Curious about Brett Anderson's newfound success, I checked out Fangraphs the other day. Of course, I expected to see the increase in velocity, but I also saw another change in his release point that's equally pronounced.

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It's been a tumultuous week for our Oakland A's and us. We've put up a 5-5 record over the last 10 games while the Angels have continued their torrid pace, going 8-2 in the same stretch. We were shocked to find Milton Bradley designated for assignment this week, then shocked the trade with the Royals didn't go through, and not so shocked to find out the reason the deal was nixed. The offense that seemed to be picking up steam has come to a screeching halt and some fans are growing anxious waiting for the A's to heal and heat up in the summer heat.

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Please be gentle.

A's News:
Harden Hard on Himself

"How many walks did I have?" Harden said. "I know it was a few. Not good. My command wasn't there."

Apparently we've found El Dorado, and it's Scutaro

'I'm always signing autographs everywhere (in Venezuela),' the A's infielder said Sunday. 'When I come here it's kind of rest for my hand a little bit.'

in other news:

Spiders show some love

Patrick Stewart One Man Show (The Final Frontier)

And finally, something to pass the time until the season starts:

Desktop Tower Defense

When Blez informed us there would be a redesign of AN, I was stoked. I already like the user experience, and it's still improving. That said, I'm a little disappointed with the newest incarnation of our beloved site. Here's my feedback as a graphic designer– I'll try to keep it succinct and constructive.

What I like about the update...

Loading times. Threads with 100+ comments used to load quite slowly for me. Now they're much faster, even though my connection is the same. We'll see if it holds up for regular season game threads, but so far, it's a big improvement.

Coding shortcuts for replies. Bold, italic, blockquote, and link shortcuts are great. I'm okay with the preview button, but, as someone else stated, a post button should be added to bypass this optional step. Preview is really only necessary to ensure images and links work. I'm skeptical that it will help prevent spelling errors.

Shrinking posts dynamically. My favorite addition because it gives us a more fluid use of the vertical space, but I think it could be better utilized (I'll explain later).

What I think could be improved...

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I wasn't planning on posting this diary now, but all this discussion about Lastings Milledge and player value make me think it's a good time. I'll spare you anymore frivolous introduction and just get to it.

I have a few major questions about the evaluation of player development.

What determines a player's success?

When is a player's success relevant?

When does a player's development end, and where does decline begin?

Here are some of my ideas, recently influenced by these two articles:

The Myth of Prodigy and Why it Matters

A Star Is Made

What determines a player's success? For the most part, I think young player success coincides with their ability to meet assess their skills, practice well, and (we all hear this a lot) make adjustments. But what does that mean? Would you rather have a player who blows through the minors, or one that takes half a season to adjust at every level? In my estimation, (and all other things being near equal) both players are of the same value, but I don't think most MLB teams see it that way. For some reason, the 20 year old usually gets the tilt over the 24 year old, even though both players have no major league experience. This seems like a questionable philosophy, which brings me to my next question...

When is a player's success relevant? This kid can tear the cover off the ball, light up the bases, and cover the field like a miniature Kotsay with a bionic back. Trouble is, he's 11 years old. Sure, he could be the next elite player, but how relevant will these skills be in 5 years when he meets the age requirement? It baffles me how teams continue to project even high school adolescents, let alone junior high kids overseas. If the very most important time really is Now, then the next most important time is yesterday, and so on. Weighed in this manner, it seems ludicrous to base judgment on anything but the last 3-4 seasons of playing time.

When does a player's development end, and where does decline begin? I think the short answer to the first part is never. Even the best of the best look for ways to improve their game or face certain decline. It sounds obvious, but I often find myself thinking of established players in a static sense, unlike younger players who are more easily viewed as always in phase, but everyone's on a learning curve. As for decline, I believe most of that's up to the player, but it's not written in stone that they're in for physical decline at 35. I don't think everyone will find the Fountain of Julio Franco, but there's no physical reason why a player can't have a career best season at age 37 or 38... Barring major injury of course (not like that would ever happen to one of our players), but that's another diary altogether.

This worries me.

Street. He looked very wrong last night, and I'm not sure why he was left out on the field. He looked like he wanted to get pulled, but the coaching staff wouldn't do it. After several meetings on the mound and pacing around, he stopped throwing his 4 seam fastball, and I don't think he threw any sliders. Kendall had to convince him to throw a second changeup, which was then promptly spanked to left for a base hit, tying the game. No way should he have been out there for so long.

Mark Kotsay's back. Him coming in for Kielty seemed a little excessive. He visibly winced twice, once going back on a fly ball to center, then pausing to stretch out his back, then after his throw to keep Ichiro at second late in the game. He was supposed to get Monday off.

This does NOT worry me.

Esteban Loaiza. Yes, his adjustment came a little late, and at the prodding of Curt Young, but his stuff and location were as good as any other start since August. Early on in the game Stebby fell in love with his cutter, and Mariners hitters didn't have to adjust for different speeds. As soon as he started mixing in his changeup and, most importantly, his 4 seam fastball, he was able to get them off balance. He came back to strike out Broussard and pitch a 1-2-3 4th inning. Of course he's going to give up a hit to Ichiro, who hits about .350 against him. The pitch to Sexson was up, but again, it's no secret that Loaiza is prone to the long ball. He was pitching well and really wanted this game. To save the bullpen, as well as show some confidence in Stebby, who really showed fire on the mound last night, Macha should have left him in one more inning.

.301 /.342 /.480 /.821      

Even with his reputation for poor strike zone judgment, the numbers are slightly above league average, which is more than the A's have been getting out of guys not named Nick. I wonder how many teams would be interested (certainly the Giants) and about his attitude. It sure seems like we have enough 'fire' as it is, but we sure could use someone slugging above .400.

With Bradley one step away from injury and Swisher feeling drained, I say take a chance on him. His salary this year is 5.8mil according to ESPN, but I'm not sure about the rules regarding his release and whatnot. Surely the risk is worth it, especially if we can't swing a trade for more immediate help on offense.

Since switching to Geico isn't an option for the A's, and Frank Thomas might as well be nicknamed the Big Faberge Egg, I thought this diary about an insurance plan if (when) our apparently imminent DH has a great fall.

Obviously, this is very open for discussion, but I think a player like Russell Branyan would be a good fit in that role (if he were willing to be more of a role player). Why? Three main reasons:

He can play 3rd base in the event Chavez needs a rest.

His 3yr OPS against righties is .884 (.518 SLG), making him a perfect canidate for a Kielty/Branyan platoon at DH should Thomas go down.

He only made 800k last year, and is a tradeable commodity.

He does strike out quite a bit (217k/86walks in his 3yr split), but he's an intimidating hitter who still manages to get on base a lot despite the bad BB/K ratio (.366 against righties). I don't think it would take too much to get him, and seeing as how everyone throws out the Kennedy/Saarloos/Cruz + Insert_blank_player_here, I will too.

Comments?