So where will Sogard play?  SS?  Utility?  Who will play first?  Carter has pretty much sucked but his playing time was erratic. 

From Rotoworld:

Athletics recalled INF Eric Sogard from Triple-A Sacramento.
He'll replace Chris Carter on the active roster. Sogard, 25, was batting .298/.391/.410 with five homers and 37 RBI over his first 79 games at the Triple-A level this season. He has mostly played shortstop, but is also capable of playing second base and third.

Wow-didn't see this one coming!  From the Rotoworld blurb:

According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, Rich Harden is signing with the Athletics.
Originally drafted by the A's in 2000, Harden posted a 3.42 ERA over parts of six seasons with the club before being traded to the Cubs in July of 2008. He posted a career-worst 5.58 ERA over 20 games (18 starts) with the Rangers this past season, but makes plenty of sense on an incentive-laden one-year deal, especially with a potential return to the Coliseum. Stay tuned.

A couple of items to jump start this DLD.

First, there is an interesting interview in today's "Sacramento Bee" with Eric Chavez.

He broke into a huge grin when asked if people should feel sorry for him.

"Nope," he said quickly. "I have a good life. Other than being disappointed and not being able to be on the field, I've been pretty blessed in my life. No one should feel sorry for me. Trust me, I feel like I've already had a good career, a long career. Longer than most. More productive than most."

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/story/2495579.html

Second, Huston Street has signed a 3 year 22.5 million deal with the Rockies.  Yee-wow.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4863992

Finally, didja know that in 1916, Babe Ruth pitched 323 innings and gave up 0 HR?  That's right, 0 HR.  Granted, 1916 is before Ruth destroyed the Dead Ball Era, when every team hit like the 2009 A's.  But still, 0 HR. 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml?redir

Dump on!

In the interest of breaking up the DLD drought, and because this is much more interesting than the lame work assignments that are piling up around me, I've created this sparse yet funcitonal DLD.

I have just two links to share, and that is this video of a flying fish out of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwReuq3NMUM

And as you've no doubt heard by now, future HOFer and former A's catcher Mike Piazza is retiring.  It looks he may (or may not!) be entering the HOF at the same time as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3405188

Get dumping!

I just want to thank all the AN staff, editors, writers etc. for making this such a great blog.  Their love of the A's and faith in the ability of this blog to bring together the community of  A's fans has made AN a very special place for A’s fans.  I appreciate all their hard work in enforcing the rules of this community (a thankless job), in doing the editing and site management gruntwork, and in keeping this community interesting, lively and filled with good content.  For good examples of the latter, see today's entries written by Nico, Taj Adib and grover.  

That is all.  :-)

Due to the fact I desparately want to avoid work I am starting today's meager DLD.

Christina Karhl reviewed the Swisher trade.  She did not like what she saw.  The bottom line for her is that she is uncomfortable with the inherent riskiness of pitching prospects:

"I may be coming at this the wrong way, but I hate this deal for the A's. Not because of what it represents—hey, they're rebuilding, we get it—but because of what they got. I know Gonzalez and De Los Santos were the best the Sox had left to offer. I guess I just start off with the assumption that any group of pitchers involves casualties and risk, and that makes me squeamish. Gonzalez or De Los Santos? Both have promise, both are very young, but as a matter of odds alone, it's as if you have to start with the assumption that one of them's going to bust something before the A's ever get a good look at him."

http://baseballprospectus.com/articl...

Hall of Fame inductees will be announced today at 11 our time.

Dump on!!!

Let's get this thing going.  I don't have much, except this tidbit from BP on Trevor Cahill's progress:

"Trevor Cahill, RHP, Low A Kane County (Athletics)

The A’s have a solid history of pitchers putting up some big numbers at Kane County, but for the most part they were older college veterans taking advantage of rest of the league’s youth, and for the most part they didn’t have the prospect status to match the numbers. For every Joe Blanton, there was a Brad Knox or a Steven Bondurant.  Trevor Cahill is a little different.  Oakland’s top draft pick last year (second round), Cahill is just 19, and his future is looking very bright these days.  On Saturday, the righthander allowed one run on two hits over six innings while striking out seven, extending an eight-game streak in which the California native has an 0.91 ERA while allowing just 23 hits in 49.1 innings while striking out 52.  With a low-90s fastball that touches 93 and one of the better curveballs in the system, Cahill has the stuff to match the stats and is arguably the top minor-league pitcher the A's have. "

http://baseballprospectus.com/articl...

So there!  Post yer own damned links!

