SB Nation User Blog: pedoman

Next year's lineup

pedoman — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:34:37 -0000

Well, along with every other A's fan, I am looking forward to next season. In the process I have spent a little time thinking about next year's lineup and whether we have a chance to succeed with what kind of talent exists on this team. Additionally, I am guilty of taunting Billy on this site about needing to go out and getting some power hitters. Yet, if one looks at this lineup it appears to me that he may not trade nor sign any free agents because he has enough players as it is at every position. It is downright scary the thought of next year's lineup, and the fact they we may very well stand pat this winter and be left with..........well...............this lineup.

Catcher: Suzuki

First Base: Barton

Second Base: Patterson, Pennington

Shortstop: Crosby

Third Base: Chavez

DH: Cust

Right field: Sweeney

Center Field: Gonzales

Left Field: Buck, Murton, Cunningham, Patterson

I put multiple players at certain positions due to the depth that exists. This depth further explains why Billy will not go out and get anyone to improve this situation; he already has enough players! All of these players are young and have some potential, I just seriously question whether this potential compares to the scoring potential of the Rangers and the Angels.

Concerning individual players I put in the this lineup, well, no one is going to want to trade for Crosby, he is here for the duration. Ellis won't be signed because Billy has enough middle infielders who are cheaper and potentially the same type of player as Ellis with Pennington and Patterson. (Jeez, Pennington in the field could be physically confused for Ellis! They uncannily look the same.) He has way too many outfielders with Buck, Gonzales, Sweeney, Murton, Cunningham, and on and on ad nauseum. With the exception of Gonzales, they are the same player. Cust is going no where due to his on base baloney, and Sweeney, although he has a good batting average, he is not showing me any power potential. But, he is the person replacing Nick Swisher so Billy will trot him out there regardless or not. Barton is staying, why else would Billy not send him down to AAA with his horrendous numbers? Suzuki has been good, but does anyone really think that those 18 doubles and 7 or 8 homers are really going to make a difference on this team offensively? And finally, based on media reports about his surgery and the lack of no backup, I can see Chavez playing next year and providing some offense. If Billy were, and that is a big WERE, going to sign anyone it would be a backup plan for Chavez. That would be Hank Blalock, good lord.

So the question is, does anyone think that next year's lineup is going to win any more games than this year? Does anyone think that Billy will actually replace anyone in the lineup via trades or free agency? And don't get me started on the pitching staff. As of tonight, this Gallagher dude is becoming questionable. But, I said I wouldn't get started on the pitching staff. Is this 300 words yet?

Top 9 Prospects!

pedoman — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 06:20:46 -0000

While reading through my dog eared Baseball Prospectus and checking out all the VORP's, PECOTA's, MLVR's, and EQAVG's (never figured that one out), I came upon Travis Buck's PECOTA projection. They had Travis Buck as being comparable to Jeremy Giambi. What the......?!?! Now, I love my Baseball Prospectus, and I realize that they can not be correct all the time, but, whatever happened to good ol' intuition? It seems Baseball America uses various leaps of faith when they come up with their top ten prospects each year. They had Trevor Cahill in the top then this year and he had barely pitched! They also had Craig Italiano, Jermaine Mitchell, Matt Sulentic, Javier Herrera, and Richie Robnett (was he on a list?) on top ten lists....and what the heck have they done? Baseball America will habitually rate someone highly and get everyone all hyped up. For a while it seemed that people on this board were always writing about Jermaine Mitchell and his small sample size of great statistics at Vancouver. Now look at him. Just horrible. The same goes for Matt Sulentic and Vince Mazzaro. And, why does it always have to be a "top ten" list of prospects? So, let me share with you my top NINE prospects...

Gregorio Petit. Brad Ziegler says that Petit is the "most spectacular defensive player he has seen on a baseball field". If Brad says it is so, then I am on board. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Petit is hitting great at AA and he is a leadoff hitter. Watch out Bobby Crosby, if you keep that OBP below .300 then you are going to be replaced by a more dynamic player......Petit!

