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

The Weekly round up of everything we missed...


...and away we go...

MLB - oaklandathletics.com

NOTES: RARE FREE AGENT BROWN FITTING IN;
A'S OUTFIELDER FINDING ROLE AMONG PROSPECT-LADEN ROSTER - Mark Thoma

A puff piece on Emil Brown. One of the stranger off season signings by the A's. Thoma mentions Keith Foulke as a free agent signing but not Mike Sweeney for some reason. Brown's role on the A's is not known at least to him. Another example of the A's failure of communication with their players.

"It's nice to have a right-handed hitter who hits left-handers well."
- Bobo (Bob Geren)

Yes, it is. But who is Bobo talking about? It can't be Brown. He has a career line of .264/.338 /.439 vs. left-handers. That's 5th outfielder 'nice'.


BLANTON THROWS SIM; Joe Blanton threw a simulated game. The press has been alerted.

"He was aggressive, and when he made a couple pitches he didn't like, he was a little emotional...it looked like him in a real game."
- Bobo (Bob Geren)

Maybe it's the cynic in us but there could be a point made that Bobo was referring to Blanton making pitches he didn't like rather than the emotion.


RODRIGUEZ IMPRESS; Bobo quotes runneth deep.

"Henry Rodriguez was, wow,...he threw the ball very hard, showed a real good changeup, too. He's obviously an upcoming power pitcher."
- Bobo (Bob Geren)

Evidently, he is. Thanks for the notice there, Bobo. Wouldn't have figured that out unless we read any prospect related resource.


FOULKE MOVING ALONG; Foulke threw on flat ground.


YOUNG TO STANFORD; Jim Young is moving on to be Stanford's senior assistant athletic director of media relations...sound like a made up title. Senior assistant. You have to wonder if this is not a step down for Young. Maybe he just got tired of the A's and wanted to take a step back.


THE KIDS ARE COMING; The A's are doing one of those mini-baseball camps. Somebody warn Brad Ziegler.


NOTES: MENTAL STRENGTH KEY FOR ROBNETT;
STRONGMAN AWARD WINNER WANTS TO WORK ON APPROACH AT PLATE - Mark Thoma

"While Robnett still has work to do on the field, his approach to his workouts earned him the Mike Frick Award, which isn't based simply on how many pounds a player can lift, but also on a player's commitment to improving himself physically."

Mike Frick was an A's reliever, and probably future closer, who died in an unfortunate accident with a drunk driver in the truck he happened to be riding in.


Richie Robnett just isn't going to make it. At least not with the A's. Robnett was new to baseball at Fresno State and for some reason the A's took him in the first round of the 2004 draft. It's curious since the A's have such a horrible track record of molding raw talent into skill and ability on the baseball field.


While Robnett was named to a post season all star team last season out of AA - he was also 23 years old and in his 4th minor league season out of college. His .316 On Base Percentage and 130 strikeouts in 490 At Bats doesn't speak well. He has 420 K's to just 161 walks in almost 1500 minor league At Bats.


MAKING AN IMPRESSION; Bobo quote; "He's been impressive in the [bullpen sessions]...Henry Rodriguez threw a 90-mph breaking ball in the dirt, and he went down and blocked it like it was nothing.."



Bobo has received criticism in the last year of being 'too positive' with his players. He's quote machine so far in 2008 is nothing but sugary sweetness for everyone and everything including Justin Knoedler - the catcher in question.


THEY KNOW WHO'S ON FIRST; Bobo took the A's players indoors to go over rundown plays. Possibly to avoid another Bobby Kielty injury. Sure, Kielty is with another team, now. But him tearing up his knee in a routine Spring Training run down drill will be part of A's lore for many years when it comes to taking drills seriously.



HERE AND THERE; Keith Foulke is 'better...Eric Chavez is being babied (which is a good thing for his injuries but bad for his attitude)...A's play intrasquad games. Zachary has sat through several intrasquad games and has said they are great as few fans show up and most of the A's 40 Man Roster is in attendance.



EVELAND WANTS TO PARLAY MINORS SUCCESS;
LEFT-HANDER HAS STRUGGLED IN TWO STINTS AT MAJOR LEAGUE LEVEL

Basic stuff about Eveland in that he's been rushed to the major leagues with two organizations. He lacks a change-up and that, more than any other pitch, is something the A's will not stand for. Just like Dave Duncan and the ego monster Tony LaRussa were insistent on pitchers having the splitter/forkball, the A's insist on quality change-ups with their pitchers. Joe Blanton's last few months in AAA were spent with his change-up as his primary secondary pitch. He got knocked around a bit until he learned how to utilize it effectively. When he did he got called up.


Eveland's situation is not much different.


NOTES: LEFTY SMITH CALM, NOT SPEEDY;
ONE OF MANY COMPETING FOR JOB USES COMMAND TO GET HITTERS

A get to know Greg Smith article. Smith doesn't work with a lot of velocity but uses control to get batters out. Much like Justin Duchscherer. Different in that Smith is a left-handed soft tosser.


Smith has had his strike out rates drop as he has climbed the minor league ladder. That is not such a bad thing for a pitcher if their groundball rate is high. Unfortunately Smith's is not high. Just a tip over 1.0 groundballs per flyball. With the A's defense you would hope that Smith could 'learn' to pitch to contact and let batters beat the ball into the ground. However, more than likely Smith is looking at a career as a LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY).


MOBILE ARTILLERY: Bobo watched the A's outfielders uncork from the outfield. Everything seems to be fine. Why wouldn't it be with Bobo?


CATCHER-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT: Bobo was a catcher in his time as a player. Blah-blah-blah piece about dealing with the A's spat of younger catcher's.


FOULKE'S INJURY NOT A CONCERN: Bobo is not concerned about Keith Foulke missing drills.


TWELVE THROW TUESDAY: The A's groupings for their intrasquad games.


MURPHY EYES FULL-TIME MAJOR LEAGUE DUTY;
MIDDLE INFIELDER KNOWS OPENING EXISTS WITH SCUTARO TRADED AWAY

The sudden fascination with Donnie Murphy escapes EiO for the most part. In six seasons and nearly 2,000 At Bats Murphy sports a limp .350 On Base Percentage with nearly twice as many strikeouts as walks (363 - 183) and a grand total of 196 extra base hits (only 42 home runs). His defense isn't great, either. But the crux is that he is being pushed as the next Marco Scutaro.


Skootch wasn't the stand out that fans think. His legacy is marked by late inning heroics. Not great defense or consistent hitting. His minor league totals also are better than Murphy's. Is Murphy Skootch-Lite? No. More like Donnie Hill v 2.0.


NOTES: GEREN UNHAPPY WITH BASERUNNING;
ATHLETICS RUN INTO UNNECESSARY OUTS IN FIRST INTRASQUAD GAME

A rare negative comment by Bobo;

"We're trying to put an emphasis on base running, and I was very disappointed in that today...it was awful, actually."

GOOD GLOVE MAN:


You will see more of this in the near future. The media pumping up Jack Hannahan. The A's are looking to unload Eric Chavez. The most likely candidates are San Diego, the Dodgers, the Giants and the Astros. Chavez may not make it to July with the A's.


CHANGE OF VENUE:


The A's major leaguers moved from the minor league facility to the Muni. It's amazing what counts as newsworthy in the spring.


TRUE BLUE:


Casey Myers umpired an intrasquad game and with be a player-coach with Midland this year.


EiO always rooted for Myers but he seemed to be not one of Billy's Boys.