The A's have in camp a notable group of infielders. Not notable because of how great they are, rather, notable for how close to average they might possibly be. But is that such a bad thing? Keep in mind the A's got next to nothing from their 2B and SS last season and 3B was not much to talk about with the exception of Josh Donaldson's return in August.
If the A's can get league average production from 2B and SS in 2013 while maintaining production at other positions - that would be tremendous. The first part of that sentence is key, 'IF'. We have to assume the rest of the league does what they do, the AL West has a team that is terrible (Mariners), another that implodes (Angles) and still another team that falls apart the last two weeks of the season (Rangers). Oh, and now a team the Mariners can beat up on, too (Astros).
I don't think the A's can rely on that formula to be a playoff team in 2013. So let's set the ground rules for our discussion;
First Round - Let's just talk about the players involved. Let's not work statistics or specific numbers in just yet. Let's not talk age or contract situation. Let's just talk about what we know about having seen the players. We'll dub this, 'THE OLD SCOUT LOOK".
The players we are going to discus:
Josh Donaldson
Grant Green
Jed Lowrie
Hiroyuki Nakajima
Adam Rosales
Scott Sizemore
Jemile Weeks
Since I started this, I'll start this...
JOSH DONALDSON
Zachary: I like Donaldson. Decent body type with some good power. Decent eye. Seems to be feast or famine with the bat (like another A's 3B). He has made himself a good defender at 3B coming from the catching position. Decent speed for body type but poor baserunner due to poor decision making. Which is Donaldson's undoing. He seems to be a bit of a flake. And not good enough flake as 'Vince' in the Color of Money to get away with it.
Aaron: Let's hope we get the second half of 2012 version and not the first half.
Chris -
Eli: I'll admit it, Donaldson is "my guy", perhaps to an irrational level. He reminds me a great deal of Gary Gaetti in that he's a guy with a "bad" body type who has quicker feet, better lateral movement and runs better than you might think. Also like Gaetti he is a streaky batter who can light things up for 2 weeks and then disappear for another two. He doesn't lack confidence, which is a plus, but that confidence can lead to him not having poor situational awareness at times. More than once he made bad decisions on cut-offs from the OF or forced a throw to 1B he had no business trying to make. All that said, he should be a starter.
GRANT GREEN
Zachary: I am not sure about Green. His minor league career thus far has been trying to disprove to the A's he can't do something. After being moved from SS to CF and now 2B. His bat has reappeared from his senior year at USC and first two seasons in A ball. Lacks range for SS or CF. Could be a 'typical' 2B/LF utility type that has a career in the National League. I don't want Green to be another failed A's SS a la Omar Quintanilla or Clifton Pennington.
Aaron: Moving a SS to stash him in LF isn't exactly a sign of progress.
Chris -
Eli: Green isn't a bad ballplayer but he doesn't strike me as a starter on a good team. He can play a smattering of 3 INF positions and a little OF as well, but none very well. He lacks the arm for 3B/RF, the footwork for SS or the range for CF...which limits him to LF/2B and maybe 1B. He's a decent contact hitter who lets the ball travel, has quick hands but poor pitch recognition. He also has a "leak" on his front side that robs his power. Green is at best a bench option at this time.
JED LOWRIE
Zachary: Can he stay healthy? That is the only real question mark. Until that is answered the rest is just trivial posturing. He can play all 3 infield positions above league average and is above average with the bat at 2B and SS. Who knows what he can do on the bases with his injury history?
Aaron: Lowrie's definitely an upgrade over Pennington and Nakajima at the plate. How's he with the leather? Haven't seen enough of him to opine.
Chris -
Eli : Lowrie can play all over the infield and do it fairly well. His most natural spot seems to be 3B but that A's have no need for him there. Lowrie does have the arm and footwork for SS but his range is a little below average. He'll need to be very smart about positioning to be anything more than average at short. Lowrie has good pop and controls the bat well. He can take pitches the other way and has a good understanding of situational hitting....however his hit tool is only average at best. He will struggle to make contact at times and can get chase happy. Lowrie is the A's best middle INF and health provided (which isn't a given with him) should be the season long starter at short.
