DEPECHE MODE - 101

STRIPPED


S T R I P P E D


As promised, the next 7 days leading up to game 108 I'll run down the A's 2006 season as read thus far.


I do want to make a note, as I am posting this, today Bobby Crosby left the game due to another apparent back injury, Mike Rouse was NOT in the lineup for Sacramento in their game with Albuquerque. That might be a precursor to a roster move. Or a trade. Or a big fat coincidence.

THE MYSTERY OF DEPTH PERCEPTION

Currently the A's are underperforming. There is no debating that. Apologists and Pollyannas will bleed from the woodwork and blame a majority of the A's woes on injuries.


SHAME!


The injuries the A's have racked up and time accumulated on the DL have neither been unexpected or particularly burdensome. I'll explain because I just heard a rush of, "Pfffft".


Who are the injured A's of which we speak?

• JUSTIN DUCSCHERER



Justin Duchscherer went down. Not a surprise. He gets a handful of epidurals a year to alleviate problems with his back. There were elbow issues as Ken Macha was calling down to the bullpen for Duchscherer so often that Duchscherer's contract should include a clause that gets him a dollar for every pitch he throws before the 7th inning. The boy would be rich.



• RICH HARDEN



Rich Harden. Really, who did not see this coming? Harden had off season surgery, was involved in the World Baseball Classic (though he didn't pitch for Team Canada) and was to miss the first few weeks of Spring Training - possibly missing his first two or three starts in April. No, there he was on the mound, starting Game 2 of the 2006 season.



• BOBBY CROSBY



Bobby Crosby. Again, who didn't see this coming? Crosby is going to be one of those players that is infamous for injuring himself getting dressed or filming a commercial. As of right now, his name is been penciled in on that list of guys who won the Rookie of the Year and didn't pan out.



• JOE KENNEDY



Joe Kennedy. Whew. That took everyone by surprise. The guy with a history of arm troubles the A's traded for as a starter, gets overworked in the bullpen and heads to the Disabled List for most of the summer. HUGE surprise.



• JAY WITASICK



Jay Witasick. It actually was a blessing when Witasick went down. Also, not unexpected.



• FRANK THOMAS



Redundant.



• MILTON BRADLEY



Ditto.



• MARK ELLIS



At least it wasn't Bobby Crosby injuring him this time. Ellis went out with a hand injury sliding into second base. Many were surprised an A's batter knew that there was a second base.



• BOBBY KIELTY, MARK KOTSAY AND HUSTON STREET



Kielty and Kotsay have a history of injuries and missed time because of them, but no time on the DL. Street missed time due to overuse by a manager who thinks it is a good idea for closers to get work when the team is behind by several runs. Why does the closer get work but the back-up catcher can't get an AB?

This is not hindsight 20/20. This was all prophesized in the EiO BOAT (Book Of All Things).


The point is: The A's can not blame one single loss, inning, play in the field or pitch due to injury.


I'm going to extrapolate a bit because many have not understood this point, no matter how often it is explained, and it causes the others no end of frustration.


Injuries are part of any sport and professional sports, as a business, is set up to have players step in when players ahead of them are injured or can not perform (or produce, HINT, HINT). One of the many comments hanging over the A's for the last several years was that their roster lacked depth. And because their roster lacked depth, they might be lucky enough to get to the playoffs but they would never advance because they don't have a pinch-hitter that can come off the bench or a utility player who makes a great play at the right time.


Yes, yes, it's a bunch of TV broadcaster bullshit. For 162 games the team didn't need a pinch hitter or secondary utility player and won 100 games - but because they didn't have those players in October they can't win 11 games and a World Series?


On another front, though, having a roster with players that can platoon and step in just to give regulars a day off seems to make sense. The A's, however, do not ascribe to that theory. Eric Chavez, Bobby Crosby, Jason Kendall...the lineup has always been rather consistent, Ramon Hernandez, Miguel Tejada, Scott Hatteberg...It has rarely been a situation where a player gets a day off a week for rest. Usually it is a lingering injury that keeps a regular off the field.


When the predictions came out for the 2006 season what many pointed to as the saving grace for the A's was their depth. Depth in the starting rotation, depth in the bullpen stocked with 3 other starters, depth in the outfield with five options and three for centerfield, depth with utility players like Marco Scutaro and Antonio Perez. The inference was that the A's could rest guys and not have to worry about a drop in performance. Even if an injury did occur, the A's would be okay because they could dip into that minor league system and charge on to 95-98 wins.


What the hell happened?


Mismanagement of the lineup, mismanagement of the bullpen - somebody forgot to actually look behind the pantry door because the damn thing was near empty.


AAA Sacramento currently has two players that Beane traded for and had considerable success in other organizations at the major league level, only to fail miserably in AAA Sacramento (Charles Thomas and Keith Ginter - hell, throw Antonio Perez in there, too).


Of the three starting pitchers the A's drafted in Sacramento there's a guy only two years removed from Tommy John Surgery (Shane Komine) and another who was shut down last year three times because of bicep tendonitis (Jason Windsor) and another who is coming off Tommy John surgery (Ben Fritz). The A's 'best' relief pitching prospect aged three years over night and has already failed to impress with several call ups over the past three seasons.


None of that should really matter because the A's 25 Man Roster had such 'depth'. Yes, depth, character, intangibles and the little things, too.