In the interest of brevity and because I SuCk and am a sandwich or two short of a picnic, I will launch today's DUMp with only one link, in which Billy Beane entertains the thought of adding Rickey Henderson to the September 40-man roster.  And because I still do not know how to do box quotes, I will provide an excerpt the old-fashioned way:

"'I'm disappointed about how my career ended,' Henderson told the Chronicle by phone this week. 'I haven't had the time to say, "I'm retiring.' But baseball says, "You're retired." Every other player has had the chance to say they're through. I want to go out and say, "I'm done. I'm happy." Give me a chance to retire.'"

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2874724

Continue reading this post »

Who else is tired of hearing all the "experts" poo-pooing the A's by reminding readers that "The A's don't win no playoff series.  The A's haven't won since last century."?

I am.  

Screw them!

Yes, we all know that the A's have not won a playoff during the Beane era, but why, why, why do "they" insist on using the A's' history against them when they have so little in common with those past teams?  Do those experts not have anything else to write about?  

One of the few constants in the Beane era has been, of course, Billy Beane.  But what about the teams themselves?  Here are the players who played on the 2000-2003 A's who are still currently with the team:

2000.  Chavez, Zito
      
2001.  Chavez, Zito
      
2002.  Chavez, Zito, Ellis
      
2003.  Chavez, Zito, Ellis, Duchscherer, Harden, Melhuse*

Except for Chavez and Zito and later Ellis, the 2000-2002 A's bore little resemblance to the 2006 teams.  While the 2003 teams had a few more players who are with the A's now, they were still very different teams from the 2006 A's.  The handful of players the A's have kept from those earlier teams have been some of their best players.

The bottom line is that this is a vastly different team from previous A's playoff teams.  The 2006 A's should not feel any more or less constrained by its playoff history than other playoff teams.  

All the naysayers can bite me.

It's called the DLD, but it feels more like the "Daily Injury Dump."  From today's SFGate:

"Outfielder Milton Bradley "could well be back at square one," Macha said, after Bradley aggravated his oblique muscle strain Saturday. Designated hitter Frank Thomas (quadriceps) might rejoin the lineup tonight, and Macha also hopes reliever Joe Kennedy (biceps) will be available tonight.

None of Oakland's other ailing pitchers is close to returning, from starters Rich Harden (back) and Esteban Loaiza (back) to relievers Justin Duchscherer (elbow) and Jay Witasick (ankle). The A's hope Loaiza can pitch in a simulated game Friday and Harden can throw a bullpen session Monday. "

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/17/SPG0IISC9K1.DTL

Zack Greinke is expected to throw batting practice:

"Right-hander Zack Greinke is scheduled to throw live batting practice Thursday for the first time since returning from an extended absence to deal with psychological issues.

Greinke got the go-ahead after a 62-pitch workout Monday in Surprise.

A revised workout plan calls for Greinke to throw 30 pitches Thursday to hitters, then have a regular bullpen workout Saturday before pitching two innings Monday in what club officials term a "controlled atmosphere."

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/baseball/mlb/kansas_city_royals/14596441.htm

Dump away!

Hello Fellow ANers, let's get things going.

SI, for once, has decided to take a break from covering Johnny Damon, Curt Schilling, and Pedro Martinez to throw us A's fans a bone.  Actually, John Donovan wrote a pretty good article about Thomas and included a few notes about other A's players:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/john_donovan/03/14/big.hurt/index.html

Here are a couple of excerpts from two recent ESPN chats.  The first is from Gary Gillette's chat:

"Brandon (PA): How do you think Frank Thomas will do in Oakland?"

"Gary Gillette: Poorly. While it's possible Big Frank will be healthy, happy, and productive, I'd give 3-1 odds against that happening. I think he's done. "

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=11062

The second is from Rob Neyer's chat from today:

"Tre (Chicago): Can Rich Harden nab the Cy Young this year? The only real difference betw. him and Johan Santana is one has played a few full seasons."

"Rob Neyer: That's one real difference, and a pretty big one. Here's another; in 2005, Santana walked 45 hitters in 232 innings; Harden walked 43 in 128 innings. I love Harden. But Santana's in a class all by himself."

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=11078

And finally, Mychael Urban returns with another edition of "A's Mailbag," addressing our relative abundance of catching prospects, what's in store for Juan Cruz this year, and a few other goodies:

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060313&content_id=1348706& ;vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Sorry this DLD is short; I just wanted to get the DLD rolling for today.  When the boss is away, the mice will play, but the boss won't be gone for long.

We begin today's weekend dump with a link to a column by Ray Ratto, who proclaims that Billy Beane may "Lighten Up."  Sayeth Ratto:

"In the past, Beane could always blame his non-existent bench on the A's modest payroll, because teams who squeeze a quarter usually squeeze it from the bench and the bullpen. The lack of depth killed them in more than one postseason and prevented them from getting there in each of the last two. Last year, for the first time in years, their bullpen held up, but the bench was -- well, made of wood and stretched from the bat rack to the dugout bathroom, and that's about it."