HIROYKI NAKAJIMA
Zachary: No Japanese middle infielder has made the transition to MLB. I don't think Nakajima is an exception to the rule.
Aaron: Tsuyoshi Nishioka 2.0?
Chris -
Eli: Poor scouting reports + poor spring results = a worried A's fan here. I don't think he'll stick as anything other than a bench INF. He doesn't have the range, the arm or the feet for SS. His best fit is likely at 2B or LF. In that he's much like Green but with less batting skills. I do think the A's will give him 150 ABs to prove or disprove his ability to make the transition to MLB. I think in a year we'll see the signing as a sunk cost.
ADAM ROSALES
Zachary: He sprints when he hit a HR. He only hits HR off left-handers. Because he can't hit right-handers. Poor defender at any position. Not terrible but bad enough you don't want him having to make anything other than routine plays when it doesn't count. Decent base runner. Has played all infield positions and 1st base. But, so could a sack of wet mice.
Aaron: It's cute that he runs around the bases after a HR. That's the best I can say.
Chris -
Eli: A couple good months back in 2010 has some fans convinced this guy should have a large role on this team. That part of the fan-base would be wrong. Rosales is a poor INF at all positions, struggles vs RHP and will only walk to first if he's hit by the pitch. He's hustle is admirable, his skill set is not. If he plays a major role in the 2013 A's we'll be looking at an 82 win team at best.
SCOTT SIZEMORE
Zachary: I'll type it; "he's not a 2B and after a sever knee injury and surgery he really is not a 2B". I don't understand this move at all. The Tigers, a team long known for an adverse disdain of decent defenders moved him from 2B to 3B. Why the A's think they can get him to move back to a position that he never mastered is beyond me. Decent bat with some pop. But not enough to rely on it. Not sure how he will be on the bases until he actually gets on 1st Base and then advances to 3rd Base.
Aaron - ...like him at 2B.
Chris -
Eli: I'm not sure where he fits in...and frankly I won't be until he's farther away from his surgery. His bat seems to have woken up here late in spring, which is a good sign, but his lateral movement does look diminished form 2011. He may yet regain his ability to play a solid 2B, I don't think he's there yet. That said, I do think he can be a platoon player at 2B/3B vs LHP even with his lack of range. He has decent pop, will take a walk but he can get pull happy at times. He has quick enough hands to allow the ball to travel but he too often jumps out at fastballs and gets eaten up by breaking stuff, especially vs RHP. I think he can provide bench value as a platoon/spot guy and perhaps more, depending on his continued recovery from knee surgery.
ERIC SOGARD
Zachary: I like Sogard a lot. He's a dirtbag who can play all over the infield and play it well. He's got a solid approach at the plate and doesn't do more than he's capable of doing. He's been unlucky so far in his career in being stuck behind (in my mind's eye) lesser players and the batted ball has found gloves more than grass.
Aaron - Once Sogard gets a steady diet of big-league pitching, he'll struggle, start to press and will be hitting .220 by summer.
Chris -
Eli: Sogard is a hard player to get a read on. When looking at his from a scouting perspective he has all the tools you'd like to see in a SS/2B type player. His defense is well above average at 2B and he can play an acceptable SS/3B. He has a nice arm, reads the ball well off the bat and makes the turn well from both sides of the bag. He has good bat speed, good eye, a little pop, can move runners along and rarely gets fooled at the plate. That said he can also slump for extended periods of time and he does seem to "wilt" a little in big moments. The A's would be best served by giving him the 2B gig and giving him two months to run with it or fail.