Brian Snyder. Snyder has been languishing at the AA level for a while now and he has been a big "disappointment", but this year he has converted to second base and he is ripping the ball to a tune of .312/.418 with an OPS of .947. He is 25 years old, but as a second basemen his numbers are fantastic. He could take over second right now.

Dan Meyer. Tonight Meyer has pitched five innings against Albuquerque and has struck out nine batters. He is back and he will make us forget JoKe, er, I mean Joe Kennedy. This is a leap of faith, but I don't care. His performance tonight has me stoked.

Landon Powell. I know, I know, he is a fatso. Everyone writes this about him. But, he is down to 220 pounds. Everyone is against this guy, but here is a catcher who can actually throw runners out at an amazing rate. Doesn't that sound refreshing? Isn't that scintillating to hear that while we witness everyone on this planet run on Jason Kendall? Plus, Powell has a good batting eye and has some pop. It just FEELS like he should be a great player. I don't care that he is batting around .220 at AA. I like Powell over Suzuki because everyone is rooting for Suzuki and this is a contrarian list. Suzuki gets more than his fair share of positive press.

Michael Madsen. The A's have a scary lack of pitching talent in the minors. But this Madsen has been doing some amazing stuff at AA. He is only 6' and 160 lbs. But so was Tim Hudson. Now, I don't know how hard Madsen throws, but he is striking out more than a batter an inning, not giving up hits, nor serving up the homerun ball. Also, his numbers are similar to Tim Hudson's when Hudson was at AA. Coincidence?

Porno Tadano. I can't remember his real first name, but who cares? He is old at 27 years, but he throws an eephus pitch for gawd's sake! Check out his stats at AA and AAA this year. Those are some good numbers! He was in gay porn in college and had the cajones, literally and figuratively, to then play professional baseball and deal with the humiliation. I can't wait for him to be a successful middle reliever for the A's. What a story.

Donnie Murphy. He came from the Royals of all teams. He was ripping the cover off the ball at AAA this year. He is our utility man of the future when Scutaro eventually leaves. The success of Donnie Murphy will make the Royals seem even more like chumps.

Jason Perry. I know, I know, we have enough outfielders and Perry's defense apparently really sucks. But, you can not overlook an OPS of over .920 at both AA and AAA, even if he is 27 years old. Jeez, Billy went out and got Snelling, Cust, and Denorfia who are all over 25. What's the concern?

Brad Ziegler. He is going to be a middle reliever for the A's in the near future. I just feel it. He is going to be the second coming of Chad Bradford. Just Watch! There has to be some good karma for Ziegler for taking the time to answer fans questions on Athletics Nation on a regular basis.

Now, some of the usual suspects are off this list. I just think that Jason Windsor doesn't have the velocity to be more than a sixth starter. Daric Barton is all average and no power a la Sean Casey. Richie Robnett is a whiff machine. Javier Herrera get a lot of hype, but what has he really done except run through an outfield fence and take steroids? I still like Pennington, he is starting to come around. Jermaine Mitchell has three doubes and one homerun in 165 at bats. That is Jason Kendall territory.

If Billy were to trade Zito.....

pedoman — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:07:47 -0000

who would be the likely suitors?

