Casualty Report

Is it just me, or does it feel like A's fans have found cover behind an abandoned bunker at the All-Star break? Someone pass the first aid kit. The firing has stopped for a week, and we could really use this lull to lick our wounds and suppress the bleeding. Medic! Request paper bag with eyeholes, STAT!

"There are a lot of guys who need a break on this team" said Mark Ellis, who by the way just came off the DL 2 weeks ago. 37-49 at the mid-season break is the worst we've seen since 1999. It's been frustrating to say the least.

Casualty report:

Plenty happening on the front lines. Most of it falls into the "negative" category.

Today Sean Gallagher was sent to San Diego as "the player to be named later", thereby completing the Scott Hariston trade. Gallagher struggled mightily in the Big Leagues, giving up 12 earned runs in his last 12 innings. Although he's still only 23, and hence offers potential upside, his 7.14 ERA and 2 atrocious starts will have most A's fans happy to see him go. The reader can definitely put me in that camp.

Hariston is hitting .261, which, sadly puts him at the upper end of offensive production for the A's. His bat was sought to help a slumping lineup find some stride. His 11 homers put him in front of all but Giambi and Cust, and he is leaving little behind in SD. I like this trade, as he's also under control through 2010, which fills one hole beyond this season (with a guy we didn't grow organically... shocking).

With the body count totals rising, the A's sent a couple of minor league pitchers to Tampa Bay for journeyman 2nd baseman Adam Kennedy. Substantially less expensive than Giambi, Kennedy has proven to be one of Oakland's more productive hitters, and went from a bench role in Tampa to an everyday starter batting .291 and leading off for the A's. Sad but true, we've been utterly incapable of growing our own hitters. Instead, we've been forced to deal prospects or pick up elderly free agents at a price we can afford. Every now and then, we land a guy like Kennedy, having a career season at age 33.

Organically grown backup 3rd baseman Jack Hannahan was finally shown the door, being dealt to the Mariners for AA pitcher Justin Souza. So much for the homegrown product. Souza is a serviceable releif guy at best, but represents the top end of value for Hannahan, who hit a yawn-insipring .193 in 52 games for the A's. In many ways, Hannahan embodied the underachievement of the A's fledgling offense: a jallopy with a new paintjob: tons of potential, consistently meager numbers. He is the guy we paid too little for, yet somehow expected something from. So long Jack.

Josh Outman, beginning his professional career by going 4-0 was quickly becoming the dark horse rookie phenom until he suffered an elbow injury that led to season ending Tommy John surgery. Dang. He will hopefully be ready to throw next spring. Honestly, after a first half like A's fans have just gone through, Outman's injury felt more like "the routine setback of the week" than a devastating blow to the core of our young rotation. Bad news has a way of softening more bad news.

And it's usually a sign of even more bad news to come. Fellow rookie starter Brett Anderson was pulled after going 2.2 innings against Tampa due to tightness in his back. This is discouraging after watching the young man 3 hit the Boston Red Sox at home, for his first career shutout and complete game. But again, as an A's fan this year, one must re-adjust their threshold for disappointment. There is no verdict yet on his status, and A's fans can only keep their figners crossed.

On the bright side, we've seen signs of strength and poise from a young and unproven collection of starting pitchers. Well, what's left at least. That was supposed to be the A's big question mark this season: the pitching. Instead, we've used 2009 as a filtering mechanism to weed out the unproductive arms, and have come away with a nucleus of young, talented pitchers who project very well into 2010.

Granted, the filtering has come at a cost to our record, and being in the bottom 5 of all teams is never a desirable position. And as we all know, great pitching does no good when your offense produces 1 run a game. Ultimately, a fan needs to be able to find value in some part of this otherwise terrible season.

Dallas Braden seems undeterred by the noise. His hardheadedness has won him a team best 7-7 record, but that's more the result of poor run support than inconsistency. In fact, Braden has been very impressive, not allowing more than 2 runs in his last 10 starts. He missed his last start due to family illness, and returned to form Saturday, holding the Rays to 2 runs and locking in his 5th win in 7 starts. Braden was not the guy I envisioned earning the Ace spot, but he has, and with little support. Credit the underdog.