JEMILE WEEKS
Zachary: I am not a fan. Poor defender. Poor attitude. Can't play any other position. Uncoachable. No power. No patience. Wants to steal bases for the sake of stealing bases. Wants to bat leadoff but does not understand batting leadoff means you have to get on base.
Aaron: Jemile Weeks will get another shot with the big club this year. To stick he needs to come up when hot, stay hot and make it impossible to send him back down. AAA was the right move.
Chris -
Eli: He needs to be reminded he isn't Rickie. Weeks has the tools to be a well above average 2B but he mixes them with a 10 cent head. He makes poor decisions, goes for the flashy play over the smart play and seems to be more impressed with himself than anyone else is. At the plate he gets pull happy, can't bunt (which is a sin for a man with his speed) and has awful situational hitting skills. He looks like a bust to me.
Diamond Level Regular Season $150Diamond Level Division Series $165Diamond Level AL Champ Series $200Diamond Level World Series $250Field Box Regular Season $60Field Box Division Series $75Field Box AL Champ Series $85Field Box World Series $190MVP Regular Season $27MVP Division Series $50MVP AL Champ Series $65MVP World Series $175Field Level Regular Season $22Field Level Division Series $50Field Level AL Champ Series $65Field Level World Series $175Plaza Club Regular Season $32Plaza Club Division Series $45Plaza Club AL Champ Series $60Plaza Club World Series $145Plaza Level Infield Regular Season $20Plaza Level Infield Division Series $45Plaza Level Infield Champ Series $60Plaza Level Infield Series $145Plaza Level Regular Season $16Plaza Level Division Series $45Plaza Level AL Champ Series $60Plaza Level World Series $145Upper Reserved Regular Season $8Upper Reserved Division Series $35Upper Reserved AL Champ Series $55Upper Reserved World Series $110Bleachers Regular Season $7Bleachers Division Series $35Bleachers AL Champ Series $55Bleachers World Series $110
Math Major=NerdEconomics Major=Stuffed ShirtBusiness Major=Scum of the Earth
Other than that we see now way of being able to attend the first round of the playoffs.
"Let's put the two best stories in baseball in the corner and focus on St. Louis, Arizona and New York. They have big payrolls so should they have better ratings. We know about running Major League Baseball so we know how to run network TV, too. Look at how well we advertise the game and talk it up every chance we get. I didn't get the name Seligula for being an evil tyrant with no clear agenda for nothing, I had to try and kill baseball first."
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Athletics 1 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 8 9 0 Rangers 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 7 10 1
PitchingPitchingPitching
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Athletics 1 1 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 10 10 0 Rangers 4 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 9 1
Jose Flores, 2BRandy Velarde, 1BMiguel Tejada, SSJermaine Dye, DHOlmedo Saenz, 3BAdam Piatt, RFEric Byrnes, CFJason Grabowski, LFCody McKay, C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - - Athletics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 5 11 1 Mariners 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 0
"Two nights in a row they dodged a bullet. We'll have to see if we can keep that from happening again tomorrow." - Manager Art Howe on Seattle's two come from behind wins
"Hey, JACKASS, how about trying to win a few games instead of trying not to lose and expecting the other team to just lie down?"