Glenn Dickey also weighs in on the Thomas acquisition.  If you'll recall, Dickey suggested a few months ago that the A's try to acquire either Kornerko or Thomas.  He describes the Thomas acquisition as "frosting on the cake," the cake being an already deep A's roster: the deepest in 15 years.  Yesterday, Neyer described Thomas as "Sprinkles" on the cupcake.  Sprinkes, frosting, whatever.  At any rate, the consensus among columnists seems to be that the A's are "deep" this season.

Finally, for you milestone trackers, Dayn Perry gives a rundown of various career milestones that could be reached this season, and a guess at their likelihood of happening, including Sosa reaching 600 hrs, Rivera getting 400 saves, and Glavine getting his 300th win.

And, in case you're counting, only 65 more days until the season begins.

Enjoy Fanfest everyone!  Now dump on...

Let's start today off with something positive.  Jason Giambi and A's players donated money to help Wash's family, who have been displaced by Katrina:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2151772

"'That was very nice,' Washington said of the players' support. 'Now, instead of looking at one apartment, we can get a couple. That was awesome. It's been a long time since I dropped tears, I never expected anything like this.'"

Since it's Friday morning, let's get things rolling with a few choice excerpts from this morning's chat with Joe Morgan:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=9124

"Ryan New York: Hey Joe, I think the Angels are going to win the AL West but when it comes to the wildcard I want your opinion. If the Angels do not take down the west who is your favorite for the wild card? Angels? Yankees? Boston?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: (10:08 AM ET ) A week ago I thought the A's were a cinch for the playoffs but with Harden and Kotsay out, I don't see them a cinch anymore. Like I said at the start, it changes every day."

"Lucas (Chicago): Who are your votes for manager of the year?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: (10:36 AM ET ) That's a tough one. We still have a long way to go. We haven't seen some managers manage under the stress of a pennant race with 10 or 15 games to go. The favorites in the NL are Bobby Cox and Frank Robinson. In the AL, you have to give the edge to Ozzie Guillen. Next would be Ken Macha. Don't write in and say it's Beane and not Macha! Macha has done a great job with the team Beane has given him."

Of course it's not Beane.  Beane was too busy writing that "Moneyball" book to help his team.

Don't forget to give what you can to http://www.redcross.org/ or other organizations to help victims of Katrina.  Our people need our help.

An ESPN article on the A's tops today's DLD:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=2146715

Kurkjian is one of the few ESPN columnists who you can read without an Insider membership.

Also, the A's climb to #2 on Baseball Prospectus' weekly hitlist:

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4382

Finally, BP explains how the hitlist works by using the A's and Angels as examples:

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4383

including Beane's thoughts:

"Talked to Billy Beane last week, before Oakland blew through Texas and moved to the top of the wildcard standings. Early in spring training, he had said that he really liked the talent he collected in his off-season deals, but he really wasn't sure when the talent was going to manifest itself -- maybe late this season, or maybe in 2006. He was hopeful, but also prepared for a struggle.

Just four months later, the Athletics have blossomed together. Shortstop Bobby Crosby rejoined the lineup on May 30, when Oakland was at its absolute lowest ebb -- 17-32 -- and the team's surge has coincided precisely with his presence in the lineup. They won the first four games after he came back and have never slowed down, and without question, they are the most dangerous wildcard contender in the AL because of their pitching.

The Yankees have pitching problems. The Orioles have pitching problems. The Rangers have pitching problems, and might get knocked out of the wildcard race soon -- have pitching problems. Oakland is steeped in pitching, and Beane gave his take on each of the starters.

Rich Harden, who has 52 strikeouts in 45.2 innings since coming back from the disabled list in June and might be the most overwhelming power pitcher in the AL right now: "You can probably count the number of guys with his kind of stuff on one hand. To become as dominant as he's become, as quickly as he has, has surprised me."

Barry Zito, who has allowed two earned runs or less in 10 of his last 12 starts: "He's pitched as well as he did in his Cy Young year. Everything he's throwing has a little more zip on it, and it's a little sharper. He's used that cut slider against lefties pretty effectively."

Kirk Saarloos, who has pitched six or more innings in seven of his last eight starts: "A great competitor who has great athletic ability, and he just finds a way. If he was a golfer, he'd shank his drive -- and then chip in off the green for par. He's got one great weapon, that sinkerball, and he'll keep the ball in the ballpark and give himself a chance."

