A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru November

Well, another month of the offseason has come and gone (thankfully) and the Athletics still do not have a starting shortstop to plug into the lineup.  With the Winter meetings coming up this week (12/3 – 12/6), we’ll hopefully have a resolution to this issue soon. 

November was a pretty quiet month for the club, announcing a few minor deals and seeing one major component to the 2012 club sign with another team.  (Note that my October summary went up a week into November and I covered the Bartolo Colon signing from 11/3 there.)

On 11/16 the A’s completed a trade with the Padres sending P Tyson Ross and minor leaguer AJ Kirby-Jones for P Andrew Werner and IF Andy Parrino.  Werner is a lefthander that will come in from the bullpen while Parrino could be a utility infielder that helps plug holes and gives others a day off here and there, similar to the role Adam Rosales has played most recently for the club. 

I’m a little surprised that Ross was dealt, but not necessarily disappointed.  He has been given several opportunities to fill different roles on the A’s pitching staff and it never really all came together for him.  I thought that the club would give him one more season in a defined role (from the bullpen, where he belonged in my opinion) to see if he would succeed.  Alas, we don’t have to give this anymore thought. 

Several days later (11/20), the A’s decided to protect the following players from their minor league system: RHP Arnold Leon, IF/OF (what is he this week?) Grant Green, OF Shane Peterson, and RHP Michael Ynoa.  At the same time, the team designated Jim Miller and Brandon Hicks for assignment.  There’s some real good banter on this over in a Fanpost on Athletics Nation if you want to go check it out.  Similar to several people’s thoughts over there, I’m pretty surprised that Jim Miller was designated and Jesse Chavez was not.  I didn’t catch a single appearance from Chavez that remotely warranted him being on the club next year.  Did I miss something?

Brandon Hicks’ tenure with the A’s came to an official end on 11/26 when the A’s traded him to the NY Mets for the infamous cash considerations.  Hicks had a relatively poor showing in 2012, hitting just .172 with three home runs in 22 games.  One of those home runs was a walk off against the Rangers, but I think it is safe to say the A’s will make it through next season without him. 

Two days later, on 11/28, the A’s announced that they had come to terms with RP Pat Neshek.  Neshek came over from the Orioles in August and played an important role on the team towards the end of the ’12 season, including several strong outings as the A’s caught up to and passed the Rangers to win the division.  You likely also remember that in the playoffs, the Neshek family lost their newborn child, only to see Pat come back and pitch an inning of relief days later.  I’m glad to see Neshek back in the fold given his performance this past season, but also because of his unique pitching delivery to mix things up coming out of the bullpen. 

Saving the biggest news for last in the November summary, as Jonny Gomes reached an agreement on a two year contract with the Boston Red Sox.  The deal with Boston is reportedly worth $10 million.  I would have loved to have Gomes back in the A’s clubhouse in 2013, particularly over a few of the spare parts remaining on the roster.  However, this price tag is way too high for Oakland to be paying.  That isn’t to say Jonny doesn’t deserve the deal by any stretch, it just isn’t a number that the A’s can commit to a player like Gomes, particularly when the outfield is already overcrowded.  Teams need a player in the clubhouse like Jonny and it is disappointing to see him go.  However, knowing that it was beyond reason to meet a contract like the one he signed, all you can do is tip your cap and say “good luck”. 

UPDATE: 12/1/12

Further proof that I should have just waited until the actual end of the month and not worrying about posting the article on the weekend, there were a few contracts tendered to members of the A's roster, specifically Daric Barton and Adam Rosales.  There has yet to be an announcement on Brandon Moss, Seth Smith, or Jerry Blevins.

Regarding Barton, the only reason I am OK with this deal is because it is a non-guaranteed deal.  I can't imagine Daric is on this club in 2013, but why lose him for nothing.  Hopefully, the A's can find a partner in a bigger trade and Barton will be included.

Rosales is a nice player to have on your bench and spell guys here and there.  Given the earlier trade for Parrino, I wouldn't be surprised or hurt if Rosales also isn't on the club in 2013.

The players that we've yet to hear anything on are all more concerning and bigger names for the 2013 club.  Blevins became an important part of the bullpen, while Moss and Smith both made positive contributions over the course of the season and during the stretch run.  Hopefully all three are resolved already and the club is just late in the announcement or working out some final details with each.

Tigers Series Wrap-up and Yankees Preview

Earlier today the A’s saved face and avoided the sweep against the Tigers, putting up late insurance runs to seal the deal as the team gets ready to head to NY for a big three game series against the Yankees. 

The first two games against the Tigers were an unmitigated disaster and that may be understating it.  Game 1 was an embarrassment with the A’s losing 12-2.  The only time it felt even remotely good was in the top of the 1^st when the A’s had a 1-0 lead.  That lead was quickly given up in the bottom half of the inning and the deficit grew in just about every inning thereafter, with the Tigers scoring in six of the eight innings they came to the plate.  Despite the score being closer, game 2 was actually worse.  The A’s have lost Brett Anderson to an oblique injury and Melvin is saying he may or may not be available for the postseason.  So that’s awesome. 

