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After the first loss to the Phillies this past series, MetsBlog.com writer, Regis Courtemanche wrote, “Win or lose, I love the way the Mets are playing right now.  They seem completely focused on the task at hand, and Citi Field seems to have finally come alive. Still disappointing to let this one get away though.” FYI, MetsBlog is one of the best (Mets) Blogs out there. To be honest, I disagree with the statement, however the Mets are without their starting SS, 1b, 2 SP’s and both our set-up men. That’s right – “both.” Eventually this season, the Mets will have Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Billy Wagner, Oliver Perez (and John Maine now) all coming off the DL. The Phillies are only 4 games ahead, but with a bullpen of K-rod, and potentially healthy and effective relievers, such as Wagner and Putz, the Mets rotation will only have to pitch 6 effective innings each night (for the most part). And that’s great because it seems Redding , Maine , and Oliver (and often times Santana and Pelfrey) can never pass that plateau. The offense will have to come out romping, however – something they couldn’t do last year and something they haven’t been able to do this season even prior to Reyes and Delgado going down. With that said, I’m still very willing to “wait and see” how the Mets perform after Reyes, Delgado, Maine, Oliver, Putz, and Wagner come back, however, the question is and will be – is it too late?

Do the Mets need to do something to shake the team up? In a prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/lets-play-gm-mets-crazy-trade-scenarios/), I talked about the potential need to shake up the team, and I threw out some crazy trade scenarios. The reality is, people, reporters, and teams are catching on that the Red Sox have 9 at least effective or ready major league starters. It’s also fairly clear they could use an effective shortstop, which is where, to me, the Mets should come in to play. I love Reyes, but could he land us both Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden? I think he could. I think that’s worth it – for both teams. We could potentially add a catching prospect to the deal (Francisco Pena or Josh Thole) – they’re young, but the Red Sox have and may have a need for a catcher in the future if they don’t trade for/sign Joe Mauer/Twins (after or during) next year. Another potential aspect I would add to to the deal (if I were Omar Minaya) is Oliver Perez. This is only to free up salaray to trade for and sign another need (Matt Holliday)? That’s not essential, but if the Red Sox were willing to take on Perez’s salary in addition to losing their top 2 pitching prospects in the deal, then I would do that. I’d then, however, ask for a more than effective reliever: Manny Delcarmen/Takashi Saito. So i’d potentially like to see:

Mets Receive: Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Takashi Saito/rp; Jed Lowrie/ss

Red Sox Receive: Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp; Josh Thole or Francisco Pena/c

I guess there’s a contingency – Jose Reyes’ health. Would this prevent such a trade? The Sox do still have Nick Green and Julio Lugo to hold down the ss job while Reyes is out. Again this would then allow us to potentially go for Matt Holliday, Mark Derosa, or other outfielders via trade this season or free agency after, so Daniel Murphy could stay at first next year with the assumption that Carlos Delgado will be gone. Our lineup would obviously hurt without Reyes for the rest of the year, but if we trade for another bat for the lineup, the Rotation with Buchholz and or Bowden would be much more effective than Tim Redding.

Agreed?

How long has it been?

2 Months?

…ya. Sorry, I have no excuse at all other then I have been swamped with school and my golf team. But now the Golf is over, I can talk A’s baseball again! That’s right!

Well, since I have been away a lot of things have happened…

• Matt Holliday has been unproductive. A .234 average, 20 RBIs, 4 HRs, and .423 SLG. Yes that RBI stat is juicy, but that is because he has a little bit of a spark. But the A’s need him to do better with a division up for grabs and a chance for a big trade.
• Ok, its not just Holliday. The whole damn offense is bad. Only one player is batting over .300 (Kurt Suzuki, .324) the next player is at .287 then .261
• The Pitching has had a roller coaster of a ride with ERAs ranging from 2.40 to 7.60. But overall it will thin out and get better
• The Bullpen has been lights out, no problems there
• Finally, the A’s need to pounce on a weak division in the West. They are only 4 games back of the leader, they need to capatialize while they can with the Angles having so many injuries

So ya, there you go. An update for the A’s. Hopefull my posts will be more frequent as the summer rolls along (no more 2 month breaks). Go A’s!

