MLB: Gammons: A’s faced with obstacles

When the chair hit the rappelling wall it didn’t bang and clang, it exploded!

Yet, whether it’s Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA or the numerology used by different teams, the A’s are considered serious contenders in the AL West. These prognostications for the upcoming season show the A’s win totals ranging anywhere from 80-82 and six games out of the AL West, to one team’s formula, which has them winning 89 games, more than any AL team not based in New York, Boston or St. Petersburg.

...OK, the offense didn’t work, finishing ninth in the AL in runs, last in homers and 12th in OPS. But between the ninth, first and second holes, manager Bob Geren can play around with Crisp, Ryan Sweeney and last year’s revelation, Rajai Davis. Kurt Suzuki can hit second or third, Kevin Kouzmanoff, DH Eric Chavez, Jack Cust and Daric Barton can all bat somewhere in the middle. The pitching, theoretically, will cushion the pressure as they bring their young position players up from Sacramento during the season. Some of the prospects who could see time in Oakland this season are outfielder Michael Taylor (acquired from Philadelphia through Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade this offseason), first baseman Chris Carter (92 home runs over his last three Minor League seasons), infielder Adrian Cardenas, first baseman-outfielder Sean Doolittle and second baseman Jemile Weeks, a former first-round Draft pick.

“By the late part of the season, we should have a pretty good young team,” Beane said. “We just have to have some patience.”

MLB: Longtime voice Lurie heads across Bay to Giants

Longtime A’s radio host and baseball aficionado Marty Lurie confirmed Thursday that he’s taking his wildly popular pregame show to the other side of the bridge, where he will be heard on KNBR’s pre- and postgame Giants programming.

For 12 years, most recently on KTRB, Lurie presented fans with “Right Off The Bat”—a unique show that celebrates the game’s history through interviews with old-timers, national writers, club executives, scouts and the like.

A longtime lawyer with an even longer love for baseball, Lurie has bought and sold his own time slots each year. This offseason, though, he never quite landed on the same page as KTRB, which recently agreed to a long-term contract to broadcast A’s games through 2019.

“Each year I would negotiate to make sure I had a spot for the next season,” Lurie said Thursday morning. “Toward the end of September, I started contacting KTRB but couldn’t get answers to any of my e-mails or phone calls as to what the plans were for this next season. It went into late November when I found out that they were looking into different programming.”

Thanks to Iggy.

Coleman: Should the Astros make a move for Willy Taveras? A Response

and my little dog, Fallas…

As I was contemplating what to write today’s article on, I stumbled across this blog post by the Chronicle’s new Astros beat writer Bernardo Fallas. It was entitled ‘Should the Astros make a move for Willy Taveras?’ I chuckled to myself, thinking this was a tongue-in-cheek headline. After all, the Astros already have a centerfielder that does everything Taveras does and more, a full bench with bats more potent than his and prospects to take their place for cheaper if needed.

Why on earth would the Astros want Taveras?

Well, friends, Fallas was being serious. He laid out his argument for Taveras, saying he owns a home here and works out with his former teammates. While the idea was ridiculous to me on the surface, I gave Fallas the benefit of the doubt. That is, until I came to this:

Also, if healthy, he can put up decent numbers - his career high for stolen bases is 68 in 2008. He is a career .276 batter with a .321 OBP.

‘Decent numbers’ revolve around a solid batting average and stolen bases, apparently. I mean, he wasn’t referring to a .320 OBP as decent, right? When the league average was .333, anything below that has to be considered something other than decent, right? But, maybe I’m being to harsh on him. After all, Mr. Fallas just moved over from the soccer beat. He may just not have had the time to read all the wonderful articles about sabermetric thinking yet. Heck, I’m sure he hasn’t even had time to read about Moneyball or how Branch Rickey used to emphasize OBP back with the Dodgers.

CSN Bay Area/Urban: Buck Baffled by A’s Mixed Messages

As well he should be:

Because anyone who’s followed the team knows only this about the strange situation: The A’s, who buried Buck like an old bone shortly after he asked to rest a tweaked oblique in Texas last May, have continued to pile dirt on him all winter.