Danny Haren, who has won his last seven decisions: "It was just a matter of time; I really wasn't worried about him. He had never walked guys before, and you knew it would work itself out. The one thing you don't want to do as an A's fan is buy a real expensive jersey of your favorite player, but on the last homestand, I saw a lot of Haren jerseys."

Joe Blanton, who pitched into the sixth inning in nine straight starts: "We expected him to struggle deep into the year, because he came to the big leagues pretty quick. But he started pounding the strike zone, and he got more aggressive pretty quickly."

"Re-signed CF-L Mark Kotsay to a three-year contract extension through 2008. [7/9]

Acquired OF-R Jay Payton and cash from the Red Sox for RHP Chad Bradford; acquired RHP Jay Witasick and LHP Joe Kennedy from the Rockies for OF-R Eric Byrnes and SS-L Omar Quintanilla. [7/13]

And so, with Kotsay's extension, we bear witness to the squandering of thousands of acre-feet of ink wasted on the question of whether or not Kotsay was about to become the centerfielder the Yankees haven't had since... well, Bernie Williams may not be dead, but his career as a centerfielder is in the boneyard. Before that, I guess we have to start dickering about what you thought about Henry Cotto, or whether Rickey Henderson's arm in center was the sort of thing you could overlook (I'd say it was, especially if the alternative was Henry Cotto). Or how fondly you might remember Mickey Rivers; I mean as a player, not as a punch line to a Billy Martin anecdote.

I guess I didn't really understand a lot of the fuss. Kotsay's a California sort of guy, and seemed happy to stick around. He's given the A's what Johnny Damon did not, and how many good everyday centerfielders are there out there who were actually available? If you have Kotsay no later than through 31 or 32, that's the last of what ought to be the normally good portion of a career, and the no-trade provisions aren't overly complicated (only eight teams are ruled out past 2006). In the meantime, it isn't like the A's have a standard-issue flychaser like Stan Javier at the ready these days, or any reason to believe that Charles Thomas might do the job, and I don't think anyone should be sold on the notion that Nick Swisher could manage the position on an everyday basis. So a commitment to Kotsay makes sense, for the defensive value and useful enough hitting he'll bring to the table through 2006. It's certainly not a move to be regretted, like Scott Hatteberg's or Terrence Long's.

I guess I'm less excited about the Kennedy trade than most A's fans, and that's even with the acceptance that Byrnes almost certainly needed dealing before next year's arbitration case. The achievement here is swapping out Byrnes and Bradford for Witasick and Payton, with the rub really being getting Kennedy's near-term future for Quintanilla's career. In those terms, it's a reasonable series of risks. I don't see Witasick as a major addition; he's just a better guy to have around than Ryan Glynn, but he seems a reasonable bet to do as well as Bradford from here on out, with perhaps less of an injury risk and without the nagging platoon worries. Consider that a minor gain. In the outfield, taking the step down from Byrnes to Payton gives you a guy who might more properly be a reserve center fielder and someone who has his uses against lefties, but it's less about the relative virtues of the two as it is about letting Swisher and Bobby Kielty play every day; consider this a larger loss than swapping Bradford and Witasick is a gain.

Which leaves you with Quintanilla's career for Kennedy's possibilities, and I'll take that swap. As mentioned in the Rockies' portion of today's program, Quintanilla isn't looking that special, and in an organization that has Bobby Crosby at short and that just snagged Texas A&M shortstop Cliff Pennington in the draft, Quintanilla had gone from prized asset to dealable commodity. Kennedy has always had people like us singing his praises, because he throws strikes, carries a good rep for intelligence on the mound, and who can't sympathize with a guy who's had to grow up pitching for the D-Rays and the Rockies? But his positives don't extend entirely across the board. There are concerns about his shoulder, and just because we've seen all sorts of pitchers do even better than expected once they escape Coors Field, consider the cumulative hitter profile that our own James Click dug up about Kennedy:

YEAR  TEAM  MLVR  AVG  OBP  SLG
2001  TBA   .003 .265 .333 .430
2002  TBA  -.004 .263 .331 .420
2003  TBA  -.018 .261 .329 .421
2004  COL  -.103 .260 .330 .420
2005  COL  -.146 .254 .315 .391

MLVR is park and league-adjusted, so even with a Coors effect, he hasn't exactly been beating the best of the best; he's being beaten by some of the worst of the worst. Now sure, we can chuck all that into the statistical woodchipper of liberty because he's no longer a Rockie, but it's not a happy thing to think about, even for a lefty who can strike out six guys per nine on average.

