SB Nation User Blog: yawedout21

Power Rankings

yawedout21 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:37:30 -0000

I thought it would be interesting to hear everyone's take on the power rankings put out by Yahoo!, ESPN, and FoxSports

ESPN-As of April 13th A's ranked 20th with a 2-4 record

Notable Teams ahead in ESPN rankings: All the AL West, To note east coast love: Yankees(5th) & Mets (12) with 3-3 records, Red Sox (15) 2-4 and the Braves ranked 1 trailed by the Marlins.

Yahoo!- As of what they say is Week 3 but was posted on April 16th. A's ranked 12th with 4-5 record.

Notable Teams in Yahoo! rankings: AL East goes Rays (1st) 4-6, Red Sox (2nd) 3-6, Yankees (5) 5-5. The Mariners are ranked 23rd with their hot start at 7-3. Angels are only team in the AL West above A's in this pole at 8th.

FoxSports-As of April 14th the A's are ranked 26th with a 4-5 record.

Notable Teams: All AL West ranked above A's; Mariners (5th), Angels (12th), Rangers (18th). The top team in this pole is the Marlins trailed by the Braves in second. Highest AL East team in this pole is the Blue Jays at 4.

I mainly posted this to see what people think about these rankings. I personally dont think anything of these rankings especially this early in the season but I still look at them to read the pithy comments on each team and to see how "professionals" view the A's. I think the A's have to be given more love then the worst team in the AL West but its early and each of these publications has there own basis for why teams are in certain positions.Which

Poll

Where do you rank the A's?

1st-They are my A's dangit and they are always #1

35 votes

5th-10th- They look solid but its early

32 votes

20th-ESPN is my Bible they are always right

12 votes

12th- Yahoo! may have gotten this one right

124 votes

26th- The A's suck this year and this is where they will be all year

4 votes

207 votes | Poll has closed

Fan dies after A's beat Angels

yawedout21 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:35:12 -0000

Here is the link to the story---

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/fan-dies-after-fight-at-angels-game-.html

Hope it works for everyone, I am mainly pointing this out so that everyone who reads this remembers this is just a game. I love this game to death but we all need to make sure that we do not let a little good natured trash talking to opposing fans cross the line. Its ridiculous to think that this guy went to a baseball game tonight and ended up losing his life. This is supposed to be entertainment, this is supposed to be fun, this is not supposed to be life changing or life altering and especially not life ending. If this death was somehow related to the game I am writing this as a reminder for everybody just keep the games in perspective and enjoy the games, we as fans can't let this kind of stuff happen, EVER.

What to do with Crosby?

yawedout21 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:53:40 -0000

The A's have found themselves in a very interesting position having 2 starting shortstops from last year on their roster. Bobby Crosby is number 2 on the list and apparently is not pleased about it. He has asked for a trade apparently but the real question and discussion that I am interested in having is what should the A's do? They tried to put Crosby on waivers and nobody wanted him, and now Crosby wants them to trade him to a team that needs a "starting shortstop". So what does everyone think does Bobby Crosby deserve an opportunity to be a starting shortstop? Should the A's acquiese to Crosby's wishes? Is there even a team out there that would want Bobby Crosby? Or should the A's just go into the season with him as a utility of player of sorts coming off the bench and deal with the possiblity that he might not be happy?

Personally I think that the A's should keep Bobby Crosby as injury protection because as we are all aware of the A's injury problems. Let's face it our infield isnt getting any younger, we have a starting infield of Jason Giambi (38), Mark Ellis (31), Chavez (31), and Cabrera (34). The two youngest have probably the most extensive injury history and the oldest of the group has some injury history as well. If Crosby was not in the fold you would basically be relying on Nomar who is getting up there in years with injury history as well and a group of guys who are young and unproven or have shown they are not very good. Crosby has never duplicated the type of year he had his rookie year but some of that goes with injury history but at least we know he is capable of playing at this level and it would be really nice to have him as the replacement for days off for the starters as well if an injury strikes, which is basically inevitable. On top of this I don't believe anyone wants him so there will not be any trade offers and basically if the A's were to trade him it would be out of respect for Bobby. Personally I think he is more valuable to a team that is showing signs of wanting to go for the division as a replacement player then what the A's would get in return for him in a trade, which likely would only be a half bucket of balls and half his salary paid for....