He is the invisible outfielder.

He’s less than an afterthought to the A’s, who have sent message after unflattering message to Buck over the past eight months.

The messages, delivered via demotions, challenges to his work ethic and manhood, silent treatments and, most recently, the signings of Coco Crisp and Gabe Gross and the rumors linking the A’s to Johnny Damon, have Buck’s head spinning—if not on the verge of exploding.

It seems to me that there’s still a lot of “spit on it and get back in there” when it comes to injuries and that there needs to be more of a middle ground taken when a player reports that he’s hurting.

ESPN/Olney: Reds acquire Miles in trade with A’s

The Cincinnati Reds acquired infielder Aaron Miles in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, swapping young infielder Adam Rosales and outfielder Willy Taveras.

The $1.3 million the Reds save with this deal helps offset some of the money they just committed in signing shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

For Oakland, a primary motivation could be the addition of a useful utilityman who will be inexpensive.

I suppose the A’s had to take Taveras to get Rosales. Although 26 is hardly *young*.

S.I.: Marchman: Hot Stove Report: Garland is a better signing than Sheets

Garland pounds Billy, boy.

Over his last four seasons (2004-08), Sheets has averaged about 120 innings with a 3.45 ERA. If he does that for the A’s, he’ll be worth about what he’s paid. If he does more than that, he’ll be paid more. For him to create any real extra value he’ll have to pitch like a true ace, and there’s little reason to think he’s physically capable of doing so. It’s not a bad signing, just an uninspired one. As a broke team in a tough division, the A’s need to do better than that.

Down in San Diego, the Padres made a far sharper signing this week. Unlike Sheets, Jon Garland will never start an All Star Game or have a season where he strikes out 10 men for every one he walks. He’s pitched at least 190 innings eight years in a row, though, and run up a below-average ERA in just one of them. He’s also just 30 and signed for about half what Sheets is guaranteed. As a nearly mortal lock to be worth about twice his $5.3 million salary, Garland is a steal. Given how durable he is and that Petco Park is the most extreme pitcher’s park in the majors, he may even have more trade value than Sheets this summer.

Beane made his reputation exploiting market inefficiencies, an unfortunate bit of jargon that just means he had an eye for players who were worth more than they cost. He used statistics to find them, something you can’t really do anymore. Aside from the real paste eaters, every team understands that it’s better to have hitters who get on base than those who don’t, and that there is some benefit to be had from evaluating defense with math.

There are still inefficiencies out there, though, and taken together these two signings hint at a big one, the hardwired human desire to hit a jackpot. Teams are more willing than they should be to bet a lot on the small chance that a player will be really great, and curiously uninterested in paying for a sure thing. That the A’s are on the wrong side of this might seem a bit odd given their reputation, but then that always had less to do with how sharp they were than how dull some of their rivals were.

Keith Law: Top 100 prospects

NO.  PLAYER
1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS
3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE
4 Buster Posey, C, SFO
5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX
8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA
9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY
11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC
13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI
15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN
17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS
19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN
20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR
21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL
23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM
24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK
25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL

Scouting reports for the top 25 should be free, I think.

Cubs sign Nady, Sheets to A’s

*throws chair, tears rotator cuff*

The Chicago Cubs have signed Xavier Nady to a one-year contract, SI.com has learned, while the Oakland A’s have signed Ben Sheets…

Sheets’ contract is for about $8 million, which is what he had been seeking.

Murray Chass On Baseball: TWINS SPEND AND WIN

With all the “charisma and poise to seek out a bigger stage”...yet Murray non-blogs on.

The Twins allocated $72 million, $65 million and $73 million for their payrolls the past three years, and they finished in first place last year and tied for first the year before.

“I think every situation is different,” Bill Smith, the Twins’ general manager, said. “We have been in a very good cycle for most of this decade. Our payroll increases have been primarily to retain our own players. In our ideal world that’s how we would operate. We would retain our own players.”

