The Trevor Cahill trade was the first move that Billy Beane made in the offseason, it sent (RHP) Trevor Cahill and  (LHP) Craig Breslow to Arizona and in return Oakland received (RHP) Jarrod Parker, (OF) Collin Cowgill and (RHP) Ryan Cook.  I originally graded this trade as a B+, citing a slight concern in Jarrod Parker’s control issues.

Jarrod Parker has been the pitcher the A’s had hoped he would, he has started in 11 games for Oakland and of those 11 games he has only surrendered 3 runs or more twice.  Parker currently holds a 3-3 record with a 2.70 ERA over 66.2 innings.  Although he only has 3 wins on the season, it does not reflect how well he has done so far.

Parker has a 1.9 WAR, which ranks 13th among AL starting pitchers.  He has a .255 BABIP and a 3.50 FIP, although his xFIP of 4.41 is pretty poor.  Control continues to be a slight issue for the young right-hander, he has a 4.32 BB/9 rate and 1.53 SO/BB ratio.

Collin Cowgill, who was just placed on the DL yesterday with a sprained ankle, has played in 32 games for Oakland.  In 108 PA he has a .271/.343/.313 slash line with a .655 OPS and .286 wOBA.   He has 1 HR and 9 RBI with 3 SB.

One of his biggest issues is his plate disciple, having only a .46 BB/SO ratio.  It’s not really clear whether or not Cowgill will ever be an every day outfielder for Oakland, but he is definitely good enough to be a 4th outfielder for the A’s.

» Continue reading “Update On A’s Offseason Moves: Trevor Cahill Trade”

Athletics:  5  White Sox:  4

I have to make this a short one, but how could I not talk about today’s game?!

Grant Balfour blew his first save of the season by giving up a solo shot to Paul Konerko (which happened to be his 400th career home run) he did retire the next 3 batters and the game went to extras.

The White Sox were the first to score in extras, as Eric Sogard’s second error of the season led to two unearned runs in the 14th, but the A’s would answer back by scoring 3 in the bottom of the inning and taking home the win.

Lines of the Day:

• Yoenis Cepedes:  5 AB, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB.   I know Ka’aihue drove in the winning RBI for the A’s, but Cespedes was responsible for the home run (his 5th of the season) that tied the game in the 14th, and gave the A’s the chance to get back into the game.  Have I told you how much I love him recently?  Because I do.  It’s been a really long time since I have been excited about a hitter on the A’s, but Yoenis has me wanting to see each and every one of his at bats.
• Jarrod Parker:  6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 (earned) run, 1 BB, 5 SO.  Parker had a pretty decent first outing for Oakland, he did give up quite a few hits, but was able to get out of trouble most of the time.  The thing that I was most worried about with Parker was his control issues, but he seemed to be finding the strike zone, having thrown 99 pitches, 62 for strikes and only walking 1 player.

Baseball starts (again) today, are the A's ready? (Photo: Flickr/theseanster93)

As I am getting ready to leave for the game I want to wish you all a Happy Opening Day!

I also thought I would throw up a few quick predictions for this season, because how can you (re)start the season without predictions?

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I think this is going to be a better team than last season.  When the A’s lost Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez they did take a hit, but I believe that their offense will make them a better team this season.  Not a lot better, but I am predicting a 77-85 season for the A’s.

Going into this season the biggest question mark for me is their bullpen, which I briefly mentioned in my “Grading the A’s Offseason Moves” post.  On a scale of 1-10 the confidence I have in this bullpen is at about a 3.5.  I believe the bullpen is what can really make or break the team this year, but I would not object if they set out to prove me wrong.

A lot will have to happen for the A’s to win this division, nothing short of a major collapse in the entire Rangers AND Angels organizations, so for now I will settle for third place and a better record than last season.

Now on to the things we know for sure; this is a short two game series against the Mariners, because they count the two games played in Japan towards this one.

