Lidle Bit Softer Now

With the A's trade of $4.8 million to Toronto in the form of Cory Lidle, a large strain was lifted. We no longer have to worry if Lidle's name is spelled C-O-R-Y or C-O-R-E-Y.


QUICK STATS:

2001 29 games 13-6, 3.59 ERA
2002 31 games 8-10, 3.89 ERA
2 yrs 60 games 21-16, 3.74 ERA


According to the laws of nature, Lidle isn't getting any younger. So it is expected that he could have a 15 win season in the near future, but to expect a 20 win campaign and a Cy Young is out of the realm of possible expectations. Lidle was a plug-in 4th starter. The A's have many young arms in AA and Aaron Harang in limbo. With Lidle's proclivity to suck the first few months of the season, paying a lot of money to a second half pitcher didn't make much sense for a team with little wiggle room. Cory Lidle was a cheap find and experiment that Billy Beane was successful in facilitating.

By clearing $4 million in the payroll department and picking up two prospects, Beane has leverage for future trades.

Injury Department

Jim Mecir will miss the first two months of the season after having surgery to repair his patellar tendon. Mecir damaged his kneee while playing with his kids on a hill.

This seems to be an acceptable injury. Not like Aaron Rowand, Chicago White Sox centerfielder who broke several ribs and critically damaged his shoulder in a dirt bike accident.

Our question is: if you make as much money as Jim Mecir, don't you pay somebody to play with your kids for you? Jim seems to have a black cloud following him. Hopefully an insurance umbrella will pop out so the A's can push a sizeable amount of Mecir's salary off on it. Playing with your kids and being injured is a little different than ignoring clauses in your contract and becoming involved in activities of high risk.


We'll do some research on the two prospects the A's picked up; left-handed hitting shortstop Mike Rouse (a San Jose native) and right-handed reliever Chris Mowday (product of the G'Day nation, Australia) in the next 24-36 hours.