The real question is what is Kennedy for? Fifth starter, boxing out Kirk Saarloos? Saarloos is probably a better utility pitcher than rotation regular, but he has been effective as a starter this season. It's just hard to invest a lot of faith in him when he's so very dependent on his defense to shut down the opposition. If Kennedy doesn't get that job, how about his being used as a long reliever and second lefty? Not a bad idea, and if Kennedy could handle working more often, he could be a Craig Lefferts type, cranking out 90 innings or more in a setup role. Or is he simply bait for the next big deal? That's the fun thing about Billy Beane, youneverknow. But it's definitely worth Quintanilla's career to find out if Kennedy is somebody who can be rehabilitated into a significant pitcher. "

Slusser gives her mid-season review of the A's here.

For those of you bashing Chavie a couple of months ago for his lackadaisical attitude, lack of heart, and poor leadership, let me give you a telling excerpt and a few choice quotes from his teammates:

"There was another occurrence that sparked the team. A week after Crosby's return and a subsequent 6-1 homestand, Oakland was swept at Washington. Usually placid third baseman Eric Chavez was irate and gave his teammates a talking to on the bus leaving RFK Stadium, remarks especially directed to some of the younger players. Chavez wanted to make sure their first priority on the road was winning, not fun.

Since then, the A's are 9-4 on the road, and Chavez has turned into a bulldog -- he said he was mad again when the club dropped two at Toronto last week.

"The time on the bus was huge -- it kind of shocked us, but it just kind of brought us together," outfielder Bobby Kielty said. "Hearing that from Chavvy -- he's not real vocal, and he makes the statement, 'It's time to go. ' Then he really took off and took us with him, he's carried us. He's the driving force."

"There's no question about it, if one guy is our backbone, it's Chavvy," Hatteberg said. "People have got so much respect for the guy. We sucked on the road, so we'd gain a couple feet at home and go back on the road and lose it, and at that point, we needed an attitude adjustment, to change what we were doing. That was perfect timing, like the leader Chavvy is. That was a turning point, a real motivating factor."

And there's this gem:

"'The way the Angels have been playing, the division might not be realistic, but it doesn't matter because at this point we're having fun playing baseball, and we were miserable for two months," Chavez said. "Losing like that is a burden, but we're back winning. I don't really care why, I just love winning. We're so used to it, we're spoiled, but really, we should be winning. And the second half has got to be better than the first half, more consistent.'"

Seems like a pretty fair assessment.  From SI.com

"The Good: A steaming June (19-8) turned things around. Third baseman Eric Chavez got hot (.379, seven homers in June), shortstop Bobby Crosby got healthy (.337, four) and the pitching staff was vintage A's. Joe Blanton, Danny Haren, Barry Zito, Kirk Saarloos and Rich Harden were a combined 18-3 in 24 June starts, with a 2.47 ERA. Lone All-Star Justin Duchscherer had a 1.51 ERA and four saves, while rookie Huston Street didn't allow a run in picking up four saves.

The Bad: A terrible May (7-20) put the A's in a bad way. Crosby was hurt, Chavez was scuffling (.239, two homers in May) -- nothing was going right. Zito trade rumors were rampant, and trade murmurs about another key member of the team -- center fielder Mark Kotsay, possibly going to the Yankees -- were wild until the A's signed him last weekend to an extension.

What's Next: No telling what GM Billy Beane will do. He says he won't trade Zito. But, given Beane's history, if the deal is right (Eric Byrnes, anyone?), the GM would change the team name from the A's to the B's. Expect something, but Beane won't do anything too drastic because this team has too much going for it.  

Grade: Be very afraid of the A's. -- C+"

This is pretty funny:

"Four weeks ago they were #26 here, 12 games under .500, and the object of vituperative ridicule from the Flat Earth Society. One 19-6 run later, they're back above .500, though still dark horses at best for the Wild Card. Not all of Billy Beane's gambits have paid off; the pitching (with four starters posting ERAs below 4.08) and defense (third-best in the majors) are solid, but the offense remains in a virtual tie for last in the AL in Equivalent Average. Thanks to the return of Bobby Crosby (.324/.380/.545 after missing nearly all of the first two months) that unit has improved from a .243/.322/.345 April and May to a much more Beane-like .292/.361/.464 since June 1. They'll need to maintain that strong pace to shut Joe Morgan's pie hole. "

These statistics are for the last 30 days and don't include players with 22 or fewer at bats (including Thomas, Melhuse, Watson and Ginter).

