MY DATA CAN BEAT UP YOUR DATA

Over at the Oakland A's MLB site, they have a fairly crude poll on which minor leaguer fans would most like to see: In fact the poll question is, "Which Minor Leaguer would you most like to see in Oakland?"


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As is usually the case, the MLB poll lacks form. The players to choose from is lacking as Mike Rouse and John Rheinecker aren't even listed. On the poll you can choose from:

Dan Johnson


Tim Harikkala


Matt Watson


Jermaine Clark


Britt Reames

Okay. Well, the first problem is that there are no positions listed. That might factor into a fan's decisions making process. Also, these are all AAA players. Where's Kurt Suzuki, Andre Ethier, Brant Colamarino?

And John Rheinecker needs to be in Oakland right now out of the bullpen as a left-handed longman. Not a LOOGY making millions, just a good reliever who can pitch multiple innings. Think Justin Duchscherer from the portside.

Well, let's work with what we got, shall we?

Here are the numbers, positions aside, adding Mike Rouse into the mix:

Name	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO
Watson	.355	.422	.289	.777	2	5	35	9	11
Rouse	.361	.422	.281	.783	1	9	27	6	16
Clark	.374	.413	.250	.787	2	12	33	16	10
Johnson	.344	.429	.221	.773	3	16	33	15	12
Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	SB	CS
Watson	21	83	10	24	3	1	6	1
Rouse	19	64	8	18	4	1	1	0
Clark	21	80	11	20	5	1	7	1
Johnson	21	77	11	17	7	0	0	1

Now, from the appearance of those stats, it looks like Jermaine Clark and Mike Rouse are pretty even with Matt Watson coming in right behind. Dan Johnson seems to be a bit distant in this view.

Now, here's where that whole eyeball thing comes into play. Jermaine Clark came into Sacramento in a great mood, with a chance to play everyday, with a fat wad of cash from staying on the major league roster in Spring Training for March and was hitting leadoff or in the two hole for most of the first month of the season.

Dan Johnson was fairly upset coming out of Spring Training about not getting any playing time and being sent back down to Sacramento after an MVP year in Sacramento in 2004. In the last few weeks he's been reaching for balls at the plate, not just content to sit back, wait and drive pitches in his happy zone. He is not so much pressing as he is trying to do more than he needs to at the plate and in the field and it shows. You can't please everyone, and you can't convince the powers that be that Scott Hatteberg is a better decision for Oakland over Johnson.

Mike Rouse has been on the A's radar for a long time but always has the misfortune of being injured when the A's need to take a look at middle infielders. And for whatever reason, Rouse has been hitting in the 9th spot in the batting order. Fairly perplexing.

Matt Watson had steam coming out of his ears (though a smile on his face) since being the victim of first round cuts in Spring Training despite leading the team in Batting Average, extra-base hits, total bases, RBI and bats flying out his hands during a swing. Matt took his demotion in stride, but, clearly, what does a guy have to do to prove he is a capable hitter when he is hitting .438 against major league pitching? Matt got off to a slow start and has found his swing and his approach at the plate has dramatically improved. More on this in a post this weekend.

Let's not make a snap judgment, but let's look at the snapshot and consider what we see in the data...the numbers alone. Hard to make a decision, though, you err on the guy who drives the ball (high slugging) and the guy who gets on base (high obp) and also limits their strikeouts (K/BB ratio).

Still, it's hard to pick 'em.

Taking position into account, based off these numbers alone, you take Matt Watson and send Charles Thomas down. Jermaine Clark can play the infield and is a good AAA option as a multipurpose player. He's got some decent wheels and can make routine plays. But, the A's are loaded up the middle right now. Dan Johnson, unfortunately gets more time in Sacramento to wonder what would be and have AAA pitchers not throw him a pitch worth spitting at. Mike Rouse falls into the same trap as Jermaine Clark, though Rouse may not be adept in the outfield (or he is, and we just haven't seen him play there).

Let's come back in a week and see how the numbers play out. My guess is that Watson and Johnson take off as the weather gets warmer and the batting order becomes stabilized.