The hare loses again
In early August of 2012, the Texas Rangers were leading the American League West by 10 games or so. At that time I told my friend Billy, an Athletics fan, "The A's are going to catch the Rangers. It will be like the tortoise and the hare."
The Oakland tortoises did exactly that, taking the West title of the final day.
Fast forward to just a little more than 2 years later. The A's were running away in the AL West race.
Something another friend -- Frank, one of the toughest fastasy competitors in Inner League Baseball -- said today applies to what happened next in July-August-September for Oakland. Frank was talking about his own fantasy teams and how he "got greedy" at our trade deadline and went for the kill instead of sticking with a winning lineup.
That's what happened with A's general manager Billy Beane in July. Instead of sticking with a winning formula that got Oakland into the playoffs in 2012 and '13 (but again not to the World Series), Beane got greedy and went for the kill.
He understood that his starting rotation was fragile. So Beane traded for three established starters -- Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel and Jon Lester.
Beane got greedy, and in so doing, hurt the chemistry of a team built with smoke, mirrors and chicken wire.
NEWS FLASH! Just sent this text to my daughter Diana at PNC Park: "When I saw the starting lineup I was thinking, 'Crawford could be a dangerous No. 7 batter.'" The Pirates will have to figure a way to get into the Giants' bullpen.
Back to Beane and the A's. In hindsight, it wasn't good to bring in a bunch of high-paid mercenaries to be the saviors for a team that was doing perfectly well with a bunch of guys whose salaries -- relatively speaking -- were the equivalent of guys being paid with lunch money and coins out of the couch cushions.
I spent some time with the A's in the visitors' clubhouse in Arlington this weekend -- waiting up with them until after midnight Saturday night in hopes that the Mariners would lose, and wading through puddles of champagne and beer Sunday afternoon when Oakland celebrated a win to take the AL's No. 2 wild card.
The old spirit of that clubhouse seemed to be there.
But then came Monday night, and the A's lost that wild card game in Kansas City. Jon Lester started for Oakland, but the bullpen blew a four-run lead. The winning hit came off Jason Hammel.
The game was the A's season in microcosm. And this time, the Athletics were the hares.
Showing posts with label Jason Hammel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Hammel. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
A's keep getting better
In recent years, didn't ESPN have a lot more than Friday's two telecasts on their Fourth of July schedule?
No matter. I still got to watch parts of ESP's pair, plus two others -- Cubs-Nationals and Rangers-Mets. While out running errands, I also had a chance to hear a couple of innings of Phillies-Pirates on the car's satellite radio.
Cubs RHP Jason Hammel looked very good in beating Washington. Who knew then that by the end of the day he'd be Athletics RHP Jason Hammel?
Bigger news than victories by the Yankees over the Twins, or the Pirates over the Phillies, or the Mets over the Rangers, was Oakland's trade that picked up Hammel and RHP Jeff Samardzija for the low current price of RHP Dan Straily, prospects SS Addison Russell and OF Billy McKinney and a player to be named.
The Athletics already were the best team in the American League. By turning not enough able-bodied starters into what could be a surplus, they also have a chance to trade to improve themselves in other areas such as the outfield and middle infield.
The Cubs? Well, they'll muddle through another season. In the off-season, they'll hope their minor league prospects aren't overhyped in the way virtually all of the prospects have been in their recent history. And that at least two prospects from the Athletics organization haven't been oversold.
A couple of today's starters left their game early because of injury. Mets LHP Jonathan Niese went out in the first inning because of a back injury that is being considered minor. Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole left because of a strained latissimus muscle that could be more problematic.
Cole pitched five scoreless innings for the win over Philadelphia. That shouldn't be a surprise. I found out from the Phils' broadcast that it was the 25th time in their first 86 games that they've been held scoreless for at least the first five innings.
Another interesting tidbit from the Yankees-Twins game: Minnesota C Kurt Suzuki, a patient hitter, went more than 140 plate appearances last season without swinging at a first pitch. He apparently learned that patience while with the Athletics.
No matter. I still got to watch parts of ESP's pair, plus two others -- Cubs-Nationals and Rangers-Mets. While out running errands, I also had a chance to hear a couple of innings of Phillies-Pirates on the car's satellite radio.
Cubs RHP Jason Hammel looked very good in beating Washington. Who knew then that by the end of the day he'd be Athletics RHP Jason Hammel?
Bigger news than victories by the Yankees over the Twins, or the Pirates over the Phillies, or the Mets over the Rangers, was Oakland's trade that picked up Hammel and RHP Jeff Samardzija for the low current price of RHP Dan Straily, prospects SS Addison Russell and OF Billy McKinney and a player to be named.