Stats are AB, HR, OBP, SLG, AVG

E Chavez    104  7  .422  .673  .356
M Kotsay    103  3  .307  .408  .252
N Swisher   95   5  .333  .495  .284
B Crosby    93   3  .360  .516  .312
J Kendall    91    0  .415  .363  .319
D Johnson  78    1  .370  .423  .308
B Kielty      78    3  .376 .462  .282
M Scutaro   67   1  .338  .358  .269
S Hatteberg 66   1  .387  .409  .303
M Ellis        50   1  .352  .420  .300
E Byrnes     48    2  .340  .625  .292

I am pleasantly surprised to see that Kendall is batting .319 for the month and that Byrnes has a .625 slugging percentage (although the sample size is fairly small).  Swisher, Johnson, Crosby, and Chavez have all had a good June.  Kotsay has been slumping.  Kielty's numbers are good, but have regressed a bit since putting up astronomically high numbers earlier this year.  

From Gammons' column:

"Beane has told everyone who calls that he will not trade Barry Zito during the season, as he believes that with Rich Harden, Dan Haren, Joe Blanton and Kirk Saarloos and Huston Street at the end, the A's could have a big second half.

Beane will trade Mark Kotsay to the Cubs or the Yankees in the right deal if a contract extension doesn't get done with Kotsay; Nick Swisher could play center field, Daric Barton (batting .470 since May 1 in the Class A California League at age 19) has convinced the A's people he can play the outfield, this year's No. 1 pick Cliff Pennington, a shortstop, is going to come fast and Andre Ethier could be in the Oakland outfield by midseason 2006. Two prime prospects might give Oakland another five-year run, especially if left-handed pitcher Dan Meyer's shoulder comes around.

"Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them I'm not trading Zito," says Beane."

to Kittle's remark that was the subject of a thread a week or so ago.  Bonds has an annoying habit of dragging his famiy into his controversies.

Here it is.  Read it and puke.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds blasted former White Sox slugger Ron Kittle, whose recently released book quotes the San Francisco Giants star as saying "I don't sign for white people" before a game at Wrigley Field 12 years ago.

"Who is Kittle? How long did he play? He played in our league?" Bonds said, lying on a clubhouse couch before Thursday's game against the Royals. "Ha! Do you guys believe that? ... Do you guys know my life history a little bit? ... One, you insult my children, who are half-white.

"I was married to a woman who was white, so let's get real. I don't even know the guy. Tell him he's an ... idiot. Somebody said he wanted a piece of me. Tell him I'm at 24 Willie Mays Plaza and he can come get me anytime he wants to -- with pleasure. Don't insult my family."

In Kittle's book, "Tales from the White Sox Dugout," he writes that he approached Bonds at his locker in the visitors' clubhouse at Wrigley Field about autographing some jerseys to be auctioned for a cancer charity. Kittle retired after the 1991 season, and Bonds and the Giants were in Chicago to face the Cubs.

"It's the truth. I don't lie," Kittle told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. "I tell it as it is. It's unfortunate it happened. And I didn't bring it up to sell the books."

Kittle said the book's co-author, Bob Logan, asked him to write about the good and bad aspects of the game.

"This was one of the rotten things that happened," Kittle said.

While he was furious at Kittle, Bonds said Thursday he was pleased with the progress of his surgically repaired right knee. But he dismissed a report that he hit soft toss in the batting cage Wednesday, saying he was just playing catch.

"Hey, Murphy, have I touched any of my bats?" he hollered to longtime equipment manager Mike Murphy. "I don't even know where they are."

Bonds has had three operations on his right knee since Jan. 31, the most recent on May 2 to drain fluid and examine an infection. He has not played this season.

Bonds said he isn't ready to guess when he might be back in the batter's box. Bonds has a routine doctor's appointment Friday to have his blood tested and another Sunday. Trainer Stan Conte believes Bonds could be off antibiotics sometime next week.

Will Bonds he back this season?

"I still don't know," Bonds said. "You guys will know when I'll be ready. You'll see. There's no reason to discuss that stuff until I'm with my teammates on the field."

Bonds said in spring training he could miss half the season or even the entire year, but has been more optimistic recently about a return. One popular timetable -- though the club won't make any predictions -- has Bonds returning sometime around the All-Star break. He turns 41 on July 24.

Bonds is third on the career home run list with 703, 11 behind Babe Ruth and 52 from tying Hank Aaron's record. Bonds batted .362 last season with 45 homers and 101 RBIs and walked a major league-record 232 times on the way to his record seventh MVP award.

From today's ESPN.com chat:

Steve, Virginia: Do you think Billy Beane should try to move Barry Zito, given that he has had a couple of good starts and may finally be increasing his trade value?

 Rob Neyer: (1:13 PM ET ) It's not a question of if, but when. If somebody's willing to offer Beane a couple of decent prospects for Zito, he should pounce.

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Chris (Richmond, VA): Will Dan Johnson hit in his first look at ML pitching? Right now his BB/K ratio is 4/4, so it's not as if he's being overmatched...