Vin Mazzaro, who opened his career with 15 scoreless innings has come back down to Earth, losing his last 5 starts, and sitting precariously at 2-5. There is potential all over this young talent, however, and he has certainly proven he can play at the Major League level.

The A's sent one guy to St Louis; newly anointed closer, 24 year old Andrew Bailey. This kid pretty much came out of nowhere, and went from a AA set up role to icy-veined 10 Save fireballer, with a cut fastball in the mid 90s that has helped him lead all MLB relief pitchers in strikeouts. He won't edge out Mariano Rivera for the closer's role in the All Star Game, but the mention of his name in the same sentence would seem to be sufficient for A's fans this year. Hey, it's something.

Player performances are one thing, but perhaps the true dysfunction lies with leadership. Manager Bob Geren's career record (and personality) floats lifelessly around .460 (187-221, to be exact). For some unknown reason, his modest successes have been enough to earn him a satisfactory approval rating with Billy Beane and ownership. This is a real headscratcher, and leads fans to beleive that lack of action and lack of passion are good enough for A's baseball. Yes, he's had guys traded away. Yes, he's had some rough breaks. But the numbers don't lie, and Geren has not done much to promote a culture of success with Oakland. Does it go deeper?

Personnel aside, this team does not feel like it has a rudder. Chemistry, fan attendance, managerial choices and comparative statistics all seem to come up short, all season. As we take a step back and evaluate 2009 at its mid point, one hopes some changes are on the horizon. Status quo so far has been tantamount to surrender.

The troops are weary, ground has been lost, and we're way, way past diplomacy.

building with steam with building blocks

There comes a point in the season when a fan refocuses his perspective. At 9 games back in early June, the A's have a long steep hill to climb to catch Texas, and now there may be more compelling storylines than our record.

22-30 is not good. But despite being bottom 5 in MLB, it's not atrocious either. There are still 110 games to play. The season is still early. But as reassuring as that is, looking beyond this season has been a more rewarding practice lately.

The A's started 4 rookies against the White Sox this week. The newly formed rotation of: Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill, Vin Mazzaro, Josh Outman and Bret Anderson is by far the youngest rotation in Major League Baseball, and they're coming off a very strong week, having given up just 5 runs in the last 4 games.

Vin Mazzaro threw 7 shutout innings of 4-hit ball, in his MLB debut Tuesday. Both he and fellow rookie Brett Anderson blanked a potentially dangerous White Sox offense and earned themselves a big league win. John Outman improved to 3-0 with a 3.06 ERA on the season. Not bad for a 23 year old rookie. Although our bullpen erased a quality start by Cahill, he went 6 and gave up 3 runs.

As good as this week was, last weekend was ugly in equal measure. Outman's 9 K's were not enough to beat first place Texas, and they took 3 of 4 pretty easily. The Oakland offense just couldn't find it's step, and the bullpen is even more janky. So in tough times, the dedicated fan finds reason for hope in other areas. Oakland's silver lining may be our rotation.

The beauty of dealing in young, undiscovered pitching prodigies is that they're inexpensive, and under team control for several years. If these youngsters continue to picth as well as they did last week, the A's would be looking at the youngest, most talented and least expensive rotation in baseball. This last week projects very well on 2010 and beyond.

This is Moneyball at it's best. Beane built out this staff of youngsters by trading away any player with name recognition for handfulls of young prospects. Now we have 22 year old arms for days, and we've filtered through to chaff to find the 5 strongest. If the A's can establish a true nucleus of young fireballers; 5 guys with sub-3.00 ERA's, our chances look very good in fielding a competitive squad for the next few seasons. But that's a big IF. Yes, it takes some time for a rookie to adjust, and yes, it seems liek our guys have found a rhythm. But nothing is established yet.

Nothing hurts an A's fan more than playing to our payroll. Just because we are the 5th brokest team in baseball, it doesn't mean we're condemned to playing like the 5th worst. A's fans have been spoiled to an extent by enjoying superior management that translates to a disproportionately competitive team; at least over the last decade. 2007 and 2008 were especially tough, having made the ALCS in 2006, and seeing every big name player on that roster be dealt away. Rebuilding took its tool. And, though it may still be too early to see the fruits of those moves, glimmers of brilliance are visible.

