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| Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
This and next month, Outside the Beltway Sports will be taking a trip around the Major Leagues profiling the 30 major league teams. We continue today with the Oakland A’s, who finished atop their division for the fourth time in the last seven years.
Oakland A’s
Last season: 93-69 won AL West, lost in ALCS
Manager: Bob Geren
Meet the new guys
MGR Bob Geren, DH Mike Piazza, LF Shannon Stewart, RP Alan Embree, RP David Shafer, 2B Donnie Murphy
Gone and hardly remembered
SP Barry Zito (to San Francisco), DH Frank Thomas (to Toronto), RF Jay Payton (to Baltimore), SP Jerome Williams (to Washington), SP Kirk Saarloos (to Cincinnati)
And now your starting lineup
- CF Mark Kotsay
- LF Nick Swisher
- RF Milton Bradley
- DH Mike Piazza
- 3B Eric Chavez
- SS Bobby Crosby
- 1B Dan Johnson
- 2B Mark Ellis
- C Jason Kendall
Bench
OF Shannon Stewart
OF Bobby Kielty
IF Marco Scutaro
C Adam Melhuse
IF Antonio Perez
1B/DH Erubiel Durazo
There are holes no doubt. Jason Kendall had a nearly unredeemable season with the bat last year. Mark Ellis struggled at the start of the season. Bobby Crosby hasn’t had a healthy season since 2004. And Dan Johnson did not hit enough to keep his starting job. They can score runs. Swisher, Bradley, Piazza and Chavez are good run producers and Kotsay gets on base with enough consistency. The A’s could use more steady hitters, but as Billy Beane has noted, with his budget, you get flawed players. The bench is stocked with average to slightly better players. Some, like Stewart and Durazo, are coming off of injuries, and may be able to become difference makers given a clean bill of health and a chance to contribute. They aren’t going to score 850 runs, but they won’t need to.
Rotation
- Rich Harden
- Danny Haren
- Joe Blanton
- Esteban Loaiza
- Joe Kennedy
- Brad Halsey
Bullpen
Closer Huston Street
Justin Duchscherer
Kiko Calero
Alan Embree
Dan Meyer
Chad Gaudin
Barry Zito took his consistent track record of success and durability to San Francisco. But the A’s still have a remarkably solid rotation. The biggest question mark is the health of Rich Harden. Harden’s arm is live and his skill is undeniable, but his fragility has frustrated the A’s the last several years. Danny Haren and Joe Blanton remain quality and inexpensive arms. Esteban Loaiza was injured early last year, and it showed in his ineffectiveness. He pitched well in August and September. Joe Kennedy has been used primarily in a bullpen role since coming to Oakland. Last year’s very good 2.31 ERA (2.57 RA) in 35 innings of lefty specialist work has given Oakland confidence in putting him into a starting role. The bullpen remains solid, anchored by setup man Justin Duchscherer, who filled in at closer for the injured Huston Street for a month and stabilized the pen. He battled a few injuries, as well. Kiko Calero had another good year in Oakland’s pen. His rising walk and hit rates are a little worrisome, but he also increased his K rates, and as long as Calero can continue to dot hat, he’ll be just fine. Alan Embree enjoyed a renaissance in ’06. His lost 2005 season may have been due to dead arm from all the innings he worked out of the pen in Boston’s World Series run the previous year. He inherits the lefty specialist role from Kennedy. The A’s figure to break in Meyer in the pen. He was battered in ten starts in AAA last season, and the notoriously hitter friendly Pacific Coast League is not as pleasant an environment as pitching in relief in a very pitching friendly ball park.
Help is on the way…
Top prospect Daric Barton figures to find his way to the other city by the Bay one of these days. He had a solid season in AA ball in 2005, but shoulder woes slowed him down last season. He’s healthy this spring, and while likely ticketed for AAA, a hot spring would make him an extremely attractive option at first base. Johnson’s difficult ’06 campaign was marred by injuries as well, but Barton figures to be the long term solution at first. It will be his job to lose next season, and maybe even by this year’s All-Star break.