So what does everyone else think about the situation with Crosby? should he stay or should he go? Whats better for the team? etc.

25 Man Roster Thoughts and Other Musings

yawedout21 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:58:44 -0000

Ok first what is the 25-man roster going to look like on opening day? I like the options that the A's have going into the season and the versatility that can and will be created. First I am going to throw out the basis of the roster that I believe we can all agree on. I will number for everyone's sanity.

Position Players Pitchers

1. C- Kurt Suzuki 14. SP1- Justin Duchscherer

2. 1B- Jason Giambi 15. SP2- Dana Eveland

3. 2B- Mark Ellis 16. SP3- Sean Gallagher

4. SS- Orlando Cabrera 17. SP4- Dallas Braden

5. 3B- Eric Chavez 18. SP5- Gio/Outman/Other

6. LF- Matt Holliday

7. CF- Ryan Sweeney

8. RF- Travis Buck 19. SU/CL- Joey Devine

9. DH- Jack Cust 20. SU/CL- Brad Ziegler

21. RP- Russ Springer

10. Bench- Nomar Garciaparra 22. RP- Michael Wuertz

11. Bench- Rob Bowen 23. RP- Jerry Blevins

12. Bench- 24. RP- Santiago Casilla

13. Bench- 25. RP-

Now the interesting possibilities lie in what can happen with the last few roster spots. I set up what would be a traditional A's type combination of pitchers(12) and position players(13) that we have seen in years past.

I think the first interesting position battle so to speak to see how it turns out will be the 5th starter role that is being pursued by some young guys and some veterans trying to prove themselves. I think that Gio will eventually win this role going into opening day. (I also like the possibility of Mulder getting a chance at this starting spot eventually if he can still throw, this is not really something that is close but a possibility by the end of spring maybe early season)

Next the A's should definitely at least give Landon Powell a chance this offseason in the backup Catcher role. I understand the thought of he is young and you should get him at bats down at Triple-A but he really has no other chance with the A's besides learning the backup role and not seeing everyday at bats. Since Suzuki is also young and appears he will be around for awhile, Powell's future with the A's will be as a backup. I like Bowen but if they think Powell can handle it I would say to go ahead and get him used to the role sooner rather than later.

Personally as the 5th OF behind Holliday, Sweeney, Buck, and Cust should be Rajai Davis in my opinion. He plays solid defense and is a threat on the basepaths which cannot be discounted late in games especially with all the fleet feet we are sending out there, i.e. Giambi and Cust specifically but to a lesser extent Nomar. It gives the versatility off the bench you need late in games to allow someone to run and go play the field and he is good enough to do well on selected days in the OF as a starter, just not too much.

The last two roster spots up for grabs would typically go to a pitcher and a position player of some sort. Obviously one of these spots for the A's will have to go to a middle infielder. I personally am in favor of keeping Crosby around to play this role especially with the current questionable health of Ellis. This would allow Cabrera to play 2B for awhile if necessary and Crosby can stay at short and then throughout the season Crosby is probably a slightly better option then some of the younger guys on the A's roster. If a decent trade offer comes along then I am not sure who to give this to but I would lean towards Pennington.

The final roster spot will be interesting this year because I don't think it's a forgone conclusion yet that it will be a pitcher. If the A's sign Reyes then obviously there is the end of the roster and you can slide Reyes in but currently you could slide in one of the guys who misses out on the 5th starter role which to me would be a good fit if you wanted to go pitcher. Outman would get my vote in this situation since he is left handed and we lack lefties in the pen. The other possibility with this final spot would be to keep another position player around which would create some AB nightmares most likely but is a possibility and it would likely be Barton in my opinion so he could backup 1B, this is not my ideal situation and prefer the A's to keep their standard 12 man bullpen and let Barton have a year at Sacramento or possibly trade him if you believe in some of these guys in the system.