Tonight the A's head back to Oakland to face a similarly underachieving team in the Baltimore Orioles. They hope to build on a 3 game win steak against a 24-30 club with the 3rd worst ERA in the AL. If we cant take this series, I'm confident we have no shot left at the West in 2009.

signs of life?

Speculation abounds as to what the A's will do come trade deadline time. Yes, it's still early. The division is far from won, and all 4 teams have beat each other up pretty good so far. One thing is for sure, Beane will not hesitate to deal the big guns if we are not in contention. Right now, the gap is small enough to assume we can be.

Season summary thus far:

Our short term rental in Matt Holiday is finally flashing signs of ROI. He hit a 3 run shot yesterday to tie Jack Cust for most homers hit at 4. Still technically slumping, at .230, Holliday seems to be finding some rhythm, and it couldn't happen sooner. Giambi has yet to find his stride, posting a dismal ground ball ratio and hitting .225. Nomar is predictably plagued by injuries as is fellow infielder (and sugery recoveree) Eric Chavez, and neither have contributed much. Orlando Cabrera has played nothing short of gold glove defense at shortstop, but is hitting .220 with 0 homers.

The young rotation is holding up about as well as we could have hoped. Not stellar, but certainly not bad. The team ERA is 3rd in all of baseball at 3.77 . The young starters are 8th in hits allowed. Pair that with one of the worst offenses in baseball and you get, well: a 10-16 record. Pleasant surprises include Josh Outman and Trevor Cahill's latest performances, posting 6 strikeout and 5 strikeout gems, respectively.

The bullpen is pretty shaken up. With would-be closer Devine out for the season, the responsibility has fallen onto the skinny shoulders of submariner Brad Ziegler. Heavy is the crown, as Ziggy succumbed to a flu that kept him off the field for th last week, only to return Thursday and give up 3 runs in the 9th against Texas. Santiago Casilla sprained his right knee and left his set-up duties to one-year-deal vets Russ Springer and Mike Weurtz. Both have been decent, but not lights out. The true diamond in the rough seems to be young Andrew Bailey, at 3-0 with 24 K's through 19 innings pitched. If he keeps it up, he could find himself pitching more than just late inning relief.

The A's are only 4 games back in the West, and Seattle has lost 4 straight, earnign them a #2 spot, half a game behind Texas at 15-13. It's safe to say this division is soft, and ripe for a take over. What remains to be seen is if the A's are men enough to take it.

gone away on Holliday

While (sort of) enjoying a sick day this week, I happened to catch a day in the life of Matt Holiday behind-the-scenes on Comcast Bay Area. All told, it was B- entertainment value, C+ education value and surprisingly, quite telling as to the psychological limbo the one time batting champ now finds himself in while playing for Oakland.

Holliday looked uneasy when asked to discuss his new situation. His anxiety was thinly veiled behind a facade of optimsm as he conducted a sports radio interview by cell phone at his Malibu home (one can hardly expect he'd move his family to Oakland). So shaken up was the slugger that he actually thought he was fooling the listener by claiming he was happy with the move. He was glad to be playing for an entirely new team... for one year.

It must be tough, to be traded without warning in a contract year... to go from one of the best hitters parks in the majors to the #1 worst. The world must look a little different in the AL, wearing white shoes and being the highest paid player on one of the smallest payrolls in the game. It must feel like the rug has been pulled under you when you've just gambled by turning down a 4 year, $82MM extension for promise of even bigger dollars, and now those dollars are less certain.

It doesn't take a genius to offer an amateur blogger's psych profile: he feels deflated and cheated. He feels like his destiny has been taken out of his hands. He feels powerless. Naturally, his psyche projects onto his performance, and his hitting has been just that: powerless. Batting a pedestrian .240, with 12 stikeouts, Matt Holliday in green and gold is a far cry from the stud power hitter from Colorado. I guess feeling powerless can be tough.

Well you know what? Boo fuckin' Hoo. It's May 1st and Holiday has 1 home run to show for his $13 million dollar salary. That is both highly unexpected and totally unacceptable. All shake-ups aside, this is pro baseball, and he is a professional. The uniform should be irrelevant when it comes to production, especially in a contract year. If he still has his eyes on that big 7 year deal, Holliday’s next team will not accept excuses for an unprecedented drop in numbers. He needs to quit sulking and pick it up. Now.

