2014 Oakland Athletics
- Thread starter DubbC415
- Start date
Billie beane must be going by some new metric or whatever you want to call it. I'm sure with some intricate analyzing of every stat we might see why he's dumping these guys and who he's going after. Until someone cracks the code or discovers his theoretical new formula I'm just going to assume he's being a cheap miserly fuckin idiot
I don't know why people always think it's about some stat or metric, the logic behind the trades is very easy to understand.
The A's finished 10 games out of first place with the Mariners 1 game behind last season. They lost Lester, Lowrie, Gregerson, Hammel, Callaspo, and a number of other players to free agency. Seattle added Nelson Cruz and may be adding more. The Rangers are going to be much better after being decimated by injuries last season. In the second half the Astros showed that they're no longer the Lastros of previous years, and they appear to be ready to spend money this offseason as well.
The A's were getting worse in a division that's getting better. Even after adding Butler (lol,) a 3rd or 4th place finish is very realistic, so they made some trades and started looking at 2016 and beyond. In return they got a pretty good haul: three middle infielders, three starting pitchers, a catcher and a first baseman, all good, young prospects. They also got Brett Lawrie, who is obviously no Josh Donaldson, but he should be decent and they don't expect him to have the same injuries playing on grass that he had in Toronto.
Donaldson is a great player that I can see winning an MVP or two in his career, but keeping him in Oakland for a couple more years wasn't going to win a championship. At first the trade didn't look all that great, but when you look at the return for Donaldson combined with the returns for Moss and Samardzija, they're looking really good in a couple years.
The Samardizja trade surprised me, not because I thought they were going to keep him, but because they got so much in return... I'm glad the White Sox wanted him, nobody else was going to give up that much. The A's also traded Ynoa who was a highly-touted prospect a couple years ago, but anyone who's been paying attention knows he's never going to be anything special... He'll probably be AAA filler for the White Sox, called up occasionally when there are injuries.
Brandon Moss was an All-Star, blah blah blah... He occasionally looks great when he's put into situations where he can succeed, but he'll also occasionally forget how to hit for 1/3rd of the season (.169/.340/.208 in August, .151/.292/.321 in September.) His best days are behind him, and I'm not just saying that because he's coming off hip surgery...
In my opinion the one mis-step this offseason was signing Butler... It's not a bad idea if you're keeping Donaldson, Moss and Samardzija for the season, but in retrospect it's pointless. If the offer for Donaldson came in a day before they signed Butler, I don't think they would have signed him.
The A's finished 10 games out of first place with the Mariners 1 game behind last season. They lost Lester, Lowrie, Gregerson, Hammel, Callaspo, and a number of other players to free agency. Seattle added Nelson Cruz and may be adding more. The Rangers are going to be much better after being decimated by injuries last season. In the second half the Astros showed that they're no longer the Lastros of previous years, and they appear to be ready to spend money this offseason as well.
The A's were getting worse in a division that's getting better. Even after adding Butler (lol,) a 3rd or 4th place finish is very realistic, so they made some trades and started looking at 2016 and beyond. In return they got a pretty good haul: three middle infielders, three starting pitchers, a catcher and a first baseman, all good, young prospects. They also got Brett Lawrie, who is obviously no Josh Donaldson, but he should be decent and they don't expect him to have the same injuries playing on grass that he had in Toronto.
Donaldson is a great player that I can see winning an MVP or two in his career, but keeping him in Oakland for a couple more years wasn't going to win a championship. At first the trade didn't look all that great, but when you look at the return for Donaldson combined with the returns for Moss and Samardzija, they're looking really good in a couple years.
The Samardizja trade surprised me, not because I thought they were going to keep him, but because they got so much in return... I'm glad the White Sox wanted him, nobody else was going to give up that much. The A's also traded Ynoa who was a highly-touted prospect a couple years ago, but anyone who's been paying attention knows he's never going to be anything special... He'll probably be AAA filler for the White Sox, called up occasionally when there are injuries.
Brandon Moss was an All-Star, blah blah blah... He occasionally looks great when he's put into situations where he can succeed, but he'll also occasionally forget how to hit for 1/3rd of the season (.169/.340/.208 in August, .151/.292/.321 in September.) His best days are behind him, and I'm not just saying that because he's coming off hip surgery...