As you have all heard, Zito may be on the trading block with the trading deadline about a week away. The A's have arguably the hottest trading commodity with Barry Zito.
Billy, as we all know by now, will not trade Zito unless he gets something substantial with a young starting pitcher and some young offensive help. It also has to be a deal that would improve the A's now, and in the future. It must also be a deal that would be better than the two first round picks that the A's would receive in the event that Zito leaves via free agency. This limits what teams can or would trade with Billy. With the help of Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels website, I have put together an analysis of potential Zito suitors.
(Just a warning, my writing style is not as colorful as most other posters on this great website.)
Billy will not trade Zito to a team in his own division. He may trade to other divisions in the AL only if the other team would not become notably better than the A's in the event the two teams meet in the playoffs. The Blue Jays may be the only potential suitor for Zito in the AL. But, the Blue Jays do not have blue chip AAA pitching prospects. Their pitching prospects include; Josh Banks, Chi-Hung Cheng, and Shawn Marcum. None of these prospects stand out any greater than Jason Windsor and Shane Komine. Trade unlikely.
The National League, though, is a different story. the Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Reds, Astros, Cardinals, Braves, and the Mets are all potential suitors. Once again, any team that trades has to have a blue chip young pitching prospect that Billy could insert into the starting rotation, and other talent to give up in addition. The Giants, Padres, Reds, and the Braves do not have such a pitching prospect. That removes them from the list. The Diamondbacks have great position players in their minor league system with Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, and Conor Jackson, but no great upper level pitching prospects. The Reds have a great pitching prospect in Home Bailey, and a great OF prospect in Jay Bruce. Unfortunately, Bailey is tearing up AA and is not ready for the majors.
The Dodgers have a top pitching prospect with Chad Billingsley and a great AA pitching prospect in Scott Elbert. The Cardinals have a top pitching prospect in Anthony Reyes, and a great OF prospect with Colby Rasmus. Both are great players, with Reyes right now pitching in the majors. The Astros are back in the standings, but they may feel they have to make a bold move since some of their players are aging. The Astros have a decent prospect with RHP pitcher Jason Hirsh, but not much in other prospects. Hirsh is a big guy, but doesn't have great velocity.
And finally, the Mets have some prospects no one has heard of.....................that was a joke. The Met's top pitching prospect is Pelfrey, and a great AAA OF prospect with Lastings Milledge.

In summary, out of all of those teams, the Dodgers, Cardinals, and the Mets all have a young top pitching prospect that could step into a starting role with the A's. Ned Colletti of the Dodgers is a good pitcher away from blowing away the Giants, and he may want to make a name for himself in his first year as Dodgers G.M. The Cardinals have shown a willingness to trade top prospects in order to win now.(See Mulder trade). The Mets, though, are the most intriguing. They have the right kind of prospects; the A's need a young, good, major league ready pitcher to fill Zito's shoes with Pelfrey, and some offensive help for now and the future with Milledge. Also, the Mets have an aging pitching staff that is on borrowed time. Glavine, Hernandez, and Pedro aren't going to be able to perform at top levels much longer in this league. G.M. Minaya may feel this is his best chance to win a world series with a lot of his offensive players having tremendous years. He may take a serious risk in order to win it all, plus, he has the Braves breathing down his neck. Pitching coach may also be lobbying for Zito to come to the Mets.

If Billy were to decide to trade Zito, and that is a big IF, it would appear to me that Mets, Cardinals, and the Dodgers would have to best chance to get him. In my opinion.

Depodesta

pedoman — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 19:00:50 -0000

What ever happened to Depodesta?

Is it just me, but does it seem that things have kind of deteriorated since Depo left? Is David Forst doing a good enough job? The Loaiza signing, the loss of the draft pick due to Loaiza, the Kendall trade, the Hudson/Meyer fiasco, the lack of serious minor league prospects, an so on and so forth. Of course, there is a lack of prospects because the best are on the big league club, nonetheless, the lack of pitching prospects makes me nervous with the prospect of Zito leaving and Harden's continual injuries. Buck, Suzuki, Powell, Windsor, and Barton look to be major leaguers, but the lack of any additional prospects may keep Billy from making any sort of substantial trade mid season to improve the offense. For instance, packaging Dan Johson with minor leaguers for a major league left fielder with power, and then moving Swisher to first base.
Anyway, what happened to Depo, maybe the A's can bring him back.

Ben Fritz

pedoman — Wed, 31 May 2006 01:43:46 -0000

Does Fritz has what it takes?

I have been following Fritz's stats at AA Midland and his numbers look pretty good. I believe his WHIP is around 1.17 and he has only given up 3 homers. But, I have no idea about how hard he throws, or whether scouts think he will be able to contribute to the major league club. Does anyone have any info on Fritz?