...The two players they didn’t sign were Johan Santana, whom they traded to the Mets, and Torii Hunter, who went to the Angels as a free agent. The Santana trade came in the same period the Twins were signing the other three players. Hunter (5-$90) signed with the Angels a few months earlier.

“It would have been difficult to sign Johan,” Smith said, “given the contract he signed with the Mets (6-$137.5 million). I have the highest respect in the world for Johan Santana, but he and Hunter were two players who had the charisma and poise to seek out a bigger stage. Torii wound up in southern California and Johan in New York. I think they were ready for the bigger stage. It’s not for everybody, but those two players were prepared for that. Looking back, if we had kept Santana another year, I don’t know what would have happened. We wound up in a tie with the White Sox without those two players.”

Morosi:  A’s Prospect Leaving Baseball for Priesthood

Outfielder Grant Desme, one of the Oakland A’s top prospects, has decided to retire from baseball in order to pursue the priesthood, multiple sources told FOXSports.com.

An A’s official confirmed Desme’s decision this morning, saying the 23-year-old is “serious” about the big career change.

EV Tribune: Mesa unveils plan to keep Cubs; vote Monday

Mesa’s plan was developed after months of talks with the team to prevent the Cactus League’s most popular team from accepting a bid from investors near Naples, Fla.

The $84 million plan was drafted on requests that the Cubs had to develop a Wrigleyville-themed complex, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. The city would own the stadium and training facilities. Mesa maintains the current training facilities, but Brady said the team wanted to take that expense and gain advertising rights at the new complex.

Rehabbing Sheets works out for scouts

Is Ben in the best shape of his life?

Sheets, who had surgery on the flexor tendon in his right elbow last February, went 86-83 with a 3.72 ERA in his first eight seasons in the Major Leagues, notching double-digit wins seven times and finishing with an ERA under 4.00 in each of his past five seasons. In ‘08, he went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 31 starts for the Brewers.

According to a report on AOL Fanhouse, Sheets first threw 20 fastballs in the workout, topping out at 91 mph. He then threw another 20 pitches, half of them curveballs. In his third session, Sheets’ fastball topped out at 88 mph and the pitcher looked “gassed,” the report said. Sheets is believed to be seeking a two-year deal.

ESPN: Neyer: The plight of the small-market franchises

I’m still one of Billy Beane’s biggest fans. Assuming I’m right about him, there’s still plenty of room for a team with a low payroll team to win 85 or 90 games. It’s not easy. But it can be done. And Beane knows this better than I. He’s frustrated, and he wants a new home for his team. You can’t blame him. But the Twins and the Rays and the Rockies have proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don’t need to spend $100 to field a good baseball team.

All that said, there is another solution to some of the “problems” noted here: relocation.

Ah, but that’s not really an option, is it? The Rays are, indeed, stuck. There’s little evidence that the Marlins will ever draw well in Miami, but they’re building a new ballpark that will lock them in place for decades. The Royals just convinced the locals to invest $200 million in their old stadium.

I don’t mean to suggest that every team in a small (or underperforming) market should move. There aren’t enough good markets to house all of them. And the Brewers have proved that even a team in a tiny market can, at the very least, sell plenty of tickets with the right sort of team. But from the very beginning, it was possible for franchises in bad spots to find better spots. Today, that’s practically impossible. Which is probably the real source of Billy Beane’s frustration. He thinks he knows how to fix things. But they won’t let him.

Thanks to Refugio.

A’S / Chavez doesn’t mind utility role

With Chavez’s recent track record, I doubt this will be a problem.

Kevin Kouzmanoff’s arrival in Oakland means that Eric Chavez, a six-time Gold Glove third baseman, essentially will become a utility player if he is healthy.

“I’ve always been open to playing anywhere,” Chavez said. “I’ve taken a lot of pride in being the best third baseman I can be, but I’ve never felt that third base is what I have to be.”