The pitchers tonight are (RHP) Brandon McCarthy and (LHP) Jason Vargas.

In his first start of the season Brandon McCarthy pitched 7 innings against the Mariners, he allowed 6 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 3.

Jason Vargas was equally as sharp in his first start against the A’s, he threw 6.1 innings and only allowed 2 hits, 1 earned run and struck out 3.

The Gio Gonzalez trade is one of the A's best off season moves

The A’s made plenty of moves this offseason, along with trading away Travor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez they also acquired 8,903,247 outfielders, a veteran pitcher and Manny Ramirez.  I am here to give my grade on each move, I can’t say I would do better than Billy Beane, but I can say I have my own opinions on things.

(RHP) Jarrod Parker, (RHP) Ryan Cook and (OF) Collin Cowgill for (RHP) Trevor Cahill, (LHP) Craig Breslow:  Jarrod Parker was the center of this trade, the A’s essentially received a pitcher the same age as Cahill, but with Jarrod Parker having only played 1 game in the majors, he has a lot less service time and the potential to be the future ace for this club.  Although Jarrod Parker had some control issues this spring, we should not be alarmed, Parker has been ranked the number 1 prospect in the organization by several experts including Baseball America, John Sickels and MLB.com (Baseball Prospectus has him listed as number 2).  B+

(RHP) Brad Peacock, (LHP) Tom Milone, (C) Derek Norris and (RHP) A.J. Cole for (LHP) Gio Gonzalez:  I think most agree that the A’s got the better end of this deal.  The package was built around Brad Peacock, who has the potential to be a middle of the rotation guy.  He has a live fastball that sits around 92-94 MPH, but can reach as high as 95-97 MPH, his downfall being his control issues.  While Gio Gonzalez had put up decent numbers for the A’s, they were able to obtain three of the Nationals top prospects in return in Peacock, Norris and Cole.   Tom Milone was not a top prospect, but Bob Melvin liked what they saw from him this spring and has named him as the third starter.  A-

(OF) Josh Reddick, (IF) Miles Head and (RHP) Raul Alcantara for (RHP) Andrew Bailey and (OF) Ryan Sweeney: I never really gave this trade a fair chance from the beginning since Billy Beane had said he was going to be asking for a high return on Bailey, but received an “okay” return instead.  I don’t think very highly of closers, but I would have liked to seen Beane maybe get a little more in return.  Josh Reddick was the center piece of this trade and I do think he will be a decent addition to the lineup, I was just hoping for someone with more of a power swing.

Miles Head is the most interesting piece of this trade in my opinion, John Sickels describes him as a “Grade C+ type who has major league potential but still has things to prove. He could develop into a very productive slugger, but could also fizzle out as a Quadruple-A bat without a real position.”  C

» Continue reading “Grading The A’s Offseason Moves”

Yesterday Ken Rosenthal wrote an article about Billy Beane trading Trevor Cahill, suggesting that he traded him because he didn’t expect Cahill to repeat his 2010 performance again.

“Billy must have known something,” one exec says, referring to Athletics GM Billy Beane.

Of course we know Trevor Cahill wasn’t the same pitcher from 2010, he wasn’t as dominant as he used to be and I know his ERA went up by almost a run and a half last season.  I was curious how the other numbers compared and this is what I came up with:

There are four big differences from last season, as I said before, his ERA inflated by almost a run and a half, his WHIP, and walks per nine innings inflated as well and as Ken Rosenthal points out, his BABIP was way up from 2010.

The rest of his numbers are pretty comparable to each other, however his strikeouts per nine innings were up by a pretty significant amount.

I was also curious about how his road numbers compared to pitching in the O.co and those were up in 2011 as well, he had a 5.23 ERA on the road last season as opposed to 2010 when he had a 3.86 ERA on the road, his BABIP was .317 away and in 2010 it was .233. The good news is, he slightly decreased his HR/9 with a 1.10 as opposed to 1.25 in 2010.

