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Billy Beane Wants You To Be Patient

Tom FornelliPosted Aug 22nd 2008 11:43AM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Athletics, AL West

Before the 2008 season started it was a well known fact that the Oakland Athletics were in a full-blown rebuilding process. They'd traded away both Dan Haren and Nick Swisher for prospects as general manager Billy Beane felt it was necessary to restock the shelves of Oakland's farm system. Then the season started, and a team that was supposed to struggle was playing surprisingly well, and even in the playoff hunt.

Still, this did not sway Beane from his vision, and he traded away Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and Chad Gaudin at the deadline. Since then, Oakland has not been winning much. In fact, they've lost 21 of their last 27 games, and it doesn't look like things will get too much better over the final weeks.

Beane knows this, and though he realizes it's tough to watch at times, he doesn't want Athletics fans to abandon ship just yet. Land will be ho some day, he promises.
"Listen, the performance lately has been a little rougher than anyone would like to go through," Beane said by phone before the A's 2-0 victory over the Mariners on Thursday. "But we didn't make any bones about what we were going to do when we said we were going to go through a rebuilding.
Continue Reading Billy Beane Wants You To Be Patient

Who Won and Lost During Trading Season?

Andrew JohnsonPosted Jul 31st 2008 9:08PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
Filed under: Astros, Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, White Sox, Yankees, MLB Transactions

Take a deep breath, baseball fans. The dust has settled after another trading deadline, and what a deadline it was. Three future Hall of Famers were moved. So was a reigning Cy Young winner and two former All-Stars. And we haven't talked about Rich Harden yet. Undoubtedly, 2008 was the most entertaining trading season in recent memory for baseball fans.


Truth be told, it will take years before we know who helped themselves or hurt themselves at the 2008 trade deadline. That's just the way it is when boom-or-bust prospects are involved. But here's an educated (and roughly ordered) guess anyway at which teams won and which teams lost now that the July 31 deadline has come and gone.

Winners

Angels: With a double-digit lead in the AL West, the Angels didn't need to do anything to get to October. They went out and got slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira anyway, and it's nothing short of a coup. For all the praise heaped upon Mike Scioscia's throwback run-at-all costs strategy, it hasn't done much for Los Angeles in the postseason. The Halos have scored 17 runs in their last eight postseason games dating back to 2005, and they don't have single regular slugging over .500 this year. They needed a bat to go all the way in October, and that's just what they got in Teixeira.
Continue Reading Who Won and Lost During Trading Season?

On Deck: Hello, Mr. Blanton

Tom FornelliPosted Jul 22nd 2008 1:51PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, Rockies, White Sox



On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Dear Joe Blanton,

Hello there and welcome to your new home, the city of Philadelphia. It's a wonderful place to live, and I can't tell you how excited we are to have you as the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. I hope you enjoyed your flight to New York with your new teammates and got to know them pretty well, they'll be looking to you for support tonight.

Now, I don't want to put any added pressure on you, as I'm sure pitching on a new team is stressful enough, but tonight's game is rather important. You see, Joe, tonight we're playing our division rivals the New York Mets. They don't like us much. Something about us making up seven games in the standings last September and winning the division.

Seems the Mets are out for revenge this year, because in the last few weeks they've gobbled up all the space that was seperating us from them in the division, and now we're tied for first place with them. If we lose tonight, we'll be in second place.

We don't want this to happen, obviously, or else we wouldn't have traded for you! So go out there tonight and win us a ball game, would you? If you don't, I wouldn't bother coming back to Philadelphia with the team. The fans here are quite passionate, and they will kill you. Seriously.

No pressure!

Have a good night,
Pat Gillick
Continue Reading On Deck: Hello, Mr. Blanton

Huston's Street Value Is Dropping

Tom FornelliPosted Jul 21st 2008 2:18PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Athletics, AL West, MLB Gossip

Now that the Oakland Athletics have traded Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin, and Joe Blanton I don't think there's much doubt left that Billy Beane is probably going to try to ship his closer, Huston Street, to a contending team as well. At this point, it seems as though anything not nailed down and over the age of 23 in Oakland is a serious contender to be traded this July.