The Athletics already were the best team in the American League. By turning not enough able-bodied starters into what could be a surplus, they also have a chance to trade to improve themselves in other areas such as the outfield and middle infield.
The Cubs? Well, they'll muddle through another season. In the off-season, they'll hope their minor league prospects aren't overhyped in the way virtually all of the prospects have been in their recent history. And that at least two prospects from the Athletics organization haven't been oversold.
A couple of today's starters left their game early because of injury. Mets LHP Jonathan Niese went out in the first inning because of a back injury that is being considered minor. Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole left because of a strained latissimus muscle that could be more problematic.
Cole pitched five scoreless innings for the win over Philadelphia. That shouldn't be a surprise. I found out from the Phils' broadcast that it was the 25th time in their first 86 games that they've been held scoreless for at least the first five innings.
Another interesting tidbit from the Yankees-Twins game: Minnesota C Kurt Suzuki, a patient hitter, went more than 140 plate appearances last season without swinging at a first pitch. He apparently learned that patience while with the Athletics.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Chen's a good middle-of-rotation fit for KC
The latest free-agent signing is LHP Bruce Chen, back with the Royals at least for 2014.
He signed for 1 year and $3.25 million, with a mutual option for $5.5 million in '15 with a $1-million buyout. There also are incentives built in. Chen said he signed with Kansas City, even though other teams (Rangers, for example) showed interest, because the Royals said he could pitch in their rotation.
This was not a bad signing. He's a known quantity, not just another one from the pile of question marks that were considered as possibilities for the last two spots in KC's rotation behind RHPs James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie and LHP Jason Vargas.
During the last four years, Chen has won 12, 12, 11 and 9 games -- with last season's drop-off only because he spent much of the season in the bullpen. In 15 starts, he was 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA. Consider him in the safe middle-of-the-rotation mold inhabited in recent years by Jeff Suppan, among others.
Some players were signed to 1-year contracts to avoid arbitration:
Tigers C Alex Avila, for $4.15 million, with a team option for 2015
Angels 3B David Freese, for $5.05 million
Angels RHP Kevin Jepsen, for $1.4625 million. Not sure what the extra 500 bucks are for.
And there were plenty of players signed to minor league contracts to extend the box scores for early exhibition games:
OF Roger Bernadina by the Reds
C Yorvit Torrealba, Angels
OF Reed Johnson, Marlins
1B Matt Clark, Mets. The former Padres farmhand hit 25 home runs for Japan's Chunichi Dragons last year. He's either the replacement for 1B Ike Davis, or just another pretender like Davis.
SS Alex Gonzalez, Orioles. This is the soon-to-be 37-year-old Alex Gonzalez who was an all-star with the 1999 Marlins and played (poorly) at first base for the Brewers last year.
RHP Daniel Bard, Rangers. He's recovering from surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, an ailment that seems still to be waiting for a success story such as Tommy John's to give a name to the surgery. Bard joins a growing list of Texas pitchers who won't be ready when the season begins -- such as LHPs Derek Holland and Joseph Ortiz, who will miss at least the first month because of a broken right foot caused when a motorcycle ran over it in Venezuela.
There's more on the Orioles from the Baltimore Sun. They have purchased the contract of alleged 17-year-old 1B Carlos Diaz from the Mexico City Red Devils and signed "16-year-old" Dominican third baseman Jomar Reyes. Diaz was compared to DH/1B Kendrys Morales, and Reyes to Clete Boyer, for those old enough to remember the Yankees third baseman from the 1950s and '60s. Baltimore's signees are expected to play this season in the Rookie Class Gulf Coast League, so you don't have to look for them as fantasy prospects for several years, if ever.
The Sun also reported that 3B/1B Wilson Betemit has signed a minor league contract with the Rays, and RHP Jason Hammel has signed or will sign with the Cubs, who would put him in their rotation.
* * *
Basketball. My lead is down to 6-1-1 through Friday. With only one big man active for me, my team fell behind in rebounds. Team Fresh Prints also dropped into a tie in assists, despite eight from Ricky Rubio and seven from Victor Oladipo. My one big man, Serge Ibaka, had such a big game that the Thunder didn't even need him in the fourth quarter at Brooklyn. Former President Bill Clinton saw at least some of Ibaka's 25 points on 12 for 12 shooting, and nine rebounds. I'll have a stronger lineup, especially up front, on Saturday, and hope to make up the lost ground and more.
