, the colts lost thier marquee player, Edgerin James. Many people though their run was over. Now look at them: 9-0. Lesson: dont write off the a's, and think that just because zito, payton, and frank are gone, that Billy wont find a way.

Of the players that filed for free agency I'd like to point out the players i believe we should make a run after.

Frank Thomas- duh

David Riske CHW RP- I've always like'd this guy. A solid set up man to add to our formidable bullpen for cheap.

Eric Young UTility Texas- a solid super sub with a patient bat and veteran presence. Another guy ive always liked.

Randy Wolf SP Philly- A very solid starter on the young side. A's kin of pitcher. Not overpowering but uses deception to his advantadge.

Luis Gonzales- Arizona OF- After some great years  with a team, a former star player, a great hitter with a patient approach, whose stock has fallen is let go to Free Agnecy, free to fall to the A's who need a hitter. Sound familiar?

Jeff Cirillo- Another solid player

Frank Cattalanatto- See Eric Young

Craig Wilson- Already has a fan following here.

Ted lily- Another solid pitcher like Wolf, except previously non existent character concerns lessen his value. I sense a bargain.

All in all, these are players I think the A's should go after. On my previous lists i drew up I included such names as Jerome Williams and D'angelo Jiminiez, so I have a track record.

As a detroit lions fan. i am currently happy and unhappy at once. Happy the a's are in the playoffs. Unhappy that my football team cant win a dang game. It struck me that the lions are the opposite of the a's in many ways. First of all the a's are good. Second, they draft well, unlike the lions. Thirdly, the a's are well manged by billy beane, a person who rejects cpnventional wisdom to do what works for his team. The lions have matt millen who rejects conventional wisdom by doing the worst for his team. Compare: a's sign frank thomas to 500,000$ contract, he hitrs 40 HR's. Millen drafts charles rogers, signs him to 40 million bonus. 3 frustraing years later Rogers is cut. Why must my two favorite sports teams be so different? Can we get Billy Beane to take over for Millen?! I cant take this cruddy football team any longer!!!!!

a's picked up jerome williams off waivers from the cubs. i think this is a great move. williams is only 26. it was only a couple of years ago he was heralded as the  next doc gooden, but hes had overall bad luck with injuries and other stuff. I like his ability to get GB outs and i think he can still be an effective big league pitcher. I think Billy Beane thought the same thing. I keep a list of players that i want to see in a's uniforms. D'angelo jiminiez was on that list, and so was jerome williams. i think billy still knows what he's doing

Lets see...
one to blame Ken Macha for the bulb goping out, one to caclculate what the said bulb had remaining on its contract, one to check the stats of the prospect we got for the bulb, one to to say that getting the bulb was stupid and billy beane made a bad decision, one to ask if this means barry zito will be traded, one say we should trade the bulb for albert pujols, (help me out...add your own).....

i know this has been done to eath but if i were Billy Beane I'd do the following
Barry Zito and Kiko Calero to arizona for Brandon Webb, carlos quentin, and jose valverde
 Webb is an extreme GB pitcher, good for the A's good IF defense. Quentin is a great prospect with an amazing batting eye. If we could get Conor Jackson I'd do that too. And while Calero has been superb for us, getting a inning eater like webb is great for the bullpen. plus, valverde i think is still a legit reliever, and we should get him while his values down.
I'd then trade Jay Payton to the Mets for an old favorite, Chad Bradford. Hed replace Calero in the bullpen.

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If anyone read my last diaries one of them had a little thing about what Huston Street's theme song should be. That got me thinking: why stop at Huston Street? here are some baseball players and thier appropiate theme songs. feel free to contribute to the list.
Chad Bradford- "we all live in a yellow submarine"
Mike Mussina- "almost" by bowling for soup (hes won 19 games like 6 times but never 20, and pitched 2 no hitters into the 8th, though i could be wrong.)
johnny damon- american idiot by green day
eric byrnes- crazy train
torii hunter- spiderman song

I'm sure many of you have heard of the whole controversy surrounding Chris Mihlfeld, albert pujols's personal trainer. Basically he was Grimsley's trainer too and hepled him recover from Tommy John, which brings into question how he did so. additioanlly a DeadSpin has a source which says Mihlfeld is on it. Compelling, isn't it. But then Mihlfeld denies it vehemently, also saying that Pujols is frustrated that kids would look at him and think "juicer".
First of all, from what I have seen of Pujols I do not think he is a juicer. He seems to me as a hard working guy who really wants to be that best ball player he can be. somehow, i just don't think hes a juicer.
Now for the second, more tangible, evidence. Assuming that Mihlfeld is a steroid provider, and Pujols has taken steroids, why would Mihlfeld lie. Think about it. If his name is in there, aint nuthin he cud do about it. His name will eventually come out. What would be the point of lying? he'd just be  digging a deeper hole for himself! And if you were to say, "waht about Rafael Palemiro?" that was diffeent because by saying what he said he was hoping to avoid getting tested. Unless Mihlfeld is a complete moron, I wouldn't worry about Pujols.