In the 3rd inning of yesterday’s game, Anderson looked awful fielding a bunt and then fell to the ground on a subsequent pitch.  He exited stage left immediately thereafter and the hopes of beating Verlander quickly fell apart.  To be honest, yesterday’s lineup card against Verlander was a bit more than puzzling and looked like we were throwing in the towel early and waiting for today’s game.  Coco remains out with conjunctivitis (pink eye) and Weeks still couldn’t find his way into the lineup.  To make matters worse, Barton returned to the starting lineup in place of Carter because Melvin wanted left handed batters in the lineup.  Hopefully, that is the last time we see that experiment, even though Barton did have a nice game at the plate. 

After today’s victory, there was a little rookie hazing in the locker room apparently:

Casey Pratt ‏@CaseyPrattCSN

The #Athletics rookies are wearing green collegiate wrestler uniforms complete with ear guards. Lookin like Rick Steiner.

Thankfully, the pictures online have been limited.  The A’s are off to NY to play the Yankees and here are the pitching matchups:

Friday, 7pm (US EST) – Parker (11-8) vs. Sabathia (13-6)

Saturday, 1pm – Blackley (5-3) vs. Nova (12-7)

Sunday, 1pm – Griffin (6-1) vs. Kuroda (14-10)

Hopefully, the A’s can take two out of three here in NY.  The teams have had two series thus far this season, with the A’s suffering a three game sweep at home in late May, but returned the favor in July by sweeping the Yankees in a four game series in Oakland.  If the A’s can pull off two victories, they’ll own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Yankees.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that the A’s will do this, with victories tomorrow from Parker and Sunday from Griffin.  It will be interesting to see how Griffin responds coming off of his first loss of the season.  If this picture means anything, I think we are OK.

Tomorrow’s game will include a game day diary with the distinct pleasure of having to listen to the Yankees announcers for 3-4 hours.  If you don’t already, you’ll completely understand after reading the diary. 

Below you’ll see the up to the minute standings, before tonight’s games take place.  The A’s are currently tied with Baltimore for the top wild card spot and 3.5 games behind Texas for the division. 

Let’s go Oakland!

Game Day Diary – Orioles @ Athletics, 9/14/12

Pregame: Friday night and complete exhaustion equals a game day diary in an effort to stay up through the conclusion of tonight’s big game against the O’s.  I doubt anyone reading this is living in a cave, so you know that these are the biggest surprise success stories in MLB this season.  The O’s come in a half game behind the A’s record wise and to state the obvious, this is another huge series for this franchise.  Tonight’s matchup pits Tommy Milone against Joe Saunders.  To be honest, I have way too much confidence in the A’s winning tonight. 

Again, we’ll be keeping an eye on the out of town scoreboard.  At around 9:45, the Angels and Rangers both have 1 run leads about half way through each game.  In the AL East, the Yankees are down 5-2 against the Rays and I don’t have any feeling one way or the other on who to root for in that series.  Ultimately, I would prefer to play Baltimore in the play in game vs. either NY or TB.  There’s way too much baseball left to start thinking about this. 

Finally, two quick updates on the A’s injuries mentioned last weekend.  The A’s twitter feed announced that Brandon Inge had successful surgery on his right shoulder and there isn’t a timetable for his return, which is obviously not this season.  Second, from Mrs. McCarthy, the McCarthy’s are at the stadium tonight!  A little extra inspiration never hurt anyone, right? 

10:01pm US EST – We’re live for Glen Kuiper’s opening montage!  Kuiper and Hatteberg sitting with the crowd for tonight’s game.  Fosse is still in the radio booth and will be there until Tuesday?  Come on!  We want Fosse!  Nothing against Hatteberg, he’s been good, it is just … just … Fosse!  Who doesn’t want this …

10:09 – The Orioles starting lineup has just as strong of an average as the A’s.  That’s not a compliment and they don’t play in this albatross of a stadium.  What a bizarre year of baseball. 

10:12 – After two quick outs, Adam Jones breaks up Milone’s no hitter with a double to the corner. 

10:15 – Josh Donaldson with a nice play at third to end the inning without any damage.  At the same time, scoreboard alert – The Royals put up a few runs on the Angels and take the lead in the bottom of the 6^th!

10:18 – An early “Bernie Lean” with Coco leading off the game for the A’s!

10:21 – A’s go down pretty quickly and in order and we’re scoreless after one. 

10:27 – Milone gets through the second without any noise at all.  A quick game would be nice here. 

10:31 – Cespedes is back in the lineup but gets called out on strikes.  If the prior pitch wasn’t a strike, I have no idea how that one was.  See: make up call. 

10:32 – Chris Carter is back in the lineup and flies out on the first pitch.  It’s good to see Carter back in the lineup though. 

10:33 – Donaldson breaks up the no hitter with a single.

