CONTRACTS, PROMISES and EVENTUALITIES

The A's signed Joe Blanton. Avoiding arbitration. Chad Gaudin is going to arbitration. And the A's signed Kirk Sarloos and people are going crazy. Who would have thought signing the equivalent of John Wasdin or Aaron Cook would somehow signal to A's fans that the A's are going to now win more games? It is amazing what a little luck, Ray Fosse and pitching in a pitcher's park will do for a guy's mystique.


Saarloos depends on what Rob Neyer determined was a bag of 'magic pixie dust' (as opposed to the non-magic pixie dust) to get batters out. His bag was empty last year in Cincinatti. What he brings to the A's is a pitcher desperate to pitch in any situation to keep a major league job. Does Saarloos have any value? Sure, in that a league average pitcher is better than a worse than league pitcher. And that is what Saarloos is at best; a league average pitcher. He won't strikeout guys and he needs groundballs and good defense to stay average.


Here's hoping the A's have what Saarloos needs to be successful.