CATCHING UP WITH NEWSPAPERS (2/27/2008...)

CATCHING UP WITH NEWSPAPERS (2/27/2008...)

The Weekly round up of everything we missed...


...and away we go...

SF GATE - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

SPRING TRAINING
A'S TRYING ON NEW WHITE SOX;
BEANE, CHICAGO GM WILLIAMS SEEM TO HAVE A HABIT OF SWAPPING PLAYERS
- Slusser

The A's have a few players in camp that have experience with the White Sox organization. Go figure. Or don't. It's rather a coincidence of no note.


AROUND THE A'SOSPHERE: DRAFT PICK FOR STEWART? - the Drumbeat

The A's do not get a compensation pick for Shannon Stewart. No. For one he was not arbitration eligible and two he signed a minor league deal with Toronto. He might has well have signed with Chiba Lotte.


BASERUNNING DISAPPOINTS GEREN IN INTRASQUAD GAME

Bobo gets mad...sort of. But not really. The A's made a bunch of Spring Training blunders on the base paths. You would think they would since most concentrate on hitting and maybe a little fielding. Baserunning is for Spring Training.


If the A's are going to be effective in 2008 one thing they have to take advantage of is baserunning. It might be why Bobo is upset. You will see the A's run more, but be efficient, and take the extra base when it presents itself. This isn't small ball. It's smart baseball. When you have players who can't run (Daric Barton, Dan Johnson, Jack Cust) you don't run. When Mark Ellis and Aaron Cunningham are on the base paths - you let them test the waters.


A'S GET CREATIVE TRYING TO STAY HEALTHY - Slusser

Most of EiO has been waiting for Zachary to weigh in on this. A staple of his issues with the A's front office has been their poor communication with players and poor medical staff.

"Sayles, who moved up to head trainer when Davis' new position was created, was instrumental in getting the new machines (he did all the research) and adding Nishio to the staff. Sayles and Davis made the recommendations to Forst, who helped present the requests to GM Billy Beane and A's President Mike Crowley. They got all they wanted."

That's the A's chain of command. If you notice, Billy Beane is in the same breath as Mike Crowley. It shouldn't have to go through an 'assistant GM'. David Forst is the 'assistant GM' in name only. Beane is no longer the active General Manager of the A's. And it is a good thing. Forst has tried to shore up some of the glaring deficiencies in the A's business model.


The A's have not bothered to keep up to date on what players do during the season as far as their conditioning let alone the off season. Why? Beane has always had a 'master plan' as for what he wanted. You could make the argument that the A's specifically did not want to know what players were doing as to not appear complicit in any PED use.


It is worth mentioning it as a possibility.


Slusser did get the quote from Forst but did not appear to have a follow up question;

"We're certainly aware of the health issues we've had the last two years, and to a certain extent, they undermined some things we were capable of doing."

The last two years. The crying 'injuries taking their toll' broken record the A's delivered as their excuse for 2007 rings hollow and there is your tuning fork. Or something than seems analogous.


Recall that the A's bought a special machine for Tim Hudson's consistent injuries. Note; AFTER several occurrences of the injury.


The fact remains that organization has been reaping the benefits of the MLB revenue sharing program and crying poor for far too long. They have a sweetheart deal with the Coliseum ($1 Million a year lease - you can't get that with some buildings in San Francisco) and still complain about it. They relied on the Raiders to supply their weight room and facilities when they returned. The Raiders are smart enough, like most football teams, to take their training room with them in the off season. Too much liability in leaving that stuff around.


Yes. The A's have done a poor job of running their organization and while the proof is now pudding based you will not hear a peep about it from certain other websites or the media to drive the point home.


It is, as the French say, "eh...".


LANSFORD HACKLES OVER ANY TARNISHING OF A'S RECORD - Henry Schulman

The article let's Carney Lansford talk about any questions of his time with the A's and PED use. Lansford takes the same approach that most professional athletes do is to defend with a 'non-denial denial'.


Whenever you encounter a piece of exercise equipment in a gym you can begin to deduce that there will also be a form of PED use associated with the use of the equipment. Whether it is supplements you can buy over the counter or anything else. When you do things that are not 'normal' when it comes to improving health then you have to 'knock it up a notch' with nutrition and beyond. Try lifting weights on a regular basis while still eating fast food 10 times a week over the age of 27. Your internal organs will seize.


This message is brought to you by GNC and P90x.


A'S GOING TO TOKYO GET SWEET CASH BONUS

The A's players are going to receive a cash bonus north of $40,000. It will be interesting to see how this is handled. When you are a professional athlete and play in another city you are paid pro-rated related to their based salary on those games in that state. Therefore, you have to file tax returns in any state you play in. Unlike a beat reporter who is paid on a salary that is not pro-rated. Income is paid in one state no matter where you travel.


Professional athletes don't have it as bad as stand-up comics or musicians as they might hit 30 states in a given year. Part of the reason you see well-known performers sticking to one coast or the other in the later years - too much paperwork.