Other prospects who may be called on
Kurt Suzuki is just as likely to supplant Jason Kendall behind the dish this year. Suzuki has posted great numbers as he has marched through the Athletics organization. His stop last season at AA showed improved defensive ability and that tantalizing combination of doubles power and excellent plate discipline. Outfielder Travis Buck has the highest ceiling of Oakland’s current minor leaguers. A sports hernia hurt him last year, but he still managed a combine line of .320/.385/.521 between advanced A ball and AA. Oakland’s outfield is crowded, but Buck’s progress will land him in right field fairly soon.
Outlook
Oakland has slipped a little from last year’s division winner. But they had lots of room for improvement within last year’s roster. The defections of Frank Thomas and Barry Zito left gaps, but the A’s filled the Thomas gap with Mike Piazza. The Zito gap will be filled with Joe Kennedy, who while not as durable as Zito, profiles similarly. He relies on control and his defense getting outs for him. If Kennedy can take the success he has enjoyed in the bullpen and pitch effectively as a starter, then that gap will have been filled as well. Oakland can ill afford more injuries to key players like Crosby or Harden. Both have been bitten by the injury bug before and need full seasons to propel the A’s to a successful defense of their AL West title. How Bob Geren handles running Billy Beane’s team on a day to day basis is another question. If he works well with Beane, then it could be a very happy year for Oakland fans who would love to see a return to the World Series.
Predicted finish 95-67 first place AL West
In a move that suggests that Billy Beane has had his eye on him for some time, Oakland claimed Lenny DiNardo off of waivers from the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, and immediately added him to the 25-man roster.
DiNardo, a 27-year old southpaw, had a decent seasons in 2004 and 2005 in limited action with the Red Sox, but after a neck injury in 2006, posted an ERA — 7.85 — in Jose Lima territory. He’s a soft-tossing cutter purveyor, with an occasional slider and rare changeup. He has a career minor league ERA of 3.35, with a SO/9 of 8.84 and a SO:BB ratio of 2.74.
To make room on the roster, the A’s outrighted Charles Thomas to AAA Sacramento and designated Hiram Bocachica for assignment. It’s always seemed to me that Bocachica might be able to contribute as a utility/bench player in the right situation. It’s been apparent for the past two years that Oakland isn’t that situation, however.
If Bocachica doesn’t just head back to Sacramento, as one might assume, it’s likely that an NL team would pick him up. His positional flexibility, speed and decent bat would fit right in for a team like the Giants, who have an ancient outfield and geriatric infield.
As for DiNardo, he’s the latest in Billy Beane’s stockpile of left-handers and 5th starters. DiNardo could make the team as an insurance policy against Alan Embree disappointing as a LOOGY. DiNardo could also conceivably challenge for the 5th starter role, but he’s nowhere near the head of that line. Joe Kennedy is the front-runner at this point, and spring training is only likely to solidify that notion.
On Valentine’s Day, the love comes out for the greatest game in the world -
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: “I think because everybody can relate. You don’t have to be seven feet tall; you don’t have to be a certain size to play. Baseball is up and down. I think life’s like that sometimes, you know. Back and forth, up and down, you’re going through this grind. I think people like watching it. Baseball’s like a soap opera every day.”
Ernie Banks, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer: “It’s just life. When I think about baseball, it’s just life. It’s really the way life is. It requires a lot of mental capacity to be involved in it. It creates a lot of joy for people and memories for people who follow it. It’s a family. You like it because it’s a family. You started with it and know all these people — it’s family, it’s friends, it’s fun, it’s a beautiful game. All in all, baseball is amazing.
Joel Kweskin, 56, White Sox fan based in Charlotte, N.C.: “It’s unique unto itself. Football, basketball and hockey are variations of the same concept — back and forth in a linear progression to score a goal. Baseball, however, is mapped out on the field unlike any other sport. A running back or return specialist can run 100 yards, tops; a baserunner legging out an inside-the-park homer runs 20 yards farther. Baseball is the most democratic of sports — any size can play, and because the ball is not controlled by the offense but rather the defense, every player at any given time is involved in a play. Along with the anecdotally accepted premise that hitting a pitched baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sports, so might be fielding a 175-mph line drive or grounder down the line. I love baseball because it is the greatest game ever invented.”
