I loved what Frank Thomas did for the A's this past season, but his asking price will be too high.  He'll be asking for a mimimum of $12 mil for two years, with $20-25 mil for three years probably more realistic.  The Big Hurt was great for the A's, but who realistically would have guessed he'd stay healthy all year.  I believe we won a game of Russian Roulette with him this year, and somebody will now sign up for three more years of that game.  If he does have another injury to that glass ankle of his, it will probably be career ending.  Also, I believe Detroit exposed his bat speed a little bit.  Regardless of his incredible year, his bat doesn't get around on the flamethrowers like it used to.  He still crushes off speed stuff and location, but he doesn't quite have the wrist action of the young FT.  He's more of an arm swinger who pulls everything these days.
So I say take the draft picks (we need them) and platoon Kielty and Ryan Klesko (pick RK up on the cheap), get Loaiza's contract off the books if necessary (someone will take that off our hands) and go after Matsuzaka - he's the real deal.  This way we stay young, the future is bright, Barton can play his way onto the roster if he's good enough, and we're still a championship contender with defense and pitching.

Just a few thoughts on our A's before Cupcakes takes the mound tonight:

Was it just me, or was all of AN thinking "Don't run, just stand there ... please" when Big Frank hit the double play ball last night in the eighth inning.  Two on, one out in a close game, and all I could think was "Don't hurt yourself, big guy - it ain't worth it."

It's August now, and pitchers are breaking down and running out of gas all around both leagues.  We've got three big, young horses (Blanton, Zito and Haren) that just seem to be hitting their stride.  Maybe bats are coming through the zone just a bit slower in the dog days of summer and the big-framed, young studs are just warming up.  It's as if the finely tuned race cars need a break, but the big old American v-12 trucks are hitting the open road ...

which brings us to our own (and only) finely tuned racecar, Rich Harden.  Could it be a blessing that he has been in the shop so long?  Has anyone noticed, after so much chatter about his return in May and June, that there has been almost none in July?  Could he be quietly rounding back into form?  Will we get our flamethrower back by Sept. 1? ...

and, if so, in what capacity.  He'd be a perfect closer, and Huston has been serving up some beach balls lately.  Even when he doesn't get beat, it seems like he gets hit hard.  Even when he doesn't get hit hard, he seems to throw some awfully fat pitches.

What about Bradley?  The guy is as insecure as a bulemic teenager, but he can play.  He needs AN, Mark Kotsay, Thomas, Chavy and anyone else to stroke him.  Maybe we should take Mychael Urban out and humiliate him, just as a sign of solidarity with Milton.  We need you Milton.  We want you.  We love you.  Your act isn't tired.  Now get out there and make us cheer for you.

Chavy isn't quite the second coming of Ghandi that A's management thinks he is, but once again he tells it like it is.  He says "I can't hit" and he stinks at the plate.  He says "I'm feeling better" and he goes on a 9 game hitting streak.  But regardless of what you think of his heart, recognize that we are all experiencing the unique treat of watching the best third baseman in the history of baseball field his position.  Sorry, Brooks - no contest.

Maybe Bobby Crosby will not turn it around and start hitting, but I think our offense could be one man's hitting streak away from being a juggernaut.  I don't think Frank Thomas has gotten hot yet, and if he does he can carry the offense like no one else since Bonds '03.

The wild card, once conceded to the Central division runner-up, is anyone's guess.  It feels like there is a chance that the Twins win the central, and I wouldn't be too surprised if the wild card came from the West.

There is a lot of baseball to play, but right now the Angels look better than the Red Sox.  The A's look better than the Yankees.  The Tigers look better than the Chisox.  And the Twins look better than everybody.

As much of an offensive black hole as he is, there are playoff-hopeful teams that need a catcher.  Well, Kendall is, if nothing else, a bonafide ML catcher.  He is an absolute liability to an already weak hitting team that plays station to station and desperately needs a dangerous bat in the lineup, but his limited offensive assets could be utilized on a speedier team.  He is a mediocre defensive catcher, and the remainder of his contract (with help from the Pirates) is not nearly as astronomical as it once was.  Piazza is killing the Pads with his defense.  Would the Pads be willing to swap Piazza for Kendall, or even Kendall and Perez?  Would it make the A's better?

Listening to the A's broadcast last night, I heard Ken Korach make a comment about Karsay: a great guy with a great career who went out on top (or something to that effect).  All I could think was how completely bogus that comment was.  By all accounts, Steve Karsay was a good guy.  I don't doubt that at all.

But when I think of Karsay, I think of a tragic career career that was derailed just as it was about to materialize.  When Karsay came up to the majors in the early 90's, he had as nasty a repertoire as anyone in baseball.  He threw mid-90's with ease, breaking balls, change up, etc...  He truly was the whole package.  He reminded me of a young Orel Hershiser, only he  could throw much harder.  I say "could", because he was one of the few young pitchers I've ever seen that could throw a blazing fast ball, yet didn't depend on it.  He was just a very good pitcher with a great fastball, not a "power pitcher" per se.  And he wasn't just another Rick Ankiel or Todd Van Poppel (a remarkable young talent whose stuff - or head - didn't translate in the bigs).  Karsay came up and dominated professional hitters.

But it didn't last long.  He was beset by injuries almost immediately, and before long a guy with stuff as good as anyone in baseball was bouncing around as a journeyman middle reliever.  I read somewhere that he finished with a record of 39-32 (or something like that) and an era of around 4.  I don't know  - it doesn't matter.