The problem is, that while there are plenty of teams out there right now looking for some bullpen help, it seems the market for Street isn't what the Athletics thought it would be. Aside from the fact that Huston blew his second consecutive save on Sunday afternoon, some scouts are saying his velocity has dipped, and his dropped arm angle is causing his pitches to flatten out.

I'm not sure if this is keeping teams like the Brewers, White Sox, Mets, and Red Sox from looking at Street as a possibility, but it's probably going to diminish the return Oakland gets for him. Another problem for Beane and the Athletics is the fact that Colorado's Brian Fuentes has been pretty untouchable of late, and that hurts Street's value as well.

Still, of all the teams that need bullpen help, only one is going to land Fuentes, and after that Street will be the most desired reliever on the market. If I had to guess where he'd end up, I'd say Milwaukee (if they don't land Fuentes or another reliever first) just because they have such an abundance of prospects, definitely need help in the pen, and they've showed this season they're willing to pull the trigger on a deal.

Angels Interested In George Sherrill?

Tom FornelliPosted Jul 20th 2008 2:13PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Angels, Orioles, AL West, MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors

The Los Angeles Angels have to be loving what's going on up in Oakland. For the first half of the season, the upstart Athletics had the Angels looking over their shoulders a bit more than they would have liked, but with the recent trades that have sent Rich Harden and Joe Blanton to the National League, the Angels have just about clinched the AL West.

They've got an eight game lead on the A's now, and a 9.5 game lead on the Rangers, and at this point it doesn't look like either of those two teams is going to pose a real threat. So the Angels GM Tony Reagins is at that point where he knows he doesn't have to make any moves, as he told ESPN's Buster Olney yesterday.
"We're comfortable with our club at this point," Reagins said. "We're confident. At this point, I don't see us making any drastic moves. ... As of today, I don't see us changing the makeup of the club in a major way."
But as Olney goes on in today's blog entry, that doesn't mean they won't be making any "minor" moves. They're not going to be looking to add a bat--even though Gary Matthews Jr. has a torn ACL--but there may be some interest in Orioles All-Star George Sherrill. According to Olney, the Orioles are quietly letting teams outside the AL East know that Sherrill is available, and George does make a lot of sense for Los Angeles.

He can be that lefty specialist they've needed for a while, and he provides some insurance should K-Rod sign elsewhere this winter.

Rumor Mill Roundup: July 19

Andrew JohnsonPosted Jul 19th 2008 2:00PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
Filed under: Brewers, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Rockies, MLB Rumors

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The Diamondbacks have lost their grip on first place in the NL West and now they'll be without right fielder Justin Upton for a spell as they try to fend off the Dodgers. The budding 20-year-old star has battled a strained oblique injury since before the All-Star break. Eric Byrnes' season is already in doubt, so this news has to increase the pressure on Arizona GM Josh Byrnes to go out and get an outfielder. We know the Snakes won't rule out Barry Bonds, but Seattle's Raul Ibanez or one of the available Pittsburgh bats -- Xavier Nady or Jason Bay -- are still more likely to wind up in Arizona.

- The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt reports that a top Brewers official is at Yankee Stadium for this weekend's Yankees-A's series scouting players. The player most likely being watched by Milwaukee? Oakland closer Huston Street, who has been effective, though not his usual dominant self this season. The Brewers have bolstered their rotation already by adding CC Sabathia, but the bullpen is still a point of concern. Milwaukee ranks 10th in the NL in bullpen ERA and it will have to get better if the club is going to make a push for the postseason.
Continue Reading Rumor Mill Roundup: July 19

Joe Blanton High Steps to Philadelphia

MulletPosted Jul 17th 2008 7:30PM by Mullet (author feed)
Filed under: Athletics, Phillies, AL West, NL East, MLB Transactions

Chase Utley had said if the Phillies could find a "piece that will fit into our puzzle to give us a better chance", that they would pull the trigger. The Phillies have found that piece. But will Joe Blanton give the Phillies a better chance at the division? They hope so, as they've traded three minor leaguers to get the big righty.