In my opinion the one mis-step this offseason was signing Butler... It's not a bad idea if you're keeping Donaldson, Moss and Samardzija for the season, but in retrospect it's pointless. If the offer for Donaldson came in a day before they signed Butler, I don't think they would have signed him.
I dunno the way they were playing early in the season it looked like they're a championship team. Getting rid of cespedes was a head scratcher. Now all these guys.. I dunno. From the outside looking in it seemed like ok a piece here and there, the A's are in the playoffs. Now it looks like a fire sale / abandoning this year maybe more for success later in the future. Your reasons make sense but I just think its odd
They were definitely a championship-caliber team until they were decimated by injuries.
Until August, the platoon of Jaso & Norris at catcher (and occasionally DHing,) were hitting .293 with 17 HR & 78 RBI. Vogt started playing in June and hit .350 for two months straight. Crisp was coming off a June where he hit .346. Gentry was adequate but hit very well at times. Lowrie finally came out of a slump and hit over .300 in July.
They had depth EVERYWHERE. If guys got hurt they brought in guys like Vogt & Blanks in platoon positions and they mashed. Jon Lester for two months and in the playoffs would have been WAY more valuable than Cespedes ever could have been in the regular season or in the playoffs. It was a good move.
Then Jaso got another concussion and couldn't play anymore, Norris hurt his back and lost his swing, Vogt got hurt, played hurt (badly) until he couldn't play anymore, Crisp got hurt and started hitting about .150, Gentry got hurt after a .280 June and declined from there.
It didn't really look like it because a lot of guys played hurt, but after the trade the A's were almost in the same position as the Rangers at the beginning of the season.
The team was put together brilliantly, they had what was probably the best depth they'd ever had, but even with that they weren't prepared for the amount of injuries they ended up with.
As far as this season goes, even after trading Donaldson they could have made a few moves to compete and hope to get to the playoffs, but with the M's signing Cruz and maybe more, it's probably a waste of time and money to even bother. Why go for an outside shot at a playoff berth now when they can have a much better chance with another young team in a couple years?
Until August, the platoon of Jaso & Norris at catcher (and occasionally DHing,) were hitting .293 with 17 HR & 78 RBI. Vogt started playing in June and hit .350 for two months straight. Crisp was coming off a June where he hit .346. Gentry was adequate but hit very well at times. Lowrie finally came out of a slump and hit over .300 in July.
They had depth EVERYWHERE. If guys got hurt they brought in guys like Vogt & Blanks in platoon positions and they mashed. Jon Lester for two months and in the playoffs would have been WAY more valuable than Cespedes ever could have been in the regular season or in the playoffs. It was a good move.
Then Jaso got another concussion and couldn't play anymore, Norris hurt his back and lost his swing, Vogt got hurt, played hurt (badly) until he couldn't play anymore, Crisp got hurt and started hitting about .150, Gentry got hurt after a .280 June and declined from there.
It didn't really look like it because a lot of guys played hurt, but after the trade the A's were almost in the same position as the Rangers at the beginning of the season.
The team was put together brilliantly, they had what was probably the best depth they'd ever had, but even with that they weren't prepared for the amount of injuries they ended up with.
As far as this season goes, even after trading Donaldson they could have made a few moves to compete and hope to get to the playoffs, but with the M's signing Cruz and maybe more, it's probably a waste of time and money to even bother. Why go for an outside shot at a playoff berth now when they can have a much better chance with another young team in a couple years?
lol nice name who are u? Anyways i wont be watching baseball this season, i made that decision cuz of the A's not making the real playoffs and having to witness the bitch ass Giants win another title. Dont even hate the Giants in the whole scheme of things just cant stand there fans. I will always be an A's fan im just on strike.
Props:
Chuco and Chuco
A's beat the Giants 9-4 in a battle of aces between Brad Mills and Madison Bumgarner. Mills gets the win, Bumgarner the loss.
CONFIRMED Marcus Semien AL Most Valuable Player CONFIRMED Ben Zobrist AL Batting Champion CONFIRMED Madison Bumgarner is a scrub CONFIRMED
Good first day of spring training.
CONFIRMED Marcus Semien AL Most Valuable Player CONFIRMED Ben Zobrist AL Batting Champion CONFIRMED Madison Bumgarner is a scrub CONFIRMED
Good first day of spring training.
Props:
BUTCHER 206
