NUTS

When I go shopping for starting pitchers it's not unlike looking for a good vegetable. Sure, most will do, but if you really want something that is of the best quality and not simply whatever the produce clerks at Safeway wheel out - you need to do some research.


My criteria go toward base runners allowed, hits per innings pitched, strike out to walk ratio, groundball to flyball ratio and pitches per inning pitched. Pretty much in that order. The higher level view is the cost. As an A's fan, you look at a grouping of pitchers that is realistic to even consider. Of course, if were talking about a pitcher like Justin Verlander - you might look at the statistics first, then justify the cost. Either by trade or by free agent signing.


Why am I bothering to look for starters when the A's are 'set' in their rotation? Loaiza, Haren, Harden, Blanton and the other guy. Harden can not be anything other than a question mark and 'the other guy' isn't exactly something you can bank on until the middle of March. Better to sign a guy and bulk up the bullpen.


An inning eater would be great. A frontline starter who can keep the number of runs low and pitch deep would help the A's. With Barry Zito you got the latter. An older pitcher may not be able to go as deep and there's the risk of dramatic drop-off.


When it comes to relievers my criteria varies a bit more; You're looking for a good piece of fruit. Often you don't know if you've really got it until you bite into it. base runners allowed, groundball to flyball ratio, strike out to walk ratio. There's another criteria and that is keeping runners close and the pickoff move. Very hard to quantify, though. I don't care, so much, if a pitcher in a short relief situation gives up a hit, a groundball hit. With runners on base, groundballs mean double plays.


Cost is also a big deal with relievers. Paying too much for a reliever puts a lot of pressure on a manager to use a pitcher. We like to think this isn't true, but we have seen A's pitchers in the past languish in the bullpen. Ron Flores is a good example. Justin Duchscherer had better numbers than Rich Harden as a starter in Sacramento. But it was Harden who was called up first. Duchscherer last found himself in the bullpen and has been, arguably, the best pitcher the A's have had the last three seasons.


Here's my list...

Player	Age	2006 Salary				Player	Age	2006 Salary
Tony Armas	28	$2,100,000	No. There's the injury risk and there are a few options better. Even if the A's could afford to take on reclamation projects.			Doug Brocail	39	$1,000,000	Chair.
Miguel Batista	35	$4,750,000	Too expensive and a gasoline candidate.			Mike DeJean	36	$1,150,000	No.
Bruce Chen	29	$3,800,000	I always thought Chen would turn the corner. And he did at some point. But it was down the wrong path.			Octavio Dotel	33	$2,000,000	Tee hee. Beane made the wrong trade; Carlos Beltran should have been an Oakland Athletic.
Shawn Estes	33	$1,100,000	Estes is coming off an injury. Dunno. The A's aren't desperate.			Alan Embree	36	$850,000	Eh. Rumor has it that Embree might be signed.
Tom Glavine	40	$10,500,000	Yes. Call me a fan of the change-up, but I think with Tom Glavine and Greg Maduxx in the rotation for a combined $15,000,000 you get 400 innings of better than league average baseball. Haren, Loaiza, Glavine, Maduxx, Blanton. Works for me. Yah, you wake me when Rich Harden can throw 200 innings and not miss a start.			Keith Foulke	34	$7,750,000	If Foulke was healthy and took an 70-80% pay cut, this would be a lock.
Rick Helling	35	$850,000	Helling wouldn't be a bad pick up. Good trade bait.			Ryan Franklin	33	$2,600,000	No.
Jason Johnson	33	$3,500,000	Nope.			Aaron Fultz	33	$1,200,000	No.
Jason Marquis	28	$5,150,000	Nope. Too many base runners, not enough groundballs.			Eric Gagne	30	$10,000,000	See; Foulke, Keith.
Brian Moehler	34	$1,500,000	Nope.			Eddie Guardado	36	$6,250,000	Hell no. Nice nickname. Not a good pitcher.
Mark Mulder	29	$7,750,000	Hell no. Not even worth the risk. A's fans who suggest the A's should sign Mulder are the same people who don't understand what Billy Beane accomplished when he traded Mulder in the first place.			LaTroy Hawkins	33	$4,400,000	No.
Tomo Ohka	30	$4,530,000	Hmmm. I'm on the fence about Ohka.			Matt Herges	36	$600,000	Cheap.
Ramon Ortiz	33	$2,500,000	No.			Dustin Hermanson	33	$3,150,000	No. Old starter in the bullpen. Effective but too expensive.
Russ Ortiz	32	$7,875,000	No.			Roberto Hernandez	42	$2,750,000	Interesting.
Chan Ho Park	33	$15,333,679	Hell no.			Ray King	32	$2,500,000	Hell no. Lefthanders are available elsewhere.
Brad Radke	34	$9,000,000	Retired.			Steve Kline	34	$3,000,000	Too expensive. Not effective, a bit of a redass, too.
Mark Redman	32	$4,500,000	Interesting. But hell no.			Dan Kolb	31	$2,000,000	Groundball specialist. Gamble not worth taking at that price range.
Aaron Sele	36	? ? ?	No.			Tom Martin	36	? ? ?	No.
John Thomson	33	$4,750,000	No.			Brian Meadows	31	$600,000	Cheap. Effective.
Steve Trachsel	36	$2,500,000	Maybe. If they needed a long reliever. But they don't.			Kent Mercker	38	$1,550,000	Yes. If you wanted a solid lefty in the bullpen, yes, pretty please sign Merker. He is no longer a starter, but the A's could corner the market on lefties and the market would swing to them.
David Wells	43	$4,075,000	No. Pitching in PETCO covered how bad Wells has fallen.			Jose Mesa	40	$2,000,000	Nah.
Kip Wells	29	$4,150,000	No.			Guillermo Mota	33	$3,000,000	No. Not as good as the TV talking heads think.
Paul Wilson	33	$3,750,000	No.			Jeff Nelson	40	? ? ?	No.
Jamey Wright	31	$500,000	Cheap. Real cheap.			Darren Oliver	36	? ? ?	Yes. Someone screwed up his career by making him a starter and got him away from throwing his sinker. This guy could be a 2-1 groundball pitcher with the right organization backing his best pitch.
						Troy Percival	37	$6,000,000	Nope.
						Arthur Rhodes	37	$3,700,000	Tee hee.
						David Riske	30	$1,800,000	Yes. A good investment.
						J.C. Romero	30	$2,200,000	No.
						Scott Schoeneweis	33	$2,750,000	No.
						Rudy Seanez	38	$1,900,000	No.
						Russ Springer	38	$750,000	Yes. A good investment.
						Mike Stanton	39	$1,000,000	No.
						Tanyon Sturtze	36	$1,500,000	No. Remember when he was a prospect?
						Ron Villone	36	$2,250,000	No.
						Jamie Walker	35	$1,250,000	No.
						David Weathers	37	$1,500,000	Maybe.
						Rick White	37	$600,000	Cheap.