Former Royals star Willie Wilson: “The first thing is, I don’t think there’s any criteria for size, so anybody can play. I think people can relate. A lot of people never played football; basketball, you’ve gotta be tall and be able to jump. But baseball is a game where you pick up a bat and a ball, and you catch it, you swing the bat and you hit the ball. Most people have played softball or some kind of baseball, so they can relate to the sport. For me, that’s why I think America just embraces baseball, man.”
Baseball Blogger Travis G.: Where to start? I think better when I make a list.
1. Players. The requirements to be a good baseball player are very undefined. You can be short, tall, thin, chunky, anything really. You name the greats and you get tall and chunky (Ruth, Ortiz), short and chunky (Yogi, Gwynn), tall and thin (Sizemore, Jeter), short and thin (Reyes, Ichiro). They may not be the best athletes (e.g. David Wells), but when they’re playing the best game in the world, who cares?
2. The Mentality. Baseball requires more intelligence than any other sport (save for NFL QB). Simply put, every hitter that steps to the plate is trying to out-think the pitcher, and vice versa. 4-5 times a game, focus has to be completely on the man in front of him. Will he throw a fastball, curve, change? If you take an at-bat (or even a pitch) off, you’re toast. Same thing with the pitcher. The only other sport that comes close is football, but mainly just for the QB. Baseball requires every single player to have good mental capacity.
3. The Field. Football, hockey, basketball and soccer all use essentially the same type of field/playing surface: a rectangle. Baseball uses a diamond. It’s not only unique in that aspect, but every single ballpark is unique amongst the sport. Each park has its own quirks and intricacies that make it special. Not a single other sport can say that. Yankee Stadium has Death Valley, the short RF porch, and the facade. Fenway has the Monster. Shea has the apple. Wrigley has the ivy-covered brick. Pac Bell (or whatever it’s called now) has the bay in RF. Houston has the hill in center. Imagine if the RCA Dome’s field was only 95 yards; that’s the equivalent of Death Valley or the Green Monster.
4. One on One. Basically the speech DeNiro makes in The Untouchables. Baseball is a team game: 25 men. But each of them takes one turn – by themself – to help the whole team. Then the next batter gets a chance. Because of the batting order, a team can’t simply send its best hitter up every at-bat. You can’t just give the ball to Jordan or Shaq (Pujols or Ortiz) every time. A team’s best hitter will get 4-5 chances a game to help his team. That’s it. You need a complete team to win.
5. Substitutions. Once a player is removed, he’s done. You can’t just sub in the best defenders when you have a lead. You can’t take out Santana for an inning because he’s tired, then re-insert him. Could you imagine the way baseball would be played if there were no substitution restrictions? It would be bedlam. Players don’t get any breaks (outside of the DH) during the game. Even late inning defensive replacements are a gamble if the trailing team comes back. And substitutions play an ever bigger role in the NL.
6. No Clock. No running out the clock. It doesn’t matter what inning and what score it is, you still need 27 outs to complete the game. There’s no easy way to ‘seal’ a win. You still have to face every batter, and record every out.
7. History. When Japanese kamikaze pilots flew their planes into American ships, they would often yell ‘Fuck Babe Ruth!’ No other American sport has the history baseball does. Some of the most iconic figures in our culture are Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ripken, McGwire, Bonds, Aaron, Clemens, Jeter. It’s goes all the way back to the 1830′s. The ‘Junior Circuit’ (AL) had been going strong for over 45 years before the NBA ever started. The Yankees had already won 20 World Series before the first Super Bowl was ever played. I just love that feeling of history when I watch a game.
8. Summer. What better sport to exemplify the feeling of summer than baseball. The only summer sport we have. Warm weather, kids are out of school; remember the day games with your dad, drinking a soda, eating a hot dog? No other sport lets you enjoy the weather. Hockey and basketball are indoors. And the football season lasts from September to February, nuff said.