The A’s will be playing the Jays tonight in Oakland (they are playing right now)

Gallagher vs. Tallet

The One man over .300

Notes: What I tend to do heavily in my rankings, unlike all the other rankings, is group players together based on their position/projection/potential. For example, in round 8/bubble I grouped together 4 cl (Brad Lidge and Jon Broxton as well as Matt Capps and Heath Bell). Broxton has had a great start and Lidge has had a rough one, but by season’s end the stats should be about the same. I also grouped together 6 sp (Rich Harden, Joba Chamberlain, Adam Wainwright, Yovani Gallardo, Josh Johnson, and Erik Bedard). These are all great sp’s with ?’s though – inning/injury concerns. Of course, I have 3+ weeks of the season now to include in my rankings (upping Zach Greinke and Josh Johnson on my list, but honestly guys like Carlos Quentin and Matt Kemp I already thought should be ranked where I have them), but here, I posted my rankings followed by a notes section [In the notes section,  I’ve bolded the players that are in the referenced round]. Within the rankings, I bolded some guys I like and ranked higher than most others, and italicized others I didn’t like as much or ranked lower than others or have since been hurt.

Top 12/Round 1:

In 2009, I think Miguel Cabrera could break 37 homers and 127rbis he had last season. He’s already off to a hot start, batting .431 up to this point. With an increase in runs from 85 to about 100 and to me – a sure increase in batting average from .292 to about .315, I think Miguel Cabrera could be ranked above David Wright this year. Similarly, I see Ryan Braun breaking 40hr and 15sb. If his avg raises passed .300, and I think it will, he too, could surpass Wright because of the HR total, but obviously I would take Wright over both Miggy and Braun b/c of 3b eligibility – Is Miggy 3b eligible in your league though??? Chase Utley to me at 2b just beats out Ian Kinsler (2b) because of the RBI total. He’s healthy, and he’s already got 4hr and 2sb with 12r, 12rbi, and a .362avg. One guy who is absolutely on fire, and probably will stay that way if healthy for a full season, is 2b (position scarcity) Ian Kinsler. His line is already: 15r-5hr-16rbi-7sb-.381avg. Most projections call for about 25sb, but I didn’t see why he can’t break 30 (now 35) with a full season – 118r-26hr-84rbi-34sb-295avg anyone??? Like I said, I’d honestly rank him above Utley if it wasn’t for Utley’s rbis’s – and for that matter at 2b he could also be above Wright/3b, Miguel Cabrera/1b, and Ryan Bruan/of by year’s end. Kinsler had 23 and 26sb respectively in the past 2 seasons in 483ab’s and 518ab’s. With health, and in that lineup, he should approach 550ab’s, score a ton of runs, and should have a decent amount of rbi opportunities. Evan Longoria jumps into the first round again because of position scarcity (3b) over Josh Hamilton (of) and Mark Teixeira (1b). He’s already on fire batting 10r-5hr-16rbi-1sb-.386avg.

Round 2/Players 13-24:

There may be some surprises in round 2. Justin Morneau is so clutch, I just can’t rank him any lower. I think 27-30hr and 120rbi with 95r and 300+ avg is justified where I have him. Alex Rodriguez will miss time, but there’s no question he could still go 100-32-105-12-300. There is only 2 more sure thing 3b’s in Kevin Youkilis and Aramis Ramirez in the next 4 rounds (Chone Figgins, just there for speed and Chipper Jones is so injury prone I think he should be in round 7). The New-B’s here are Carlos Quentin (of) (who is already studding it up, and I have no idea why most projections were so low on him maybe batting avg. He’s got 7hr already); Matt Kemp (of) (don’t love his lineup spot, but still a great lineup with a lot more rbi opp’s and he’s such a great power-speed combo – already at 13r-3hr-14rbi-4sb-.362); Nick Markakis (of) (who would be first round material if he gets more than my projected 23-25hr and 9-12sb. He should hit 100-105r and 105-110rbi with a .307-.315avg.