The Mark Texieras and A-rods of the game can thank consistency for their record payouts. Well, consistency and Scott Boras. Without solid, regular numbers, player profiles can go from legendary to above-average in a heartbeat. Above-average players get 3 year deals. Legends get 8 figures. Holliday's contract extension offer from Colorado was fair and then some. He elected to let his bat do the talking and homer his way to legend status and legend dollars.... which was great until he was traded away to Oakland. Surprise!

Maybe Colorado felt snubbed. Maybe they knew they couldn't afford him as a free agent. Maybe they saw a chance to rebuild their roster in one feel swoop. Whatever the reason, the Rockies were somehow convinced to deal the face of their franchise to the A's. Holliday's opinion was not solicited.

The A's made an equally bold gamble in trading away 3 of our most promising young ballers in exchange for the slugger. Carlos Gonzales, Greg Smith and 2005 rookie of the year Huston Street made up what looked like a substantial personnel upgrade for Colorado. That trade seems to have worked out in Oakland's favor, as none of the youngsters has yet earned a starting spot.

So here he is. Point of no return. Holliday didn't ask for a trade, but he got one. He didn't ask for a monkeywrench in the gears of his well oiled, high altitude offensive machine... but nonetheless, here he is playing west coast mechanic with a bat. Attitude affects confidence, and confidence is everything in this game where performance pays. It's a compeptive game and a cut throat business, and there are no contracts awarded on goodwill (except for maybe Mike Sweeney). If Matt Holliday feels he's worth the biggest free agent contract of 2009, he's going to need to need to hit a few more homers than 1.

But hey... the season is still young, and the value of the trade for both sides has yet to be determined long term. Players go through slumps and hot spells alike. The future is anyone's guess, but one thing is clear: Matt Holliday looks unsettled, and he has a very limited amount of time to get comfy.

Exhale

Exhale.

It was getting a pretty rough for a minute. I guess it's hard to be creative in the middle of a 6 game slide. But life is intact. The A's picked up 2 straight against the reigning AL Champions and we the dust has been kicked off. Giambi homered. Buck homered. The veteran of our young pitching staff got his first win, and the A's are on the board in all the right momentum categories.

The AL West is off to an unforeseen beginning, with Seattle having won 20% of last years win total... in April. They're hot at 12-7 and their small lead looks favorably on the 5+ months of baseball yet to play. Texas leads the league in home runs, and having lost some offense-heavy meetings, the hold 2nd place by half a game at 8-10. The Angels are in LAST place, and the highly anticipated and well staffed Oakland offense is inching the A's toward .500.

It wasn't the losses so much as the way were losing. Over the last 2 weeks the A's epitomized baseball futility. We were batting .200, pitching with 3 shut outs up until yesterday. We lost 12th inning and 14th inning heartbreakers on the road, and simply could not score when we needed to. Holiday and Giambi were homerless and the A's as a group were dead last in home runs. The word "anemic" is often used to describe an offense in these scenarios, but maybe "retarded" is more apt. The A's seemed incapable of outscoring their opponents.

But the ship has been righted. Geren gave Travis Buck the start, and he made the skipper look foolish for denying him the last 4 games at-bats. But more importantly, Giambi homered. To right. The last 4 weeks have seen more than a few line-drive outs, as defenses put on the shift for the big left hander. Today the infield was irrelevant, as Jason rocked a long ball into the bleachers like he did 33 times in 2008. OK. He's not broken. Our $5.25 investment is not a lemon. The pressure is off. Exhale.

A secondary (yet vital) aspect of our game is also looking good, with Dallas Braden and Dana Eveland posting wins againist last year's World Series runners up. Bradens 2.53 ERA leads the A's (as do his 2 wins) and it's also good enough for 9th in the American League. He beat the Red Sox and the Rays, and he did not look outmatched. This is kind of start you need for the youngest pitching staff in baseball. While some of the A's rotation has taken its lumps, others have demonstrated impressive outings against real-deal teams.

Ziggy is tied for 2nd in the league in saves. He's not a fluke. He's a groundball machine with a gold glove defense behind him. Orlando Cabrera broke an 0 for 8 slump today going 2 for 4 with a double. Russ Springer is earning his 2 million with an impressive 1.08 ERA. Garciaparra is looking like the free agent pickup of the year, coming up clutch in the last 3 games. Signs of life are everywhere at the Coliseum this afternoon.