I was at the Kings-Mavericks game, which in part was a battle between Rudy Gay's 35 points and 12 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki's 34 points. But especially with DeMarcus Cousins injured for Sacramento, Nowitzki had a much better supporting cast. The supporting-actor nominees were Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright.
* * *
Hockey. The four forwards active for my team combined for no goals, assists or penalty minutes, and were minus-4. Thomas Vanek was the star because he was neither plus nor minus and put four shots on goal. The wonder was that my team didn't lose any points. It did, however, drop 9 1/2 points behind the second-place team, which gained a point. I'll also have more hockey lineup slots filled Saturday.
He signed for 1 year and $3.25 million, with a mutual option for $5.5 million in '15 with a $1-million buyout. There also are incentives built in. Chen said he signed with Kansas City, even though other teams (Rangers, for example) showed interest, because the Royals said he could pitch in their rotation.
This was not a bad signing. He's a known quantity, not just another one from the pile of question marks that were considered as possibilities for the last two spots in KC's rotation behind RHPs James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie and LHP Jason Vargas.
During the last four years, Chen has won 12, 12, 11 and 9 games -- with last season's drop-off only because he spent much of the season in the bullpen. In 15 starts, he was 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA. Consider him in the safe middle-of-the-rotation mold inhabited in recent years by Jeff Suppan, among others.
Some players were signed to 1-year contracts to avoid arbitration:
Tigers C Alex Avila, for $4.15 million, with a team option for 2015
Angels 3B David Freese, for $5.05 million
Angels RHP Kevin Jepsen, for $1.4625 million. Not sure what the extra 500 bucks are for.
And there were plenty of players signed to minor league contracts to extend the box scores for early exhibition games:
OF Roger Bernadina by the Reds
C Yorvit Torrealba, Angels
OF Reed Johnson, Marlins
1B Matt Clark, Mets. The former Padres farmhand hit 25 home runs for Japan's Chunichi Dragons last year. He's either the replacement for 1B Ike Davis, or just another pretender like Davis.
SS Alex Gonzalez, Orioles. This is the soon-to-be 37-year-old Alex Gonzalez who was an all-star with the 1999 Marlins and played (poorly) at first base for the Brewers last year.
RHP Daniel Bard, Rangers. He's recovering from surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, an ailment that seems still to be waiting for a success story such as Tommy John's to give a name to the surgery. Bard joins a growing list of Texas pitchers who won't be ready when the season begins -- such as LHPs Derek Holland and Joseph Ortiz, who will miss at least the first month because of a broken right foot caused when a motorcycle ran over it in Venezuela.
There's more on the Orioles from the Baltimore Sun. They have purchased the contract of alleged 17-year-old 1B Carlos Diaz from the Mexico City Red Devils and signed "16-year-old" Dominican third baseman Jomar Reyes. Diaz was compared to DH/1B Kendrys Morales, and Reyes to Clete Boyer, for those old enough to remember the Yankees third baseman from the 1950s and '60s. Baltimore's signees are expected to play this season in the Rookie Class Gulf Coast League, so you don't have to look for them as fantasy prospects for several years, if ever.
The Sun also reported that 3B/1B Wilson Betemit has signed a minor league contract with the Rays, and RHP Jason Hammel has signed or will sign with the Cubs, who would put him in their rotation.
* * *
Basketball. My lead is down to 6-1-1 through Friday. With only one big man active for me, my team fell behind in rebounds. Team Fresh Prints also dropped into a tie in assists, despite eight from Ricky Rubio and seven from Victor Oladipo. My one big man, Serge Ibaka, had such a big game that the Thunder didn't even need him in the fourth quarter at Brooklyn. Former President Bill Clinton saw at least some of Ibaka's 25 points on 12 for 12 shooting, and nine rebounds. I'll have a stronger lineup, especially up front, on Saturday, and hope to make up the lost ground and more.
I was at the Kings-Mavericks game, which in part was a battle between Rudy Gay's 35 points and 12 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki's 34 points. But especially with DeMarcus Cousins injured for Sacramento, Nowitzki had a much better supporting cast. The supporting-actor nominees were Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright.
* * *
Hockey. The four forwards active for my team combined for no goals, assists or penalty minutes, and were minus-4. Thomas Vanek was the star because he was neither plus nor minus and put four shots on goal. The wonder was that my team didn't lose any points. It did, however, drop 9 1/2 points behind the second-place team, which gained a point. I'll also have more hockey lineup slots filled Saturday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)