COMIN' THRO' THE RYE

Here's where we left off with BA Top 10 Pospects for the 2004 Oakland A's:
Bobby Crosby, ss
Age: 23 Ht.: 6-3 Wt.: 190 Bats: R Throws: R
Drafted: Long Beach State, 2001 (1st round)
Signed by: Rick Magnante

BOBBY 'Bada-Bing' CROSBY

Level	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	XBH	2B	3B	HR	RBI	HP	BB	IB	SO	SB	CS	DP	SLG	OBP	OPS	E
AAA	.308	127	465	86	143	253	60	32	6	22	90	7	63	2	110	24	4	16	.544	.395	.939	15

Let's take a quick moment to discuss loyalty. When a player says that they want to stay with a team, a team that found them as a youngster in a third world country and gave them a chance to eat and play ball, you would think that means something. But, it doesn't. That is modern sports. When player A says, "I want to stay with this team. It's a great group of guys and we're close to a championship." fans should flip the player off and calling him a liar. Better at that particular moment than in a few months when they skip town via free agency.

What are we getting at?

Miguel Tejada said he wanted to stay in Oakland. He could have. The A's offered Tejada salary arbitration. Tejada rejected arbitration and went with the deal the Orioles made.

So when that idiot fan next to you starts blabbing about the A's not keeping their 'star' players, mention that the A's offered arbitration to players like; Tejada, Foulke, Damon, Giambi, Isringhausen, etc. The players rejected the offer of arbitration. They wanted 'long term' deals. Which under the 21st century definition fall between 3-5 years.

This is not meant to be a knock on Tejada or any other player who looks for the greener pastures elsewhere. It's their right and good for them, financially. They left and the A's stockpiled prospects to fill future holes as players leave via free agency. This is more of a notice that the A's front office knows what it is doing. If you get weepy for Miggy at times in 2004, do so. But not at the expense of the guy that is now the shortstop for the Oakland A's.

Enter Bobby Crosby.

Crosby will take over at shortstop and fans should note the first time Crosby gets a day off. With Tejada's mini-Ripken (not Billy Ripken) like streak of consecutive games played, it was a given that Tejada would be in the line up every day for the last four seasons. In 2004 the A's will actually have the luxury of resting their shortstop on a regular basis for the first time this century. When Mark Ellis is over at short for a game or two this season the less than knowing ticket holder may blurt out something like, "Oh, something must be wrong with Crosby. He's not playing." Or, "Crosby's not in the line up, they are going to trade him." Or even better, "Who is Bibby Croby? Where's Tejada?".

Crosby will make a name for himself. The term 'Toolsy' comes to mind when discussing Crosby by nobody except us. Mostly becasue Tools is an anti-word in the A's organization. Tools being code for the 'Five Tools' - Hit for avergae, Hit for power, Speed, Arm Strength and Fielding Ability. This is one of those ridiculous scouting terms that lasts generation to generation and really should be wiped off the face of baseball. Arm strength and fielding ability - aren't they related? Yes. Hit for average and hit for power - isn't getting on base and bases per hit more important? Yes. Speed - what is that good for? Ugh, it's good if you've got it, but on the basepaths - if you're quick you can get by pretty well. Basically, Tools comes to mind when discussing outfield prospects, generally not middle infielders.

However, Crosby can smack, mash, dash, chuck and pluck with the best prospects in baseball. He is already being tagged by many as a leading Rookie of the Year candidate and if he had to be ranked by expectation - he's already one of top ten shortstops in the American League. Yes, the position gets weaker by the day. But don't hold that against Crosby.

Crosby had the benefit of hitting in the middle of a great Sacramento River Cats line up in 2003 that featured several players who should have had regular jobs in the big leagues. Dave McCarty, Graham Koonce, Billy McMillon, Jason Grabowski, Mike Edwards and Chris Prieto is a fairly decent line-up to throw out on a daily basis at any level. Crosby came on late in the season, upping his average by 40 points in a six week span from July to August. His power is not, well, over-powering. But 20-25 home runs is not out of the question in 2004 and 28-33 a year is a good possibility as a yearly average as his career progresses.

Crosby did strike out a bunch in AAA. But not enough to worry anybody. But it is a concern. The 16 double plays is a misnomer. This is a recording from the age when the A's used to score runs; "if there are less than two outs and when there are more people on base at a higher rate then there is a greater chance for a double play." Yah, when Ben Greive (#14 stuffed animals STILL available at A's tent sales) kept slapping the 6-4-3's it was a problem because the numbskull kept trying to pull off speed pitches on the outer-half of the plate with a runner on first. Result = slow ground balls. Crosby just happened to be hitting 3rd in a batting order that featured many players with OBP's above .360.