7-10 is not exactly lights-out, but this afternoon, I'll take it. We took the series against the reigning pennant winners, and we did it with offense. The pitching looked good too, but we scored runs. You can't post a winning season while scoring like we did in 2008. Offense was the objective, and offense brought us 2 straight wins. The A's ride a day off into an 8 game road stretch and hope the bats can stay hot against Texas and Seattle, whose equally struggling pitching staffs will seek to cool them.

LET'S GO OAK-LAND!!!

R.I.P. Nick Adenhart

The kid in red looked sharp last night. Cool. Calm with runners on... wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sharp-cornered red hat. Six scoreless innings of 6 hit ball, a 22 year old rookie reducing Major League hitters to groundouts and wiffs. He strolled off the mound and into the dugout with the quiet air of a guy who'd almost earned it. His cockiness was well contained, as if he knew his best days were still ahead of him.

This morning I find it incredible to think that talent is gone; taken swiftly by the force of a drunk driver. Rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed last night in Fullerton, a few short hours after his professional career saw its brightest moment. 20+ years of practice... a lifetime of commitment: little league, playing catch with his dad, high school 2-a-days in summer, 3 minor league seasons and a very real promise of greatness... all taken away.

Being ranked the #35 prospect in pro baseball is no small accomplishment. Choosing a minor league career over a full ride to the University of North Carolina, Nick had seen his destiny and chased it at full speed. He improved quickly, and after an elbow surgery at 18 years old, he started making some waves in the Angels organization. Nick dominated AAA in 2008, and got a couple of shaky starts in the big leagues. At 22, this was going to be his year. The Angels suffered some key injuries in the rotation, and Nick was given the chance to prove himself. He did that and more last night, going 6 scoreless innings for Anaheim and striking out 5 Oakland batters. He looked sharp. He looked every ounce a big league pitcher.

Last night his talent bugged me. In fact, the thought of him mowing down A's hitters for the next 5 years scared me. I never thought I'd sincerely mourn the loss of a rival, but a tragedy like this puts things into perspective. It's just baseball. A game. For Nick Adenhart, however, it was more. It was his life--in a way most of us will never know. To be so good at something, so much better than the millions and millions of others who try, that he reached the very top--is truly remarkable, and the kind of achievement that most can only imagine. Nick Adenhart got to feel that, if only for one night.

birthright or wrong?

The weather was perfect for my very first spring training game. I bought my tickets 2 months in advance, took a week off of work, booked flights/hotel with plenty of time to spare. Everything was all set for a copacetic baseball vacation for for me and my girlfriend. A's vs Giants in Phoenix... pretty exciting stuff for a lifelong A's fan with roots in both cities.

As we settled in, wandered into the gift shop and over to the beer stand, my girlfriend and I drew some looks, and some funny comments. See, she's a Giants fan. SF born and bred, and she came well dressed for the event in her new Tim Linceum jersey. I, on the other hand was literally green and gold from head to toe (jersey, hat, undershirt, socks, shoes etc... flirting with overkill, even at a ballgame). "You two gonna make it through them game?" quipped a couple of walkers-by. It was cute, we played along.

We had great seats, 6th row behind home plate. We were early and made friends with some of the adjacent fans, including a pair of young ladies (maybe 22 or 23 years old) who were also from the Bay, specifically: Blackhawk, CA. Initially, they were very pleasant, knew their baseball and also found humor in our A's/Giants juxtaposition. They were sitting right behind us, so we overheard their conversation, which bounced around from A's clubhouse gossip to the new Lexus one had just gotten, to their first class flight into Phoenix. These girls were definitely from Blackhawk, and had little issue flaunting it. No harm done... I found them amusing and fun.

In the 2nd inning, the beer man approached and I hollered him over. I got myself an ice cold Coors light and my girlfriend asked him if he had any wine in his bucket. One of the girls behind us tapped her on the shoulder and in a cautiously condescending tone said "just like a Giants fan to ask for wine". She was kidding, but needless to say, it was not received well. My girlfriend was less than amused, and though I've razzed her using the same joke in the past, it seemed a bit out place coming from our new friend.