9. Connection. This ain’t football where the most ardent fans get to see a maximum of just 24 games (including the pre and post-season). Baseball is 3 hours a day, 6 days a week for 6 months. You get a minimum of 162 games. That’s double basketball and hockey, and 10 times that of football. Not only do you get to see your ‘guys’ 162 times a season, but you actually feel close to them. They’re not wearing masks to cover their faces (football, hockey), so you see (and often share) their reactions and emotions. You don’t get that feeling of ‘closeness’ from other sports. And then when you add the fact that baseball plays 162 games, it’s easy to understand where the connection comes from. When the season is over, it’s like you not seeing your family for 5 months.
10. Home-field Advantage. Having the home team hit in the bottom of each inning assures that every team, every season (even Kansas City) will have its share of thrilling, bottom of the whatever, walk-off wins. It’s nothing like football where you squib kick it or have the QB kneel down, or in basketball where you dribble out the clock or foul the opponent 10 times.
Your thoughts?
He was the right fielder and one a key player on the championship Yankee teams of the 1950′s. From AP-
Hank Bauer, the tough ex-Marine who set a World Series record with a 17-game hitting streak for the Yankees and later managed the Baltimore Orioles to the 1966 title, died Friday. He was 84.
Bauer died in the Kansas City area, where he made his home, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said.
During 14 seasons in the major leagues, a career that spanned from 1948-61, Bauer became a three-time All-Star outfielder, helping the Yankees win seven World Series titles and nine AL pennants. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Yankees and his final two with the Kansas City Athletics.
In his final Series appearance, he hit .323 with four homers and eight RBIs as the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in 1958.
Bauer managed the Kansas City A’s to ninth-place finishes in 1961 and 1962, then took over as manager of the Orioles in 1964.
In 1966, he managed the Orioles to a 97-63 record and a World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer left the Orioles during the 1968 season, and his final managing job was with the Oakland A’s the following year.
Bauer’s time in the Marine Corps was at least as distinguished as his time in baseball.
Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
Bauer was wounded at Okinawa, hit in the left thigh by shrapnel in his 53rd day on the island.
“We went in with 64 and six of us came out,” Bauer said.
Bauer’s service record came under fire from an ill-informed politician
In the 1950′s, a Congressman published a list of athletes that received ‘soft duty’ during World War II. Hank Bauer, the Yankee Rightfielder, was on the list (Bauer was a very talented ballplayer).
Only one problem: Bauer, a Marine, took part in the invasion of four islands – New Georgia, Emirau, Okinawa and Guam. He took shrapnel in the back of his leg which could never be removed.
When his error was pointed out, the Congressman (I wish I had his name) said, “I didn’t mean Hank Bauer, I meant Hank Sauer.” Sauer was a Chicago Cubs outfielder.
Unfortunately, Sauer had also seen combat.
Talk about dumb Congressman. Note- This story was published in Bill James’ Historical Abstract.
Another former Baltimore Oriole, Steve Barber, died this week. Barber was on the mound and Bauer managing in a famous 1967 game.
Facing Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader at old Memorial Stadium, Barber took a no-hit bid and a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning despite severe bouts of wildness.
Barber walked the first two batters in the ninth, then retired the next two hitters. But he threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score and, after yet another walk, was pulled from the game.
Stu Miller relieved, and the Tigers scored the go-ahead run on an error. The Tigers wound up winning 2-1 despite getting no hits. Barber’s line that afternoon: 8 2-3 innings, 10 walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a throwing error.
Barber and Bauer both gave baseball fans many memories. RIP.
Cross posted at Poliblog’s Deportes
The Oakland Athletics have reached an agreement with free agent outfielder Shannon Stewart for a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $2.5 million with incentives, pending a physical, ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney has learned.
Stewart, 32, is a .299 career hitter with 102 home runs in 11 seasons with Toronto and Minnesota. His best year came in 2000, when he hit 21 homers and drove in 69 runs for the Blue Jays.