Crosby is an above average fielder now, which is like saying that clouds often appear just before a storm. Ron Washington is the best infield coach in MLB and possibly all of baseball at any level. A full Spring Training Camp under Wash's instruction could mean fans are whispering things like, "Tejada gets to that ball, too, but it lands in the 15th row beyond 1st base." Or, "Tejada looked better, but, damn, Crosby makes all the plays and it looks like he respects Mark Ellis' ability." Or even better, "The A's pitchers aren't that good. They don't get enough strike outs. That Crosby guy just keeps getting ground balls hit to him."

We're hesitant about putting a Rookie of the Year label on Crosby or any player in any organization, because it just is not fair. You never can tell what a season will bring and if the brand of hooch the East Coast beat writers is drinking will blind them too early in the season. We'll say this;

If Bobby Crosby plays well enough to be in 140 plus games, he walks away with more than just 'some' Rookie Award hardware.

We have no argument with Crosby being named the best prospect in the A's organization...because he is the best prospect in the A's organization.

Joe Blanton, rhp
Age: 23. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 225.
Drafted: Kentucky, 2002 (1st round).
Signed by: Rich Sparks.

SMOKIN' JOE BLANTON

Level	W-L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	AB	TBF	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IB	SO
AA	3- 1	1.26	7	5	1	0	2	1	35.2	21	121	129	6	5	1	0	7	0	30

SMOKIN' JOE BLANTON

Level	W-L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	SV	IP	H	AB	TBF	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IB	SO	WP
A	8- 7	2.57	21	21	2	2	0	0	133.0	110	502	531	47	38	6	5	19	0	144	1

Joe Blanton is the first on this list from the draft of 2002…JHC, Yes, the MONEYBALL draft.

Blanton is anything but bland featuring a plus-slider (that means it’s good – scouts sometimes use a plus to define above average) and live fastball (good velocity, good movement). If Blanton’s rise from A ball in Kane County to AA ball in Midland looked like he was improving as he progressed, he was. Blanton’s rise gave way to whisperings of the A’s shopping Rich Harden’s name around as trade bait last year at the trade deadline and into the off season.

Blasphemy you say?

How many top of the rotation guys can you have in the wings when your outfield offense is so horrible? That’s how bad Terrence Long, Jermaine Dye and Chris Singleton were last year. Eric Byrnes was left on an island to rot and if it were not for Billy McMillon, the trading season may have had a different look to it.

Back to Blanton. The A’s do not let their young pitchers go deep into games with their pitch counts above 85-90'ish. Actually, the A’s have a few different ways to calculate things and another system is to monitor the opposition’s batting order. The A’s, at all levels, try to make sure a starter is not left in long enough more than three times through the order. Blanton had two complete game shutouts, including a one-hitter for Kane County. He had another complete game in Midland. That spells out efficiency and effectiveness.

Blanton’s control in Kane County was getting in the Justin Duchscherer area of ridiculousness. Blanton averaged a walk once every 27.9 batter faced. That’s less than a batter a game. Of Course, in the Midwest League that could mean a lot of things. There could be a bunch of Randall Simon hackers and a bounty placed on hitters who took first strikes. Blanton’s walk rate dropped to one walk every 18th batter in AA. Then again, the Texas league has some hitter friendly parks. Blanton’s ERA of 1.26 in 35 innings of work looks like he made a slight adjustment or was tiring as the season crawled along and just got ‘lucky’. Bet on the former rather than the latter.

Blanton has the tag of a ‘power pitcher’ with a mid 90’s fastball and slider and tumbling curveball that is outstanding. Once Blanton develops a change-up he could be devastating. The thought of an A’s pitching staff with enough flexibility to trade away Mark Redman (not going to happen this soon, relax) or even, GASP! Barry Zito (yes, even as 'dreamy' as he is) should make teams wonder. They should all wonder why they spend so much time berating the A’s and their methods and why they are not shuttling off their prospects to the Deep South in the winter for some prehab.

In 2004 Blanton will spend at least two months in AA Mildland before coming to Sacramento to roost. If all goes well, he may not be needed until the September call-ups or after Sacramento’s playoff run is complete. The A’s pitching staff is deep in front of him and he has no reason to be pushed, just yet. A solid year of instruction could benefit Blanton even further as he learns to ‘pitch and not just throw’.

Blanton is the best pitching prospect in the A’s organization, but he will not be the first prospect in Oakland. Justin Duchscherer has that distinction and Justin Lehr may also bypass Blanton if there is a need for short right-handed relief to fill a hole near the trading deadline. We have no problem with Joe Blanton being listed as the 2nd best prospect in the A’s organization…because he is the 2nd best prospect in the A’s organization.

Tomorrow we will discuss Dan Johnson and Brad Sullivan.