BATTER | AB | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
Miguel Tejada | 89 | .270 | .320 | .393 | |
Eric Chavez | 84 | .226 | .290 | .345 | |
Terrence Long | 80 | .250 | .286 | .438 | |
Ray Durham | 79 | .228 | .322 | .392 | |
Jermaine Dye | 79 | .241 | .311 | .506 | |
David Justice | 65 | .200 | .316 | .262 | |
Scott Hatteberg | 64 | .359 | .446 | .578 | |
Ramon Hernandez | 62 | .226 | .284 | .339 | |
Mark Ellis | 56 | .250 | .358 | .339 | |
John Mabry | 29 | .138 | .212 | .448 | |
Greg Myers | 10 | .385 | .200 | .200 | |
Randy Velarde | 10 | .000 | .167 | .000 |
Friday: Lilly on 6 days restSaturday: Harang on a lot of restSunday: Fyhrie on a lot of restMonday: OFFTuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Mulder on 8 days rest
Friday: Mulder on 4 days rest (80 pitch limit)Saturday: Zito on 3 days rest (80 pitch limit)Sunday: Lilly/Harang/Fhyrie on a lot of restMonday: OFFTuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Hudson on 5 days rest
Friday: Lilly on 6 days restSaturday: Harang on a lot restSunday: Fhyrie on a lot of rustMonday: OFFTuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Mulder on 7 days rest
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Athletics 0 0 3 1 0 1 2 0 0 7 14 2 Mariners 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 X 8 14 2
Ichiro did the same thing on June 6th, hitting the first pitch offered by Zito for a homerun.
If the plan is to go with a 3 man rotation for the playoffs, or alter the rotation for the last week of the season, why have Zito even come out for the 7th? Why wait three batters and getting only one out? Just get a reliever in there and shut it down. The A's had an off day on Monday, so there's no excuse for not having a happy, healthy bullpen.
If you watched or listened to any of the games over the last week Art Howe has been moving runners and stealing bases here and there. Kind of an October primer. So, why drop the game plan in the Columbia River on the way to Seattle?
We know Mike Quade is the outfield coach, but, we really don't know what the hell T Long is doing. Several balls were misplayed over the weekend and Long twice had to turn and go back for balls after he had already taken several steps toward the infield. Blaming it on the sun in Oakland doesn't help. The opposing teams never seem to have the problems Long does in center.
Art has figured out he gets his ass on TV a lot by visiting the mound. You get as much pub when you just make the right moves. Chad Bradford hasn't been Chad Bradford lately and having a right hander face a right hander doesn't make any sense. Especially a ground ball pitcher to guys who like to hit the other way.
So, what's the theory, stink up the joint and make sure you make the next pitcher's job impossible? Art should just stand in the dugout with a fishing pole with a line attached to the reliever's jerseys when they come out of the bullpen. You can't have a successful bullpen by setting up guys to fail.
We've written this before, Art needs to realize Jim Mecir and Ricardo Rincon don't open innings well. They are firemen in the purest sense. For whatever reason they just don't react well with the warm up pitches and the throw down to second. Who knows? The fact is, the are not efficient when starting an inning.
So Rincon gets into trouble, where's Jim Mecir? You know, the set-up guy?
For someone who like to pitch as much as possible and when the A's needed to slam the door on the Mariners it's kind of stupid to leave one of the better situational pitchers in baseball down in the bullpen.
If you score 7 runs against the Mariners, you better hurry up and get an 8th and 9th run, too. This is a team that doesn't quit and were playing for more than pride mathematical impossibility of knocking the Angels out of the playoffs.
"Right now, it doesn't matter who I get a hit off of, because there haven't been many, and that was a big situation. I haven't been aggressive, I've been taking a lot of first-pitch strikes, and those have been the only good pitches I've been getting to hit, so I wanted to be aggressive right there." - Terrence Long 19 September 2002
"I haven't had much luck lately,I was rushing the ball and swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone. That has cost me a lot this year. But that's done and I'm trying to build for the playoffs."- Terrence Long 20 September 2002
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Angels 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 6 0 Athletics 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 X 5 8 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Angels 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 0 Athletics 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 X 7 7 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - - Angels 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 Athletics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Jason Grabowski | L | OF/C/1B | .294/.387/.536 |
Cody McKay | L | C/1B | .288/.337/.439 |
Jose Flores | R | SS/3B/OF | .306/.380/.397 |
Adam Piatt | R | OF/1B | .295/.385/.462 |
Eric Byrnes | R | OF | .253/.304/.422 |
John Mabry | L | OF/1B | .286/.318/.549 |
Greg Myers | L | C | .231/.344/.403 |