Stewart has had plantar fasciitis problems in both feet over the past three years, limiting him to 92 games in 2004 and only 44 last season with the Minnesota Twins. The plantar fascia is a long tissue that connects the heel bone to the base of the toes.
Apparently Billy Beane is really, really worried about outfield depth. Right now he’s got Mark Kotsay, Milton Bradley, Nick Swisher, Bobby Kielty, Ryan Goleski and Ricky Ledee. If this report is correct, and I’ll assume it is since it came from Buster Olney, now Shannon Stewart joins the fold.
If Stewart can return to full health, I envision him as a sort of Jay Payton with more OBP and slightly less power, although Payton definitely has the edge on defense and health. Perhaps getting Stewart off of fake grass for the first time in his career (Toronto, Minnesota) will keep him healthy.
The A’s have signed Ricky Ledee to a minor league contract, with an invite to Spring Training. They’re looking at him for the 5th outfielder spot, along with Ryan Goleski, Hiram Bocachica and Charles Thomas.
I’d have to believe that the spot is Goleski’s to lose, because as a Rule 5 draft pick, he has to remain on the 25-man roster to stay with the A’s. He may have been injured when he came over, but he’s going to be healthy by the time Spring Training starts, so he can’t spend the season on the DL rehabbing in the minors.
Ricky Ledee‘s “best” season might have been in 2003 with the Phillies. He hit .247/.334/.475 with 13 home runs and a 34:59 BB:SO ratio. That’s not a particularly good season, though. Here’s his projection for 2007, as a 34 year old:
|
AB |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
2B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BB:SO |
*2B |
*HR |
| CHONE |
173 |
.241 |
.317 |
.374 |
9 |
4 |
18 |
41 |
.439 |
18 |
8 |
| PECOTA |
89 |
.237 |
.305 |
.373 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
20 |
.400 |
20 |
8 |
| ZiPS |
162 |
.241 |
.311 |
.377 |
10 |
4 |
15 |
37 |
.405 |
22 |
9 |
Not very good. The *2B and *HR numbers have been adjusted to 350 at bats, which is what I’d guess a 5th OF might get this year in Oakland.
Compare that to Goleski’s numbers:
|
AB |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
2B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
BB:SO |
*2B |
*HR |
| CHONE |
451 |
.237 |
.299 |
.400 |
22 |
16 |
36 |
118 |
.305 |
17 |
12 |
| PECOTA |
519 |
.233 |
.294 |
.390 |
25 |
18 |
42 |
135 |
.311 |
17 |
12 |
| ZiPS |
424 |
.224 |
.291 |
.389 |
25 |
15 |
37 |
130 |
.285 |
21 |
12 |
Who would you rather have? Goleski offers more power, but he strikes out far too often and his OBP is well below average.
Both Ledee and Goleski have offensive drawbacks. The deciding factor, in my opinion, is that while Ledee is a declining 34 year old, Goleski is a 25 year old with no major league experience yet. Goleski has a PECOTA UPSIDE of 5.2, while Ledee’s UPSIDE is just 0.6.
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If you haven’t been following winter league baseball in Venezuela and Mexico — and who hasn’t, really — you may have missed the numbers that Marco Scutaro and Erubiel Durazo are putting up.
Scutaro not only led the entire nation of Venezuela (and its visiting major league ballplayers) in average and on-base percentage in the regular season, but he’s gone 20-for-60 in the oddly long 16 game playoffs. Oh, what I would have given for a playoff that long during the 2001-2004 MLB postseasons. Five games just wasn’t enough… But I digress.
Durazo, fondly known as ol’ alligator arms, has been trashing the Mexican league hurlers. After smashing 18 homers in 63 regular season games with a .344 average, Durazo has stayed hot in the playoffs. In 52 playoff at-bats for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, Billy Beane’s Holy Grail has hit .308 with two homers. I may be drinking the green-and-gold Kool-Aid (or would that be horchata?), but I’m more and more convinced that Durazo can return to his excellent 2004 form. He’s going to present a big challenge to Dan Johnson in Spring Training.
Competition is always good, though, and if it serves to improve the A’s unsteady offense, I’m all for it.