A's fans, who couldn't have been too happy that the club traded Rich Harden in the middle of a pennant race, are most likely ecstatic over the departure of Blanton, who is 5-12 this season with a 4.96 ERA while hitters are hitting .284 off of him. (Blanton's last start in green and gold saw him booed mercilessly by the Oakland faithful.) Of the three prospects Oakland received in return, two of them have been ranked near the top of their system, although looking at the grades on the list I'm not sure how much that says.

But still a very good haul for a struggling pitcher, one who's going to be saddled with a lot of expectation in a small ballpark. Certainly, Blanton is a step below guys like A.J. Burnett and Matt Cain, but Blanton was probably the most realistic option out there for the Phillies. That doesn't mean the expectation will be any less in Philadelphia ... which is the wrong city to get off to a bad start in.

Buy or Sell: Los Angeles Dodgers

Will BrinsonPosted Jul 16th 2008 3:45PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Dodgers, NL West, MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors



July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.

Ahhhh, Ned Colletti. He's famous around these parts, you know. Many believe he's a lame duck GM at this point, what with, oh, signing Andruw Jones to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal. And the Dodgers stinking. Relatively.

But the thing Ole' Steady Neddy's got going for him is that the Dodgers are in a division that matches Ned in overall mediocrity, the wild, wild NL West, where .500 will take you to the postseason. So what should Ned do, in his potentially final trading deadline hurrah as Dodgers GM?

Buy, of course! Matt Holliday, Mark Teixeira, you name it. Joe Blanton, sure. Overpriced, nearly free agent veterans for potential superstars whose only fault is that they can't listen? That's Ned's wheelhouse, kids.
Continue Reading Buy or Sell: Los Angeles Dodgers

Colletti Watch: Here Come the Mets! Panic!

Pat LackeyPosted Jul 16th 2008 11:53AM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
Filed under: Phillies, NL East, MLB Rumors

It is July. The trade deadline approaches. Which GMs are poised to destroy the near future of their franchise for a quick fix? Quis custodiet ipsos Collettus? The Colletti Watch, that's who.

The General Manager: Pat Gillick has one of the all-time great baseball nicknames: Stand Pat. He's earned the nickname because despite his stellar track record as a GM, he hasn't made a significant deadline deal in the interest of a playoff run since 1993, when he traded for Rickey Henderson to lock up the Blue Jays second straight World Series.

The situation: The Mets surged into the break with nine straight wins, while the Brewers have loaded up with CC Sabathia. The Phillies are in danger of getting left behind on both the NL East and Wild Card fronts and teams that are in danger of falling out of races are teams that are in danger of doing something stupid. Behind Cole Hamels, their starting pitching is incredibly thin. Everyone's interested in A.J. Burnett and there are reports that the Phillies are interested in Joe Blanton and maybe even Erik Bedard (if he's healthy). The problem is that neither of these guys are good enough to solve the Phillies problems and neither one of them is going to come cheaply.

The Doomsday Clock: Six minutes to midnight, but this one's a lot harder to peg. Gillick has a strong history of doing very little at the deadline, but his team has obvious needs and there are players out there to fill those needs with hefty price tags that exceed the help they'll bring. And Billy Beane might be involved.

On Deck: Brewer Bombs

Tom FornelliPosted Jun 18th 2008 12:00PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Filed under: Yankees, Blue Jays, Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Padres



On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Milwaukee Brewers (37-33) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (35-37) - 8:05PM Est.

The Milwaukee Brewers have used their success at Miller Park, where they've won eight of their last ten, to pull themselves back into the NL Central race. The formula they've been using lately has been pretty simple: good pitching plus a lot of longballs.

The Brewers are binging on home runs, as they used five of them last night to beat the Blue Jays 7-0, and have hit 17 in their last six games. Why, if somebody donated $1,000 to Prince Fielder every time the Brewers went deep, he'd have that little debt of his paid off in less than a year.

Can the Brewer bats stay hot tonight against the reeling Toronto Blue Jays? Will Prince Fielder avoid jail time? The answers to these questions and more, after the jump
Continue Reading On Deck: Brewer Bombs
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