 Rob Neyer: (1:27 PM ET ) Sure, he'll hit. He's going to be a decent player for the next three or four years, after which he'll shuffle back and forth between the majors and Class AAA.

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John-Paul (Sacramento, CA): Have to ask a follow-up on Dan Johnson...why do you figure he'll regress after three years?

 Rob Neyer: (1:31 PM ET ) Because he's almost 26 and he's just now getting a chance to establish himself in the majors. Johnson's got a real shot at batting .275 with 25 home runs in a season, but his window for doing that is just a few years.

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Josh (Tacoma): Will Oakland rebound in the next couple of years or is their run as a playoff team over for the foreseeable future?

 Rob Neyer: (1:33 PM ET ) The A's have a number of talented young pitchers in the organization and they don't play in a great division, so I don't think it's ridiculous to think they'll be competitive again in 2006. But right now they look like a fourth-place team for the foreseeable future.

The A's have now completed a quarter of the season.  Sample sizes are getting larger and patterns of this team's strengths and weaknesses are emerging.  I believe that we are approaching the point in the season where the team can take a good look at itself and determine which direction it will go.  In other words, there is enough information to determine if the A's have the necessary pieces to reach the playoffs, who is available on other teams to make the final push, and who on the A's is expendable and can help the team acquire the necessary pieces.  Or, conversely, determine if this will be a non-contending season.  

Before the season began, I believed this team would contend for a playoff spot, although I still picked the Angels to be the likely division winners.  I now think that this season is shaping up to be a retooling year.


(Sorry about the funky codes in the poll. The poll doesn't seem to like html and I can't take the codes out.)

A few selections from this.  First, the conclusion:

"It certainly appears that my preseason optimism about the A's was unwarranted. The pitchers they acquired haven't stepped in to replace the performances of the pitchers they lost, causing a spike in runs allowed. The offense is worse than it was last year, which should have been expected given that many A's had career years or close to it last season. The poor starts of Kendall and Chavez have exacerbated the problems, but even returns to form by those two aren't going to address the team's lack of power at five or six lineup spots. The A's are going to have make significant improvements on both sides of the ball if they're going to contend for the seventh consecutive season"

On the off-seaon moves:
"The killer has been the way in which the A's have lost the one deal they were expected to win. Jason Kendall, acquired from the Pirates for Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes, has been awful, batting .234 with just seven doubles in 141 at-bats."

"That gap of seven Wins Above Replacement Player [comparing WARP between Mulder and Hudson and players we acquired] exactly matches the A's deficit in the division.  Now, the A's may yet win the Hudson and Mulder trades, but right now, they're losing both by wide margins."

On the Angels, perhaps the only potential bright spot:
"...according to BP's Adjusted Standings, [the Angels] are no better than the A's so far, with an indicated record of 16-24 that matches not only the A's actual record, but their indicated one. In other words, the two teams look alike through one lens. That said lens calls them both .400 teams is the problem. "

On our offense
"Kendall isn't the only A's hitter not pulling his weight. In fact, just two players--Eric Byrnes and Bobby Kielty--are performing at anywhere close to their expected level. As a team, the A's are 13th in the AL in runs, last in EqA and last in EQR. They come by it honestly: they're last by a mile in home runs and slugging, and just tenth in OBP. "

Ouch!  :-(

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4052

From ESPN.com:

"Beane should deal Zito

Barry Zito's ERA has doubled in three seasons, his struggles continue to be alarming, and some scouts and officials in baseball believe this: Oakland general manager Billy Beane needs to trade the left-hander in the weeks ahead, in order to recoup as much value as he can.
If Beane waits until the offseason, Zito's value could be diminished significantly, because the questions about his regression could multiply by then. Zito won the Cy Young Award three summers ago when he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA, at age 24, and after Tuesday night's mess - in which he walked seven batters and allowed three hits and three runs in five innings - he has a 5.53 ERA and a 1-4 record.

There is still luster in Zito's name. He's left-handed and 27 years old, and he's got 73 career victories. Beane asked the Orioles for left-hander Erik Bedard in a deal in the offseason, and that was perfectly reasonable. There is expected to be so little quality pitching available in the trade market this summer that if Zito is put up for auction, the bidding will be aggressive. "You still would think he could help you make the playoffs this year, and then help you next year," said one scout.

The Mets, hovering around .500, might be involved, thinking Zito would benefit from a reunion with pitching coach Rick Peterson. The Dodgers, hemorrhaging runs lately, could be involved. Maybe the Cubs, the Orioles, the Rangers, the Diamondbacks and the Yankees would jump in. Maybe others.