10:34 – Derek Norris flies out to end the inning though and we’re scoreless through two. 

10:40 – Teams are now openly tagging up from first base against Coco’s arm.  Ugh

10:46 – Hardy hits a ball to Donaldson that ricochets off of him and to Drew.  However, the play at first isn’t in time and the Orioles are able to take the lead, 1-0 on the error. 

10:47 – The inning ends there with another fly ball to Coco.  Scoreboard watching – KC is up 7-5 on the Angels, while Texas still leads Seattle 2-1. 

10:53 – Again, CSN must do more to show the outfield bleachers when Coco is coming up to the plate.  As I finish that complaint, Coco lines out to end the inning.  1-0 O’s through 3 innings. 

10:59 – After a walk, Carter makes a nice over the shoulder catch for the first out. 

11:00 – Donaldson makes a potential low-ranking web gem (does ESPN still do that, I feel like I haven’t watched ESPN in seven years) to start the inning ending double play.  Nice play!

11:06 – After Gomes leads off the inning with a single, Glen sends it to the studio.  Is it just me or does MLB.TV never show this? 

11:07 – After a terrible Reddick at bat, Cespedes hits a HR to left field!!  Yes!!  2-1 Oakland

11:08 – Carter walks on four pitches.  Let’s go Oakland!

11:14 – After Donaldson flies out and Carter doesn’t tag up on it, Norris gets an infield hit so we have 1^st and 3^rd with 2 outs. 

11:17 – Stephen Drew strikes out for the second time tonight, leaving the score 2-1 at the end of the 4^th inning. 

11:20 – Milone gives up the lead quickly, with Davis hitting a leadoff HR to tie the game.  Joy.

11:21 – Machado quickly follows the HR up with a single to RF.  Let’s get someone up in the bullpen. 

11:23 – Thankfully, Milone gets the 6-4-3 double play to clean this inning up a bit. 

11:25 – Milone gets his first strikeout in the game to end the top of the 5^th. 

11:27 – First: Rosales leads off the inning with a double.  Second: The “2” key on my keyboard is misbehaving and I have to pound on it to get it to work.  #Firstworldproblems 

11:30 – Coco gets a single putting runners on 1^st and 3^rd with no one out and the heart of the lineup coming up!  Let’s go Oakland!

11:33 – Gomes comes through with another single, and the A’s retake the lead 3-2!  (Annoying key)

11:35 – Reddick can’t catch a break right now.  He crushes a ball and it’s grabbed by the first baseman.  That had two runs written all over it.  Instead, runner on seconds with two outs and they are intentionally walking Cespedes. 

11:36 – Glen makes a “Cespedes for the restivus” joke and I immediately hate that I didn’t think of that first.  Meanwhile, Carter grounds out to end the inning.  That rally was short lived. 

11:45 – Milone is not doing a good job of producing ‘shut down innings’ after the A’s give him the lead.

11:47 – Donaldson starts another double play and CSN cuts to someone in the crowd banging a bell almost the size of the Liberty Bell.  How and why did he bring that into the stadium?

11:54 – Scoreboard alert: Angels and Rangers both won tonight, making tonight’s game that much more important. 

11:57 – It might be a good time to give Drew a couple days off and put Weeks back at second base.  Drew strikes out for the third time tonight.

12:05 – Melvin comes and pulls the hook on Milone after 6.1 innings of pretty solid pitching.  Nice job Tommy!  Neshek is on his way to the mound. 

12:11 – Another double play turned by the A’s defense and we go to the bottom of the 7^th with the A’s still up 3-2!

12:15 – Pinch hitting with Cliff Pennington isn’t necessarily what I would call a strong game plan.  Rosales is out of tonight’s game and Pennington strikes out.

12:16 – Ask and you shall receive apparently, as CSN shows the right field bleachers as Coco comes to the plate. 

12:26 – Ryan Cook has a nice, quick top of the 8^th with two strikeouts and a real nice bare handed play from Donaldson.  Can you say insurance run?

12:30 – Reddick leads off with a single.  Let’s go Oakland!!

12:34 – Cespedes strikes out and then the catcher hits his arm on Cespedes’ bat and helmet, so Reddick is also out at second base.  Rally … killer.

12:35 – I think Angel Hernandez wants this game to end more than I do.  A very high strike is called on Carter to expedite the inning.

12:36 – Similar comment from directly above, two pitches later.  We’re going to the top of the 9^th with the A’s up one and turning it over to Balfour. 

12:44 – After a quick hit to lead off the inning, Balfour gets Chavez on a strikeout .

12:45 – Reynolds just missed a HR and it sounded like it had a chance on the TV.  2 outs. 

12:46 – Crowd has risen to its feet (good crowd tonight!). 

12:47 – I love when Buck Showalter does dumb things!  The O’s try to steal second base and Norris throws the runner out to end the game!  Yes!!

The player of the game is tonight’s starting pitcher, Tommy Milone!  Let’s go Oakland!!