Round 3/Players 25-36:

Tim Lincecum/Manny Ramirez/Dustin Pedroia/ BJ Upton are all still 2^nd round material to me depending on if you like drafting one ace very early in Lincecum or stolen bases in Upton or position scarcity in Pedroia. Kevin Youkilis somehow remains underrated (especially because he’s 3b eligible). He contributes greatly to 4 categories: about 100-105r; 27-30hr; 109-115rbi; 3sb-4sb; .305-.315avg. I just don’t love Matt Holliday outside of Coors and in Oakland, but his 95/25/95/15 potential is still 2^nd round material if that’s his line by season’s end. Aramis Ramirez could be ranked right before Kevin Youkilis or maybe early into round 4, but at 3b, I still love him in the Cubbies lineup.

Round 4/Players 37-48:

Ichiro Suzuki is sometimes ranked in the top 24, and his avg, runs, sb’s make him worth it there, but his lack of hr and rbi keep him down here for me. I’m usually doing fine with sb providers by now (say Kinsler/2b-27sb, Longoria/3b-11sb, Kemp/of-30sb) or (Wright/3b-18sb, Soriano/of-25sb, and Markakis/of-10sb) – that’s 68sb and 53sb respectively. If you end up with like: Howard/1b-1sb and Santana/sp, and Crawford (of) or Roberts (2b) are already off the board, than Ichiro can get bumped up if you think you’ll need the sb. I’d rather someone else and go for Shane Victorino/Jacoby Ellsbury in round 5 though. To me, Brian Roberts is Ichiro Suzuki at 2b, so Roberts is much more valuable to me. Some people still think Carl Crawford can approach 20hr in a season, and depending on his lineup spot he could knock in 85rbi, but in the 2-whole it looks like he should have a line of 90runs;10-12hr;70-75rbi;30-40sb;283-287avg, which will still justify this rank or even a little higher. I think by now he can be considered injury prone. I honestly think he has top third round potential, but every guy I have in round 3 just knocks him down to round 4. Brandon Phillips is great at 2b, and he’s a solid 4 stat contributor with a nice young lineup, but his average keeps him in round 4 to me. I like Cole Hamels and Brandon Webb here so long as they’re healthy because they symbolize the end of the 4 category top-notch fantasy aces (w,era,whip,k). Josh Beckett, Roy Oswalt, and Chad Billingsley are great, but Beckett’s era could be somewhat high as can Billingsley’s whip, and Oswalt looks to be slowing down a bit and striking out less batters although he was fantastic in the 2^nd half of last year. I like the 3 catchers: Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, and Russell Martin here. McCann’s eye is a worry and Martin’s starting off somewhat slow, but by season’s end I think they’ll be worth it here. If the latter 2 slip into round 5, fine.

Round 5/Players 49-60:

I usually have top power guys (David Ortiz/Carlos Pena), top speed guys (Rafael Furcal/Shane Victorino/Jacoby Ellsbury), or power-speed combos (Nate McLouth/Bobby Abreu/Corey Hart/ Carlos Granderson) as well as position scarcity (Geovany Soto/c; Rafael Furcal/ss; Alexei Ramirez/2b-ss) all in round 5. Soto is just too good to let drop for a catcher. I could see him being a 4^th rounder next year with another consistent year – similar to where McCann, Martin, and a healthy Victor Martinez are. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, Geovany Soto, Russell Martin, Joe Mauer, and Matt Wieters all go in round 4 next year. 12 players-6 catchers-1 round…Mark it (round 5 the latest).