For his sake, I hope baseball has set him up financially for an easy life, and I am glad that he retired on his own terms.  But I can't help but weep for the fact that he was never able to play on his own terms.  In his heart, he must know this, too.  He must know that he was better than 99% of all those chumps that make more money than he'll ever know.  He must that there is an empty plaque in Cooperstown that should bear his name.

I remember a poll here on AN that listed the most dominant pitchers that have ever pitched for the A's, and I submitted my choices as Norris, Harden and Vida.  Karsay should have been in that company, which begs another question:  What will Harden's legacy be?

I agree entirely that Rincon's stock has fallen tremendously.  His stuff is terrible and seems to be getting worse.  I think we have no use for him, and that he's taking up space on the roster.  I also think now is the time to get the starters some rest so they don't flame out like last year.  Why not bring up Cruz as a replacement starter, taking the place of Blanton, Saarloos and Haren for a turn each in the rotation?  He has been excellent in AAA, and if he excels in a few starts in August, then he's available (and confident) for the stretch and postseason.  If not, at least you have given the young starters a little rest in August.

The last few quotes that I've read from Byrnes seem to suggest that he's trying to force the A's hand to trade him.  It almost seems as if he's trying to make a petulous point by going on record in the paper saying "I don't care what he says" about his manager.  Personally, I'm no Macha supporter, but it seems unnecessarily defiant to make statements like that.  By the looks of Matt Watson last night, and Macha's dismissive response to Byrnes, my guess is that Byrnes will be riding the pine until he leaves (I'll bet within two weeks, especially if the A's get a little streak going here).  Is this a good thing?  I think it would behoove the A's to deal him now before other teams realize that the A's are dealing from a compromised position because he's a malcontent.  The last thing they need with a young, floundering team is a charismatic guy like Byrnes to become the proverbial "clubhouse cancer".  I would guess he might have more negative influence in the clubhouse than Macha could influence in the other direction (I don't think Macha has the ability to "rally the troops" in the least).  Is this a concern?  I say trade him now, before it becomes an issue.  Then again, I've never been a fan of Byrnes as a player.  

I would argue that, in the current paradigm of the way team's organize their rosters, there is no such thing as a great bullpen.  For the most part, pitchers pitch their way into the bullpen by not being good enough to start.  So it's great that the A's improved their bullpen - relative to last year's - but that alone doesn't make up for the loss of starting pitching.  Closers may be an exception to this rule, but a strong argument could be made that the "closer" position is way overvalued.  
The A's bullpen was terrible last year - would a random sample of 7 ML relief pitchers have done better?  Probably.  But without Haren producing (which he is, and that's great) and getting more value from the Hudson deal than a mediocre Juan Cruz (who, by categorization as a middle-reliever, is actually a mediocre pitcher), I don't see how the A's will improve.  ERA's for bullpens should be lower than for starters, but that is more a function of the game-environment in which they are pitching.  (It would be intersting if the bullpen era had a multiplier that took into account inherited runners scored, how many outs when the bullpen came in the game, quality of batters faced, etc...)  
So my point is that a "great" bullpen may be overrated, though it is crucial that the bullpen is not terrible.

On a separate but related note, what if there were no real "roles".  What if all pitchers were just pitchers and pitched until they showed signs of tiring or the game was out of hand so a lesser pitcher comes in to save the superior pitchers arm?  Maybe you'd pull Rich Harden after 2 innnings if he has a 6 run lead so you can use him again in two days?  You'd simply rank by quality, and everyone would be situational.

Is it to corner the market on future catchers?  If you have a mandatory piece to the machine that no one else has (or can feasibly produce), then how much can you charge for that piece?  If this is his strategy, it is just another way of approaching the "moneyball" paradigm.  Instead of acquiring under-valued players, maybe he is stockpiling prospects at one position in order to artificially drive up their price and distribute them above market value.  Is that possible?  If that is the plan, it seems like more of a plan for two years from now, and I hope it works.  

Say what you want about steroids and cheating, but Jason Giambi was good for Oakland.  Are we all so affected by New York's influence on baseball as a whole that we forget what a happy, contagious place the A's clubhouse was with him in it?  Even before the 'roids, Jason Giambi was a very good hitter.  I think he could be again, maybe not the homer mashing MVP of 2001, but that's not what we'd need to pay him either.  I bet he'd come back to Oakland for a song, either because the Yankees would pay for him to or because they are able to void his contract and Jason would do it on his own.  At this point he is clearly damaged goods, and if his only benefit to the team is to put the kill back in Chavvy's mindset, that alone may be worth what we'd have to pay for him.  Jason Giambi is a good man, and it seems only the people of Oakland that remember the real, pre-NY Jason Giambi know that.  He's also emotionally fragile, just as Chavvy is, but I would guess he realizes that his best chance to resurrect his career, image and confidence is by playing in Green and Gold.  Furthermore, IF he can still hit, he may just be the ultimate "under-valued" player.
He cheated (arguably, the rules being what they are, and just as many others did as I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough) and he'll wear a big scarlet letter for that.  He was tempted by the allure of the bright lights and big city.  And he wanted to be written into the history books with the all-time greats.  He was not unique in these desires, and he paid with his reputation and his health - a pretty high price to pay.  But he didn't hurt anyone that I know of, and I'd give him a shot at redemption.  Am I nuts?