Poll

Is Pujols Juiced

35%

No

14 votes

15%

I dunno

6 votes

10%

...i cannot even think about the possibility

4 votes

5%

theyre all on steroids!!!

2 votes

35%

Yes

14 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

The a's sweep of the yankees was very gratifying to me bucuz every day when i go to school wearing my green and gold a's cap, i get all this crap about how the a's suck. and when i say crap i mean it. some exapmles
"mark kotsay is the worst fielding CF in baseball"
"the yankees have a better starting staff than the a's"
"the yankees are better fielders"
"joe Blanton/dan johnson/nick swisher/mark ellis/the a's suck cuz i havent heard of them"
"the only good pitcher on the a's is barry zito, cuz no one else has won a Cy young"
Usually me and whoever happens to be a Met fan just look at each other an crack up.
So when the A's swept the Yankees, the yankee fans were desperate not to be completely embarassed, saying things like "this doesnt matter" even though they had ben trying to make fun of the a's after they had lost 2 of 3 to the yankees. Then came the ridiculous comments:
"The Yankees have the best farm system in the league! I mean look! They have the top prospect in baseball with Melky Carbrera"
(coughlastingsmilledge)
"name 10 prospects who are better than melky cabrera"
so i did.
"bu they havent been in the majors!"
because....theyre....prospects....
eventually i agreed with him because with he being a yankee fan he defines "baseball" as "yankees" and therefore melky cabrera is the top prospect in "baseball".
Another stupid yankee fan moment: talking with friends about how i play baseball i mentioned i pitch a little. immediately a yankee fan says "you can't pitch"
"have you seen me pitch?"
"no"
"so how do you know I can't"
"you (5'4 125 lbs. 15 years old) dont look like you can pitch"
i then
a) proceeded to give him a lecture on how im not selling jeans
b) i gave him a list of successful short pitchers
c) offered to go out and strike him out on 3 pitches
he declined.
Anyway onto a new topic, here in New York there is a ridiculous arguement between yankee fans and the normal people about billy wagner coming into a game to "enter sandman" by metallica. Problem? "it's mariano rivera's song" (rolls eyes). a normal perosn hearing this arguement either blows it off for the BS it is or gets an image in thier head of Rivera with a latino accent (attempting) to sound heavy metal. Point is, i was wondering if we should get an entrance song for Huston Street. i'm open to suggestions, but I think something from Green Day would be good b/c of the band name (GREEN and gold DAY) and the fact that (as far as i know) theyre from the general area. My personal favorite would be this part from "holiday" ending off with "the representative from california has the floor".
(do i have to explain that?).
I think ill end off here, by saying in short, Zito for Abreu!!!!! Thank You and Enjoy.

Poll

Would be an entrance song for Huston Street be a good idea?

0 votes | Poll has closed

Hello. I am an Oakland A's fan currently living in new jersey surrounded by yankee fans. I used to be one myself, but i got sick of their arrogance and the ever climbing payroll, becoming an A's fan. Yankee fans now really tick me off. Any player outside the AL East cant possibly be good, the A's "stink" because "they have no one I ever heard of", and the Yankees "have a better rotation than the A's by far" because "Mussina is so much better than some guy named Rich Harden". Ive been telling them that the A's are good and the Yankees are overrated, but what does "a stupid a's fan" know. After months of saying how we're gonna beat you opening night, the Yankees creamed you guys. Please, please, win it for this A's fan surrounded by arrogant stupid yankee fans.
Dan Johnson- A guy told me you stunk because "he never heard of you. Make yourself heard
Thomas- You already helped me by making good on my prediction that you will hit a HR in your first AB. Keep it up
harden- Shut them down. That was my next prediction.
Street- A yankee fan thinks you are "like 40 or something"
Rest- Show those yankee fans that they stink
Jon Sterling- shut up. please