Round 6/Players 61-72:

I love Joey Votto for his 7-10 sb and .290-300avg in addition to 24-28hr and 90-100rbi. I wouldn’t mind going with Robinson Cano here either at 2b in the Yankees lineup either. I love Cano slipping to round 7/8 because I think he can perform to the line of 90-95r;18-20hr;90-95rbi;4-5sb;.292-.302avg. Here, I like the 4 closers too: Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, Joakim Soria, and Francisco Rodriguez – all great 3 category pitchers with a good amount of k’s for relievers as well, however, personally I wait to draft closers and may look to draft 3 in a row, come round 13/14. Chad Billingsley is already showing why I have him ranked here with 4 wins and a 26:9 k:bb ratio, and a Dodger team that should be just as good for years to come. [Dodgers Lineup: Furcal-Hudson-Manny-Ethier-Loney-Kemp-Martin-Blake] – wow! If Billingsley keeps the whip down, he’ll jump to round 4/5 prior to Beckett and Oswalt. I don’t love Chone Figgins at 3b or Dan Uggla’s avg, but you can’t go wrong with Figgins’ sb’s and Uggla at 2b. Ryan Ludwick (already at 5hr and 16rbi, 1sb, and batting .370), after a great year last year, was way too underrated in this year’s drafts – the power and rbi’s should be there.

Round 7/Players 73-84:

Chipper Jones gets drafted much earlier, and at 3b, he’s so good, but he just doesn’t stay healthy enough for me to rank him higher. We should all know about Chris Davis’ potential by now (and flaws). Carlos Delgado could be Delgado of 2008-2^nd half or 2008-1^st half. I think he’ll go 33-35hr; 110-115rbi. Aubrey Huff was great again last year, and at 3b & 1b, I like him a lot with Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis in front of him. I like Garret Atkins enough to rank him in round 6 at 3b, but to me everyone above him as a little more potential/better power/better position scarcity ala Michael Young (ss;3b). Adam Dunn, Joe Mauer (c), and Andre Ethier are all solid options here as well. Dunn looks to be on a mission; I love Ethier batting clean-up in that Dodger’s lineup (and he should get you some sb’s with a nice avg.) I like James Shields and Zack Greinke (round 8 ) b/c each will have both good era’s and whip’s, where as the next few sp’s could have a high whip or era.

Round 8/9; Players 85-104:

Here, as you can see, I favor sp’s. I actually get my first ace in round 7 or 8 and then attempt to draft 3 or 4 in a row. Felix Hernandez and Scott Kazmir can have fairly high whips, while AJ Burnett can have a fairly high ERA, and as good as the next wave of SP’s are (Harden; Joba; Wainwright; EBedard; JJohnson; Gallardo), they all have question marks in some way (inning concerns, injury concerns, or not enough of a sample size). Derek Lee is in a solid lineup, but hit only 22 and 20 hr in the past 2 years. Without pop, and slowing down in sb as well, I can see him falling out of the top 9 rounds next year.

As I said in my notes section, I group players based on positioning/potential/and your statistical needs. I probably won’t rank the next 15 rounds only because I over/under-rate some players based on position, stats, and potential, and then I’d give away all my strategy.Feel free to question/criticize/comment.

Sorry I have not been keeping up with my post count A’s fans, it will get better.

It case you have been living your life this week, you might not of heard the A’s signings of Orlando Cabrera and Normar Garciapara. With Orlando at SS, this pushes out Bobby Crosby, the odd man out. He will either be shipped away or become a 5.25 Million utility man, the most expensive in the MLB. Crosby won Rookie of the year in 2004, and has been injured ever since, other then last year where he had an OK year. I agree with that signing, but Crosby does deserve a shot on a team, easily. I find it funny that Crosby’s contract is more then Orlando’s. With the signing of Nomar, that gives Nomar the utility spot over Crosby…that is too bad for ol’ Bobby.

The Rotation: A’s news and notes

ST Game, A’s/Mariners

Currently, the A’s are just dominating the Mariners, 11-1 in the bottom of the 8th. I will update stats after the game is over. But, Sean Dollittle (name is no joke) is the leading RBI man with 3.

I think this is a great signing by Beane (again) and should help the young A’s team. Going on to his 12th year in the Majors, he has always been productive, and a big help. He should be batting 2nd or maybe around 7th or 8th. He has a great glove, and playoff experience.