Is it possible that Beane really thought that his increase in BABIP was reason enough to trade him away when he still had value?  The league average hovers around .300 and Cahill’s was above that so it’s possible, but it’s very unlikely.

If Beane was that concerned about his BABIP he would have to take two things into consideration, first Cahill’s BABIP was .304 in 2009 and secondly, the A’s had stellar defense in 2010 (with a combined 48 UZR from the starting infielders and 38.9 UZR team total) which would also have a huge impact on Cahill’s ridiciously low BABIP of .236.

There was something Beane saw in Cahill that he thought was deserving of a $30.5 million 5-year contract, and I would like to think he never regretted that decision.  I do believe that Beane really did want to cut the payroll at the time of the trade and he saw the opportunity to get a highly regarded prospect in Jarrod Parker.  Upon reading his scouting report, you can easily see why Beane was intrigued in the young right-hander.

Maybe I am a Trevor Cahill apologist, but I would like to believe he is going to be okay, that he will be better than what he put up in 2010.  It so happens that ZiPS also agrees with me, they project Cahill to have a 14-11 record with a 3.90 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP,  6.41 K/9, a 2.10 K/BB ratio, and a .289 BABIP.

Cahill may never have another repeat of 2010, but I believe he has what it takes to be a solid 3rd or 4th starter for Arizona.

Kurt Suzuki hit his first home run in Spring Training today

Athletics: 11    Diamondbacks: 2

When asked about facing his former teammate, Trevor Cahill, Kurt Suzuki had this to say to Sussan Slusser:

“He’s going to get raked. Put that on the record,” catcher Kurt Suzuki said with a laugh, adding, “I love Trevor. Trevor is one of my favorites.”

Kurt didn’t lie, his first at-bat against Cahill was a 2-run home run (his first of the Spring) in the second inning.  He would only end up facing Cahill that one time, since shortly after there was a 45 minute rain delay, which would end both his and Cahill’s day.

Lines of the Day: 

• Brandon Moss: 3 AB, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI.  Moss has quietly had an impressive Spring Training, he is now 10-19 (.526 AVG), with 4 Runs, 7 RBI and 1 BB.  Also note, this was his first home run this Spring, coming off of former A’s pitcher, Craig Breslow. With all the outfield possibilities in Oakland, he probably doesn’t have a chance to make the big league roster, but he could be a viable option if there are any injuries down the road.
• Tyson Ross: 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 Strikeout.  I am actually pretty hesitant to put Ross on the “line of the day”, but even though he allowed five base runners in 3 innings, he was able to get the outs without any damage, and his ERA is now down to 0.90 this Spring (1 earned run in 10 innings).

• Another win today with everyone’s help, no ugly lines today.

A’s Extras: 

• Joey Devine has been placed on the disabled list and he will not be eligible to come back until April 8th, which means he will miss opening day.
• We also learned that pitcher Erick Threets was sent down to minor league camp earlier today and Daric Barton will not be making the trip to Japan with the team later this week.
• There were three home runs today for the A’s, Kurt Suzuki had his first of the Spring, Kila Ka’aihue had his second and Brandon Moss with his first.
• Outfielder Jeff Fiorentino had three at bats today, he walked and scored all three times.

Tomorrow the A’s face the Arizona Dimondbacks again, this time at Phoenix Muni.  Probable pitchers are (RHP) Jarrod Parker and (RHP) Josh Collmenter, the game will start at 1:05 PST.

Former Athletic, Trevor Cahill, faces the A's today

(RHP) Tyson Ross takes the mound today against the Diamondbacks (and he’s facing former A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill!).

Today’s lineup: Jemile Weeks 2B, Cliff Pennington SS, Seth Smith RF, Yoenis Cespedes CF, Kila Ka’aihue 1B, Jonny Gomes LF, Daric Barton DH, Kurt Suzuki C and Eric Sogard 3B.