So for the sake of argument assume we end up with this as our 25 man:

Position Players Pitchers

1. C- Kurt Suzuki 14. SP1- Justin Duchscherer

2. 1B- Jason Giambi 15. SP2- Dana Eveland

3. 2B- Mark Ellis 16. SP3- Sean Gallagher

4. SS- Orlando Cabrera 17. SP4- Dallas Braden

5. 3B- Eric Chavez 18. SP5- Gio Gonzalez

6. LF- Matt Holliday

7. CF- Ryan Sweeney

8. RF- Travis Buck 19. SU/CL- Joey Devine

9. DH- Jack Cust 20. SU/CL- Brad Ziegler

21. RP- Russ Springer

10. Bench- Nomar Garciaparra 22. RP- Michael Wuertz

11. Bench- Rob Bowen 23. RP- Jerry Blevins

12. Bench- Rajai Davis 24. RP- Santiago Casilla

13. Bench- Bobby Crosby 25. RP- Josh Outman

The other discussion to have is what the lineup will potentially look like with this roster in place these are two potential lineups I see:

1. Buck-RF 1. Buck-RF

2. Sweeney-CF 2. Cabrera-SS

3. Holliday- LF 3. Giambi-1B

4. Giambi-1B 4. Holliday-LF

5. Cust-DH 5. Cust-DH

6. Chavez- 3B 6. Chavez-3B

7. Suzuki- C 7. Suzuki-C

8. Ellis- 2B 8. Ellis- 2B

9. Cabrera-SS 9. Sweeney- CF

The lineup on the right plays the left right game a little bit more but personally I think I like the lineup on the left better and most likely someone else has something that I think is even more interesting top to bottom than either of these. The lineup on the right you could slide Sweeney into 8 and Ellis 9 to play Left Right game even more. I know a lot of people on here keep saying that Cust might hit 2nd but I just don't see how you can have that tractor trailer running around in front of anyone but I am positive I could be wrong. I would rather see someone who might be able to run up there instead. If these were my two options I would go with the one on the Left.

I am really excited to see where the rest of Spring Training leads the A's as far as acquisitions and maybe some trades involving Crosby and maybe others and to see how this final 25 man roster finally shapes up in its finality. I hope to hear some other opinions of the 25 man roster and maybe some different lineup options that might present themselves. I am slightly concerned about Duke's elbow news, guess that is the caveat of my 25 man roster was assumption of health which is never a given with the A's. However assuming Duke's elbow injury truly is nothing serious I like the potential I see in the pitching staff especially with the solid bullpen that the A's will have to back them up.

Personally I just want it to be April 6th regardless of what happens, get to open the season against our measuring stick. I understand it is just the first series of the year but they were the champs last year and it would be so sweet to see the A's go into LA and take 3 of those first 4 (if I was greedy I would say all 4...heck all 4 would put me at an all time high heading into that home opener). After that I think it goes without saying I look forward to the A's home opener this year. A lot of anticipation to see the excitement in the Coliseum for the offseason acquisitions and the potential division run the A's could mount in 2009.

Free Agency-Where do the A's go now?

yawedout21 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:04:45 -0000

Now that the pursuit of Rafael Furcal is over in Oakland, I believe the A's should and likely will pursue some other options in free agency. This is just a post to get everyones ideas on who they'd prefer and why they would prefer them. If you have another idea outside of the poll just discuss it. Have not heard much talk lately of who we would like to see come to Oakland, so lets discuss it.

Poll

Who should the A's pursue as option number 1 in FA?

Adam Dunn

70 votes

Pat Burrell

18 votes

Bobby Abreu

16 votes

Jason Giambi

51 votes

Randy Johnson

77 votes

Derek Lowe

19 votes

Ben Sheets

28 votes

Other

15 votes

294 votes | Poll has closed