Pros:

• Great Glove, 2 GG’s
• Productive: .274 BA, 684 RBIs
• 4 trips to the playoffs
• The Giants got Renteria for 18.5 Million for two years, the Dodgers got Furcal for 30 million over three years, and the A’s got Renteria for a bargain, 4 freaking million over 1 year. He would still have less then Renteria if he had a four year contract.
• Good leader for the young guns

Cons:

• Maybe not a productive as the A’s need him to be
• Crosby will be a  5.25 Million utility man

But the pros rule out the cons by a long shot

The Rotation: A’s News and Notes

ST Game #6, A’s/Cubs

Sean Gallahger looked good in a two inning outing only allowing 1 run. Rajai Davis had a great day by driving in two runs. Ben Copeland had the only other RBI in the game. The A’s now have a 1-4-1 record in ST.

Garciapara is closing on a deal with the A’s

A Major League source confirmed to MLB.com on Tuesday that Oakland is closing in on a one-year contract with free-agent infielder Nomar Garciaparra.

Justin Duchscherer having elbow checked out

The 2008 All-Star Duchcherer might miss opening day with an elbow injury, he has been on the DL 4 times prior.

Have a great day A’s fans.

Okay, settle down people. Yes, the Mariners are 4-0 in Spring play and, to the immense gratification of fans who sat through too many innings without Mariners reaching base in 2008, are scoring an average of 8.17 runs a game, including the 3-4 loss to the Padres in exhibition play last Wednesday. Yes, the Mariners do have the best Spring record in baseball—Pittsburgh and the Angels are the next best. Yes, Rob Johnson, whom I wrote should be in the mix for a catcher’s spot on the roster, went 2-for-3 in today’s win over the White Sox. Yes, Jarrod Washburn has a 0.00 ERA through four innings pitched so far. Yes, Ronny Cedeno is an improvement on Willie Bloomquist.

But this is not the team, nor are these the games, we’ll be seeing during the regular season.

So, calm down.

Seriously, in 2004, when the Mariners went 18-11-1 (.638) to win the Cactus League by a half game over Milwaukee and the Angels then of Anaheim, the team went on to a cellar-dominating 63-99 regular season. With so many starting roster players—on every team—out for the World Baseball Classic, this Spring’s games should be treated as a AA-lens on the real composition of the coming season’s line-ups.

There is a lot to be feeling good about. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes that Matt Tuiasosopo is batting 6-for-11 on the young Spring. Jarrod Washburn’s looking solid in his two outings, and we can hope that his walk year will yield a strong performance for the team as he auditions for his next contract, hopefully so Seattle can trade for prospects during the season.

And some things to worry about, too. For instance, Dave over at U.S.S. Mariner points  out that Seattle doesn’t really have a legitimate closer. Ryan Rowland-Smith gave up four hits, including a home run, and three earned runs in two innings pitched today.

The small-ball play of the Mariners over the past week has been bracing. Larry LaRue reminds that the M’s haven’t rolled out their big bats, with Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Sweeney and Russell Branyan still to make their Spring, and Mariners, debuts. Add 1.5 to three runs with two of these guys—or Adrian Beltre, when he’s back in solid form—in the lineup to move the average of 14.4 runners left on base during the first five games from scoring position to home.

Nevertheless, while it’s fun to see the Mariners winning, it’s way too early to count any of this as projectable into the regular season.

Ken Rosenthalreported that the A’s have singed Cabrera a 1 year, 4 million deal.  The A’s have addressed there need for a SS, and have landed a two-time gold glove winner. This means that Bobby Crosby will be traded soon, or else the 5.25 Million contract for Crosby will go too waste. This is a great signing for the A’s and should help them make a surprise push on the Angles. Cabrera is a career .274 hitter, with 684 RBIs, and 105 HRs.

A’s will be back in action on Tuesday, where Cabrera might make his debut with the A’s.