The A’s and Justin Duchscherer came to an agreement on terms today, avoiding arbitration.
Duke, who made $344,500 in 2006, asked for $1.45 million and was offered $925,000. They didn’t immediately release the numbers, but I’d have to guess that the one year deal is worth somewhere around $1.3 million. Kirk Saarloos asked for nearly the same amount, was offered $925,000, and got a $1.2 million deal. No offense to Saarloos, but Duchscherer is certainly worth more.
[UPDATE: The actual figure is $1,187,500, which is lower than I expected]
The A’s have never liked to go to arbitration with players, with the last case that actually went before an arbiter being the Juan Cruz disaster. Cruz, who had a reputation of having a “major league arm, minor league head”, lost his arbitration case. There was speculation that the process left him with less confidence in himself, which contributed to his decline. Of course, it’s also possible that he just couldn’t find the strikezone with a GPS and a sherpa holding his hand.
Signing Duke, the A’s lone All-Star representative in 2005, was one of the more important goals of the offseason for the A’s. He’s been very reliable and produced great results since moving from the rotation to the bullpen. A large part of his success has come after he developed and refined his cutter. He went from a soft-tossing starter with three pitches to a soft-tossing reliever who makes batters look awful with a huge curveball and diving cutter.
I’ll always remember his performance I witnessed in spring training last year, when Duchscherer fanned seven batters in a row, most on his curve. Speaking of which, this may be heresy for an A’s fan, but I’d wager that Duchscherer has every bit as good a curveball as Barry Zito. Not only that, Duchscherer seems to know how to control his, walking only 28 batters in the last two years, over 141 1/3 innings pitched.
This leaves Bobby Kielty as the lone Athletic waiting to either go to arbitration or sign a one year deal. I’d guess that the A’s sign him to a deal worth around $2.2 million, a raise from the $1.85 he made last year. Kielty will likely see most of his time in a platoon, though, possibly with Rule V draft pick Ryan Goleski.
Oakland has locked up four more players that were arbitration eligible. Joe Kennedy, Milton Bradley, Kiko Calero and Marco Scutaro are now all signed up for the 2007 season. Here’s a rundown:
Joe Kennedy – $2.8 million
Kennedy comes into 2007 as a top candidate for the #5 spot in the rotation. He’s been effective but not outstanding for the A’s in a relief role since he came over from the Rockies in the Eric Byrnes trade. I’d consider $2.8 million in this market to be very reasonable, even for an arby-eligible player. However, if he doesn’t crack the top five for the rotation, look for Beane to try and trade away one of his surplus #5-type pitchers, such as Kennedy or Brad Halsey.
Milton Bradley – $4.0 million (+ $400,000 in performance bonuses)
Bradley seems to have finally found a home in Oakland. He seems content, and after coming back from an early season injury, hit very well, posting a .284/.370/.457/.827 line until the end of the year. I’d like to see Bradley inked to a 3-4 year deal before the year is out. His largely exaggerated anger baggage will keep his contract value down, but he is a good hitter and a very good defensive outfielder. The best news might be that we get another season of the fantastic Bradley-Swisher celebration dance, which has to be seen; it’s impossible to describe.
Kiko Calero – $1.6 million
Calero was the only Opening Day Oakland reliever to not get injured and not temporarily move to the rotation in 2006. He’s been great since coming over from St. Louis in the Mulder trade. In the two years he’s pitched for Oakland, he’s put up a 3.33 ERA, 119:42 K:BB ratio, and struck out 9.4 per nine inning pitched. While those aren’t top-tier reliever numbers, they’re still very good. His nasty backdoor slider will continue to break over the corner for one more year in Oakland.