The word is out that Zito's curveball is not the same. Scouts don't think he looks like he's lost his confidence. Still, he's Barry Zito. He's 27. He's left-handed. Maybe 2004 and the first part of 2005 is the aberration. Maybe there's an adjustment to be made.

But if Beane waits until the offseason to deal Zito, and Zito continues to flounder, well, the luster will be off. All the main indicators - his ratio of strikeouts and hits to innings, along with his ERA - are going in the wrong direction. And Zito will be only one season removed from free agency. "You'd be talking about a rental at that point, and you couldn't get as much for him," said one official.

Beane is extremely competitive, and a Zito deal would be like raising a white flag over this season. On the other hand, the Athletics don't look the part of a contender, with the worst offense in the AL and inconsistent young pitchers filling most of the rotation. Beane's philosophy in the offseason was to trade Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder quickly enough to get good return for them.

The window of opportunity to get good value for Barry Zito may soon pass."

I just purchased a pair of tickets for Sunday's game over the internet, through the A's official site.  These are upper deck tickets that supposedly sell for $10 bucks apiece, making the base cost $20.

Add on:
-convenience fee, $3.75/ticket ($7.50 total)
-order processing (including delivery), $6.25

Total cost for two "$10" tickets: $33.75.

The order processing/delivery fee is especially amusing, since I am printing the tickets myself, so I guess I'm paying for the experience of delivering the tickets to myself.  The bottom line is that they are charging $13.75 for me to use their existing internet ticket purchasing system, which requires a fraction of the personnel needed to purchase my tickets at a ticket booth or over the phone. I wasn't surprised by the charges because I've bought tickets online before, just continually irked that the final cost would be about 2/3 higher than the base cost.  They should be more honest about this and not call it a $10 ticket. I feel like, though, if I want to get decent seats then purchasing them online gives me the best odds, especially for when the stadium is likely to be crowded, such as when the Yankees are playing.

Grrrrr....

This is a shame.  Vida was one of the most dazzling yet also, one of the most frustrating players in the history of the A's.  Had he stayed out of trouble, he would have had a plaque hanging in Cooperstown.

Vida Blue's career stats:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bluevi01.shtml

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From SFGate.com

Former Giants and A's baseball great Vida Blue could face as much as a year in San Mateo County Jail after failing to report to community service as part of his sentence on a misdemeanor drunken driving conviction, authorities said Wednesday.

Blue, 55, is scheduled to appear Monday in San Mateo County Superior Court to answer to his alleged probation violation, which includes his failure to serve 20 days of community service and a March arrest in Arizona for allegedly driving under the influence. A judge could sentence Blue to jail or schedule a probation hearing, authorities said.

Blue pleaded no contest April 19, 2004, to a misdemeanor DUI charge after he was arrested in July 2003 while driving drunk on the Bayshore Freeway north of Highway 92, authorities said. He was supposed to report to a 20-day work program by June 19 last year, but prosecutors say they have no record of his service.

Blue also pleaded no contest after police arrested him for drunken driving in Dublin on Aug. 2 1999. On March 13, he was arrested in Scottsdale, Ariz., on suspicion of DUI after he was involved in a minor accident, authorities said.

A six-time all-star, Blue played 17 seasons with the A's, Giants and Kansas City Royals before retiring in 1986.

We knew it all along, but Joe fesses up in today's ESPN chat!  Nevertheless, he proceeds to bash it.  

(Hey Joe, I know you probably won't like "Moneyball", but reading a contrary opinion won't kill you.  It's not a very big book or a difficult book.  If nothing else, you could do a better job of bashing it if you read it first.)


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Big Bill (NJ): Joe, regarding the Red Sox as a Moneyball team issue, they ARE a Moneyball team as they follow Billy Beane's philosophy as discussed in the book. Furthermore, the Yankees are proving this year that they have NOT spent their money efficiently!


SportsNation Joe Morgan: (10:43 AM ET ) So, I guess, when the Yankees won 4/5 World Series, they were a moneyball team b/c they spent wisely. NOW, that they are NOT winning, it's because they are not following the moneyball theory. As for Boston, they weren't a moneyball team and as soon as they won a World Series, it was b/c they followed the moneyball philosophy? I don't get it. Theo Epstein is a very smart guy. He doesn't follow anybody's lead. He didn't win a World Series b/c he followed Billy Bean's philosophy -- he follows his own. Big Bill, since you read a lot of books, you need to read Three Nights In August -- by Buzz Bissinger. Tony LaRussa explains BASEBALL, rather than COMPUTERIZED baseball. That book impressed me. My final comment on moneyball -- I didn't read the book. If you liked Moneyball, then follow that theory. I personally happen to see the game differently.