There's some other blah-blah-blah in the article about the intrasquad games and Mike Piazza retiring if he can't find a job...well, isn't that redundant?



RAMBLING ROUTE FROM CONCORD TO CAMP;
GISSELL HOPES TO RETURN TO JAPAN WITH A'S


Chris Gissell. Sorry, still remembering the episode of Family Guy.

(click to view episode)


Chris: Hey Hector, how long have we known each other?


Hector: Since first grade.


Chris: Yeah, yeah. You 'member that time you called me Chris Gristle?


Hector: I think so.


Chris: Well burn for it!! [sets him on fire]

Still the best quote of the episode; "Go suck a railroad spike I haven't got any money."


Gissell isn't going to make the A's. He's a AAA placeholder. He might have a few different pitches but none of them grade as a plus pitch.

INSIDE BAYAREA.com - OAKLAND TRIBUNCE

PROSPECT ZIEGLER HAS HAD SHARE OF BIZARRE INJURIES;
THE RELIEF PITCHER HAS FRACTURED HIS SKULL TWICE OVER A FOUR-YEAR PERIOD



Brad Ziegler has run into a lot of baseballs. A little bit in this article about his dropdown to sidearm. EiO feels Ziegler could have made a difference in the A's pen as early as July of last season. Their failure to stop the bleeding led to their horrible record of blowing leads and saves.



DUCHSCHERER LONG LOBBIED TO START - Joe Stiglich



Blah-blah-blah...Duchscherer wants to start and has for some time.



GONZALEZ IS CENTER OF ATTENTION AT FIRST WORKOUT



Carlos Gonzalez intro fluff piece. The knock on Gonzalez is that he is coasting on talent and is not focused. Hopefully the A's keep him in Sacramento for six weeks before starting his arbitration clock. The A's have a habit of not allowing players to dominate a level before moving them up. Let a guy wreck a league and then deal with the adjustments necessary the next time through the same teams.


Makes sense?


Yah, too much sense.



FINDING A CENTER FIELDER NEAR TOP OF A'S TO-DO LIST;
DENORFIA, SWEENEY AND GONZALEZ ARE AMONG THE CONTENDERS TO FILL THE VOID LEFT BY OFFSEASON TRADES OF KOTSAY AND SWISHER - Joe Stiglich



It's curious that this is even a discussion. The A's traded for Denofria for a reason. Gonzalez won't be ready and still gets poor jumps on balls and while Sweeney has played in center he is not suited for it. The White Sox have a habit of thinking any outfielder who can run needs to play in center. Including guys who can't run like Nick Swisher.



OFFSEASON ANGST PUT CROSBY TO WORK EARLY;
A'S SHORTSTOP HIT IN HOME BATTING CAGE, DREAMING OF INJURY-FREE SEASON - Joe Stiglich



Blah-blah-blah. Bobby Crosby's batting cage. Do beat reporters just copy each other's articles?


Unfortunately Bobby is one of Billy's Boys. Bobby's injuries have not been flukes or 'impact injuries' (what the hell does that mean, anyway?). He turns his back to a pitcher in an effort to get more torque on his swing and he tried to pull everything. This is why he can't get out of the way when pitchers pitch inside. He broke his ankle sliding into home plate when there was no play at the plate but felt he had to try and bowl over the catcher because he is such a badass.



DINARDO NO STRANGER THIS TIME AROUND - Joe Stiglich



Blah-blah-blah. DiNardo is a left-handed soft tosser. Dallas Braden changes the grip on his sinker. Duchscherer is altering his change.



MY SPRING WITH THE OAKLAND A'S - James Simmons



Lame title for an article by A's pitching prospect James Simmons. Simmons is about two years away from a big knock on the door to the big leagues. 3rd starter stuff. Decent groundball numbers so far and fared well against AA hitters as a 20 year old last year.



DEVINE PUTS PAST IN THE PAST;
NEW A'S RELIEVER IS REBUILDING HIS CONFIDENCE AFTER A ROUGH DEBUT



Joey Devine, simply Devine has a problem. Injuries. And the hyperbole about his stuff is starting to get annoying.

"His sinker is outstanding...he has movement, velocity. We're trying to get him to get real consistent around the strike zone. But he's smart, competitive. His stuff is there."

That's not just Bobo being positive. Devine, simply Devine has had several injuries (hip, which make him a natural to be an Oakland A's player and back...again...) and that has retarded his development. He does not have a repeatable motion as a pitcher and as a result he is all over the map in his delivery to the plate. It's not 'effectively wild' either. That works at the minor league level since most hitters aren't clued in to pitch recognition and sequencing. At the major league level you get lit up. And Devine, simply Devine has been lit up at the major league level.


Again, if Rick Peterson were around this would be a no-brainer. Devine, simply Devine would be the A's closer by June and Huston Street would be a trading chip to bring in a quality infielder (please, oh, please, Chase Headley or Jed Lowrie or Tony Granadillo or Matt Antonelli or Mark Wagner - there's two Boston guys right there...)