Marco Scutaro – $1.55 million
The contribution Marco has made to Oakland can’t really be summarized by statistics alone. And this is coming from a guy who just spent the last two days up to his ears in numbers. Little Papi, as some have taken to calling Scutaro, seems to have that nebulous characteristic that some define as “being clutch”. As much as my sabermetric mind hesitates to buy into it, my traditionalist heart believes it. I’ve seen him come to the plate in late game situtations many, many times and get a bloop single or a double off the wall. More important, perhaps, than his actual performance is that he is so expected to come through that the rest of the team is able to relax and get their jobs done.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the other contributions Marco has made to the team. When Mark Ellis went down in 2004, Scutaro played a very good second base all year. The next year, when Bobby “Broken Bones” Crosby went down for an extended amount of time, Scutaro played an above average shortstop. This year, in a reduced role, Scutaro came out of the gate struggling, but chose just the right time to get hot. As Nick Swisher cooled off from his torrid start, Scutaro, hitting just .218 at the time, turned it on. From August 2 to the end of the season, he hit .308/.412/.459/.871 to help the A’s make the push into the playoffs.
I’m glad Scutaro is back. It just wouldn’t be the same without him. I can take the big stars leaving. I liked Zito a lot, but to be honest, I think at this point I’d miss Scutaro more. Perhaps that’s just the bitterness of Zito’s departure talking, though.
—–
So with Kennedy, Calero, Bradley, Scutaro, Antonio Perez and Adam Melhuse signed up, that leaves just three arbitration eligible players left unsigned: Justin Duchscherer, Bobby Kielty and Kirk Saarloos.
Duchscherer is due a big raise (up from $345,000), as he’s been invaluable to the team out of the bullpen. Since moving there in 2004, he’s posted a 2.80 ERA with a 195:60 K:BB ratio. Since 2005 he’s been even better, with a 2.48 ERA and 136:28 K:BB ratio.
Kielty looks like a player with a disappearing career. With Jay Payton gone it would appear that more ABs would flow his way, but it looks as if the Dan Johnson/Mike Piazza 1B/DH position will put Nick Swisher back in the outfield, leaving little room for the Klown. Swisher, Mark Kotsay, Milton Bradley and possibly Ryan Goleski will all likely get time before Kielty. Goleski has to remain on the 25-man roster all season as a Rule V pick, or he goes back to the Indians. With Goleski’s potential and Kielty’s extreme platoon split, I’d guess Kielty may not be around soon.
Kirk Saarloos is an interesting case. He, by all accounts, doesn’t have much “stuff”. He strikes out people at one of the lowest rates in the game, excluding knuckle-ballers, and doesn’t throw hard. His sinker, his best pitch, isn’t anything to write home about. But somehow he manages to pitch very well at times. That’s balanced by a few poor outings, to give him a mid-4.00 ERA and a slot as a 5th/fill-in starter. Insofar as it might be easy to rip the guy for his seeming dearth of MLB frontline talent, I’ve got to admit that I like the guy, and I’m rooting for him. Here’s hoping Los Kirk can find more of what some have called his “pixie dust”; the ability to get people out when they least expect it.
Erubiel Durazo, as I’ve mentioned previously, has been playing very well in Mexico. So well, in fact, that he’ll be crossing the border to Arizona come March, and vying for a spot in Oakland’s spring training lineup.
Playing for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, Durazo hit .344 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 63 games.
Of course, don’t expect that to translate to an MLB season of 40+ homers and a .340+ average.
It’s certainly possible that Durazo has regained his stroke after his Tommy John surgery more than a year ago. He could return to the 2004 Durazo that seemed to validate Billy Beane dubbing him his “Holy Grail”. That season, Durazo put up a line of .321/.396/.523 with 22 home runs and 35 doubles.
I’d be happy to see Durazo get near .280/.370/.490 with 18 home runs and 25 doubles; production he is certainly capable of.
It should be noted that Mike Piazza, the shiny new… unknown quantity… interesting reclamation project… um… “new designated hitter” that the A’s signed is projected to put up the following line: .267/.344/.467, 16 HR, 15 doubles.
Piazza may have to earn his playing time. Assuming Durazo is back, which remains to be seen.
An emerging storyline to follow through spring training will definitely be the 1B/DH battle between Dan Johnson, Erubiel Durazo and Mike Piazza. All have shown the ability to hit .320 with 20+ home runs, but they also have all shown the ability to hit .250 with 10 home runs…
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