TRADE

HOUSTON	KANSAS CITY	OAKLAND
OCTAVIO DOTEL	CARLOS BELTRAN	MARK TEAHEN
JOHN BUCK	CA$H	MIKE WOOD

HOUSTON
CARLOS BELTRAN

KANSAS CITY
MARK TEAHEN
MIKE WOOD

OAKLAND
OCTAVIO DOTEL
CA$H

ANALYSIS

Here's the A's PRESS RELEASE if you want to peruse it.

The move is a stationary one for the A's, the Astros and a moderate step for the Royals. The A's lose no one from their 25-man roster, the Astros have egos to smooth over with Beltran going to center, Craig Biggio to somehwere, and Jeff Kent moving (another trade?) to somewhere else. The Royals pick up a prospect in Mark Teahen that may ultimately burn the A's. Teahen looks to be a special hitter just developing at the right time...for Billy Beane to trade him. The A's do not have a position for Teahen, since they signed some kid from San Diego to play 3rd base for them, Eric Chavez - or something, for the next six years, and 1st base can be manned by a few dozen other players over the next few years. So, Teahen was expendible. But, you get an itching feeling that it may ultimatley hurt.

2004 MARK TEAHEN

SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS
BATTER	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	DP	SLG	OBP	OPS
Mark Teahen	.275	20	69	9	19	27	8	0	0	10	11	22	0	1	1	.391	.383	.774
MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS
BATTER	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	DP	SLG	OBP	OPS
Mark Teahen	.335	53	197	31	66	107	15	4	6	36	32	44	0	0	12	.543	.419	.962

Mike Wood is a different story. Interestingly, the Royals got Wood and not Justin Duchscherer; whether the A's wish to keep Duke around or have another deal in mind, only Morris Day and his friends can tell. Wood and Duchscherer are similar pitchers, not big on strike outs but big on ground balls. Both are very control oriented. Wood averages 6 innings per start and walks a batter once every 3+ innings. Less than two a game.

People looking at Mike Wood's ERA, while decent for the PCL, are in for a bit of a shock when they see his runs. His Runs Average is 4.20; 42 runs in 90 innings...easy to do the math, there. At one point this year Wood gave up a grandslam for zero earned runs. Go figure.

Wood was insurance upon insurance and at best would have been a long reliever with Oakland. In Kansas City he goes right into the fray, possibly making a start in early July. So, don't cry for Wood, he gets his chance now, and he's a good pitcher from a college program having progressed fairly quickly through the A's system. The Royals get him at age 24, rather than age 19 and hurry him into the big leagues before he is ready.

2004 MIKE WOOD

SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS
PITCHER	W-L	PCT	ERA	G	GS	CG	IP	H	AB	TBF	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO
Mike Wood	11-3	.786	2.80	15	15	1	90.0	83	344	379	42	28	8	6	25	66

As far as the next pitcher to fall in line in Sacramento, Mario Ramos more than likely gets bumped into the starting rotation. It will be interesting to see if Beane goes for more relief help or looks at bringing up Chris Mabeus. One note in the trade, it was rumored that the Royals wanted Jairo Garcia. Look at the numbers. Think Beane was giving this up?

2004 JAIRO GARCIA

KANE COUNTY COUGARS
PITCHER	W-L	PCT	ERA	G	GF	SV	IP	H	AB	TBF	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO
Jairo Garcia	1-0	1.000	0.30	25	24	16	30.0	16	107	117	2	1	0	4	8	49

Now, there was a Jairo Garcia that had his age adjusted following the post 9/11 visa paperwork issues. It is not clear that this is the same Jairo Gracia. As with the ages, some of the names got moved around. The A's signed their Jairo out of the Dominican Republic at age 17 in 2000. That would make Garcia 21 years old. The other Jairo Garcia was Jairo Gonzalez with a birthdate of January 20, 1983 and then a corrected birthdate of October 3rd, 1980. The Athletics' Jairo Garcia's listed birthdate is March 7, 1983.

Got that?