Today’s game can be heard on 95.7 The Game.

In case you missed it:   Brett Anderson threw a 35-pitch bullpen session yesterday, which included 8-10 changeups.

Another good day for Cliff Pennington this Spring

Athletics:  4  Cubs: 3

I’ll start with the good news, the A’s beat the Cubs today!  It wasn’t a pretty win, but a win is a win.  They only had 6 hits, but scored 4 times.  There were also a few good defensive plays, which essentially won the game for them.

Lines of the Day:

• Cliff Pennington: 3 AB, 2 H, 1 R.  Pennington is now 15-31 this Spring (.484 AVG) with 6 runs, 3 RBI and 4 BB.
• Seth Smith: 3 AB, 3 H, 2 RBI.  After going 3-3 today, Seth Smith is now hitting .333 this Spring.

Ugly Lines of the Day: 

• Yoenis Cespedes: 4 AB, 0 H, 2 Strikeouts.  Not a good day for Cespedes at the plate, who is now hitting .188 after going O-fer today.

Worth Mentioning:

• Travis Schlichting allowed 2 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 1 BB and 1 strikeout over 3 innings of work.
• Top prospect Sonny Gray threw 2.1 innings today, he allowed 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 2 BB.
• Two errors in today’s game, a Spring first for Sonny Gray and a first for Adam Rosales.

» Continue reading “A’s Play Two; Win One and Lose One”

(RHP) Tyson Ross will take the mound today at Phoenix Muni against the Dodgers.

Today’s lineup: Coco Crisp CF, Eric Sogard 3B, Kurt Suzuki C, Manny Ramirez DH, Brandon Allen 1B, Cliff Pennington SS, Michael Taylor RF, Brandon Moss LF and Wes Timmons 2B.

Today’s game can be heard on MLB.com.

In case you missed it: Two of the A’s starting pitchers from last season made their debuts for their new teams yesterday:

Gio Gonzalez pitched 3 impressive innings for the Washington Nationals, he allowed 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 BB and 2 strikeouts.

Guillermo Moscoso pitched 2 innings for the Colorado Rockies, he allowed 5 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 2 BB and 1 strikeout.

For those of you who are interested, Trevor Cahill will make his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks today and the game can be seen on MLB Network at 12:00 PST.

The A’s will play their first Spring Training game today against the Mariners.

As expected the A’s will start RHP Graham Godfrey and he will be followed by LHP Tom Milone.

Today’s line up is expected to be similar to the one on opening day in Japan: Jemile Weeks 2B, Cliff Pennington SS, Coco Crisp CF, Manny Ramirez DH, Seth Smith LF, Josh Reddick RF, Kurt Suzuki C, Brandon Allen 1B and Josh Donaldson 3B.

Obviously Manny Ramirez will not be DH’ing on opening day and I expect Yoenis Cespedes to be some where in the lineup on March 28th as well.

There were a few things worth mentioning from yesterday’s intrasquad game:

• 2011 first round pick, Sonny Gray (RHP), pitched 1 shut out inning while allowing 1 hit and striking out 1 (Chris Carter)
• Ryan Cook (RHP), who was aquired in the Trevor Cahill trade, had 1 clean inning of work.   Cook is one of the relief pitchers who will be vying for a bullpen spot come opening day
• Former top prospect and first baseman turned pitcher, Sean Doolittle (LHP), pitched 1 inning today.  He allowed a triple and 1 unearned run
• Josh Donaldson (3B) had an error in his first Spring Training game at third today, but he also hit a 3-run homer off of Jim Miller (RP)
• Newly acquired Derek Norris (C) also hit a solo home run off Miller

In case you missed it: Fangraphs has ranked Oakland’s broadcasters, Ray Fosse and Glen Kuiper, the 9th best TV broadcasters in baseball (out of 31).

They note that Ray Fosse had an “unanimous support among respondents” while Glen Kuiper had mixed results.