The can of worms here is big, and maybe it's easy to see where I'm going with this. The girl's comment was inappropriate on a few levels: First, she doesn't know us, or the fact that my girlfriend is 5th generation blue collar SF... a city employee and someone who takes great pride in her heritage. Second, the girl is from Blackhawk... one of the most exclusive and affluent communities in the Bay Area, an enclave which is known for fencing out the surrounding residents of Danville, a town not without its own affluence--certainly not without its wine drinkers. Third, and most significantly, her comment presumed that as an A's fan, she is part of the scrappy, fighting, beer drinking community that is inherently above the snobbery and wine drinking lifestyles of an aloof and baseball-illiterate Giants fan.

So, this incident got me thinking. As I dissected it further, I came to feel that the philosophical question is this: does any fan, regardless of background have a right to attach themselves to the character and identity of a team... even if the qualities embodied therein are contradictory to their own backgrounds? Furthermore, does the scrappy, blue collar appeal of the A's become diluted or less pure by folks of affluence adopting the stripes for fashion's sake?

I will not portend to answer these questions, as they are complex issues that don't have one right perspective. My most ethical answer is that a baseball team is everyone's: rich, poor, black, white, urban or suburban. Hands across America. As an Oakland native, my partisan response would cite the East Oakland location, the small-market payroll, the 2 dollar Wednesdays and the consistent marginalization of the club by pundits and Yankee fans alike. Is either answer inherently more right? Does an Oakland native have a more legit claim to the A's than someone from Portland or Sacramento or Blackhawk, and does their social class further qualify/disqualify this?

Again, I'm not going there. I am certainly no authority on any of the issues in play. I do, however, see value in springboarding off of this issue, at this time, when my team's ownership is pursuing a relocation for business purposes. Fremont fell through. Consequently, Lew Wolff and his grand designs for a stadioplex reatil-ominuim windfall are looking elsewhere. San Jose IS the most feasible location within the NorCal market where he can hope to retain existing fanbase and hopefully leverage a fresh, untapped revenue stream. The logic is not wasted on me. I understand the draw, and the hope that corporate ticket packages and higher median incomes can promise. San Jose is, after all, a shorter drive from Blackhawk.

BUT. Will the A's lose something by leaving Oakland? I'm not talking about season tickets, money, advertisers, business concerns. I guess I'm talking about purity. Intangible, unabashed emotion-based gut instinct. I'm talking about a team playing with the spirit of its city. Would the Steelers be the same if they moved to Cape Cod? How about the Mariners of Compton? These conjectures are fictional, and maybe a bit silly, but I think my questions have merit. They are questions every fanbase has pondered in the face of change, and they are now ours. As long as I have been alive the A's have been synonymous with Oakland, and I can't help but wonder about the cultural implications of a move.

Bottom line; it's Wolfe's prerogative, so perhaps the point is moot. It's his club, and his investment. His track record boasts a lifetime of successful real estate development projects/sports franchise ownership... and the A's are his latest undertaking. It's up to him how he wants to position his assets, and right now: he wants to see some return. Fine, that makes sense. But fallout will insue. Those fans who live in San Jose have reason to celebrate. Those who live in Oakland might feel cheated or burdened. I know I do.

As I am sure to draw backlash, please note: this is an editorial. This is not meant to override, outsmart or trump anyone else's stance. I do not speak for any contingent or demographic beyond myself. This is just my take. I understand that I've adopted reverse-elitist tones here, and maybe that makes me just as wrong as the girls who prompted this diatribe. Please also note: I am not saying that people with money are bad. No one is inherently immoral because of their social class; that would be a ridulous assertion. I work hard to make my life easier than it was growing up, and there is nothing wrong with success.

So who is right? Is anyone? Clearly I have my own leanings, and maybe they're misguided. But my context is mine alone, and I'm proud of it. I've been taking BART to A's games since 5 years old. My parents were broke, so I earned each nosebleed ticket by reading 8 books in the Oakland Public Library's summer reading program. I love Oakland. I love baseball, and I love the A's. I'm a season ticket holder. I chose the A's EVERY time I play a baseball video game. I own 12 different A's hats, in every color and I wear one of those hats to any stadium I visit, regardless of whether or not the A's are playing. Ultimately, my fanhood can not be taken away from me... and I understand that I can not out-muscle anyone else's. Not even the gracious ambassadors from Blackhawk.

Go A's.