ST Game #3, A’s/Brewers, Brwers 8-5

A’s lost to the Brewers on Friday too bring down their Cactus league record to 1-2. Matt Holliday had his first RBI in spring training, but he went 0 for 3. Former Giant Rajai Davis batted lead-off yesterday and made it work going 1 for 2 with an RBI. Ben Copeland, Aaron Cunningham, and Tagg Boized all had RBIs. Brad Ziegler had a perfect inning with a srtikeout. Both Jerome Williams (another former Giant) and Dana Eveland had two perfect innings in a loss for the A’s.

That is it for today, later

Random note: Go Bears! Beat them Bruins!

HAIL TO CALIFORNIA!

ST Game #2: A’s/Angels, 3-1 Angles win

One of my fellow authors has already posted an in depth analysis of this game today,  so I will just cover what the A’s did. The only RBI by the A’s today was by Jack Cust, who hit a solo shot. Chris Carter, who is starting the spring with a bang, had a double today. A’s pitching today looked good, with Sean Gallagher pitching 2 innings with 2 K’s to show for it. Brett Anderson, named the A’s best prospect by baseball America, game up 2 runs in his Spring Training debut. Box Score.

Holliday and Giambi did not play today.

San Jose pursuing Oakland A’s *sigh*

Will this ever end? Yet another bid, at another location, in another city, this time in San Jose. Thursday, A’s Council members took a meeting today about making a deal with the A’s and the MLB to have a new stadium in their town of San Jose. Home of the San Jose Sharks (NHL) and San Jose Earthquakes (MLS, Wolff also owns the ‘Quakes), San Jose seems like an alright venue for the A’s to play in, but the A’s need Oakland too keep a fan base alive and thriving. Just build a new damn ballpark in Oakland.  Bud Selig sent out a memo about the news: “Bringing the A’s to San Jose is a great opportunity to market San Jose and the downtown core,” the memo reads. The Redevelopment Agency owns most of the 14-acre project site next to downtown Diridon Station and the EIR has been completed,” it reads. “The development of a stadium would pump $500 million into San Jose and create several hundred construction jobs. A stadium would act as a catalyst for the development of a larger, transit-oriented community adjacent to the future portal to BART, Caltrain and High-Speed Rail.” This could happen, after all, Lew Wolff was Selig’s frat buddy. I need a drink.

After scoring 12 runs against the Chicago White Sox, the Angels come back with a whopping 3. There were only 3 players in the starting lineup that will make the starting lineup come April, so I can’t really complain. For an extended look, here’s the box score. And here’s the recap….

Angels 3, Athletics 1
at Tempe, Ariz.
Feb. 26, 2009

Angels at the plate: Kendry Morales went the opposite way for a line-drive single and pulled a double into the right-field corner. Kevin Ramos, who will play in the World Baseball Classic for Panama, tripled and singled home a run. After getting robbed of extra bases twice in the opener, Brandon Wood doubled and singled in three at-bats. Reggie Willits had an RBI single, and Jeff Mathis doubled and scored.

Athletics at the plate: Jack Cust blasted a solo homer, his first of the spring, down the right-field line. Ryan Sweeney singled twice, and Chris Carter doubled.

Angels on the mound: Starter Jordan Walden showed why he is a favorite of scouts, striking out three hitters in two scoreless innings, including veterans Cust to end the first and Rob Bowen to close the second. Walden yielded two hits and no walks. Brian Fuentes made his debut in an Angels uniform and worked a scoreless third, striking out Eric Chavez and retiring Cust after yielding a pair of singles.

Athletics on the mound: Starter Sean Gallagher surrendered three hits, including a double and triple, but worked out of jams in both of his innings, striking out two and walking one. Brett Anderson yielded three hits and a walk in a two-run fourth, his lone inning of work.

Cactus League records: Angels 2-0; Athletics 0-1-1.

Up next: The Angels host the Rockies on Friday at 12:05 p.m. PT. Sean O’Sullivan will start against Colorado’s Greg Smith.