NYT: Admission Doesn’t Guarantee Entry

The New York Times, whose reporters do not participate in the balloting, surveyed 35 Hall of Fame voters…

Twenty-six respondents said they had never voted for McGwire and did not expect to change their minds, although many reserved that right. Nine, or 26 percent, said they had voted for him, and all but Stone said they probably would continue to do so. Before McGwire’s confession, one who had left him off the ballot eventually voted for him.

ESPN: Neyer: We’ll miss you, Dallas McPherson

Who shot R.N....out of a cannon?

McPherson’s 29 and he spent 2009 playing in Japan. He’s also got a .280/.360/.635 line in Triple-A. Oh, one more thing: McPherson missed all of 2007 and 2009 with back injuries. So you can understand why the A’s weren’t exactly counting on him to play 150 games at third base in 2010.

Still, let’s assume he can actually play, and that he can still hit ... You know what might be close to awesome? A McPherson/Kouzmanoff platoon (with Kouzmanoff coming in for defense when the A’s are ahead after six or seven innings). For that matter, a McPherson/Jake Fox platoon might have been interesting, too (except neither of them would have been suitable for late-innings defense).

That’s all gone now. Thanks to the dozen-man pitching staffs that we all love so much, teams resort to platoons only as a last resort. You’ve got your 12 pitchers, your nine guys in the lineup, and your extra catcher, and now you’ve got room for only three more players. You also need a utility infielder and a fourth outfielder ... and now you’re down to one roster spot.

Which is why you don’t see many platoons at all anymore. I continue to believe that 12-man pitching staffs are foolish, because the manager has to sacrifice offense at one position (at least) while benefiting very little from that last man in the bullpen.

But nobody listens to me. And I doubt if I’ll see much of Dallas McPherson (or Jake Fox) in 2010.

Report: Blue Jays closing in on deal for Aroldis Chapman

Americans once again losing out on Cuban exports due to an antiquated embargo!

El Nuevo Herald is reporting that the Blue Jays are closing in on a deal with Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman in the range of five years and 23 million dollars.

The Spanish-language version of the Miami Herald says that a deal is very close; I tend to stay away from reports from these type of reports, but the Nuevo Herald has not been as inconsistent as others. (Regardless, proceed with caution)

The Athletics are believed to be involved in negotiations, but it is possible the Blue Jays view him as a starter and are guaranteeing him something other teams won’t.

Red Sox all but out of bidding for Cuban left-hander

FanGraphs: Cistulli: Ryan Sweeney: We’re Selling Jeans Here

Shove off Tahnee Atkinson!

My friend Danny and I have harbored the notion over the last year or so that no single baseball player looks more baseball-y than Oakland outfielder Ryan Sweeney. Sweeney is 6-foot-4, muscular in a lean way, and is conspicuously in possession of what the scouting community refers to as “long levers.” And while I’m no expert on the subject, I’m almost positive that he has The Good Face, too. He is, essentially, a jeans model.

...Of course, the dramatic coincidence here (note: it’s not irony — but we’ll save that discussion for another day), is that Sweeney the Jeans Model plays for Billy Beane, the man who more or less trained us to look past tools (which we maybe conflated, mistakenly, with ignoring tools altogether). And physically, Sweeney and Beane are quite similar. Sweeney’s Baseball Reference page lists him at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. Beane? Well, I don’t know from which point in his career it’s taken, but his specs are almost identical: 6-foot-4, 195 pounds.

So what’s the lesson here? The same as always, I guess, just in different words. Use all the information you have. Always try to get better information. Don’t be afraid to change your mind if the information suggests you ought to. As the great sabermetrician Ralph Waldo Emerson says:

Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.

To the max, Ralph Waldo. To the max.

Baseball-Intellect: Oakland Athletics Top-15 Prospects, No’s 1 - 5

1. Chris Carter | 1b/DH | Age – 23 | Grade – B+/A-

2. Michael Taylor | OF | Age – 24 | Grade – B/B+

3. Grant Green | SS | Age – 22 | Grade – B

4. Jemile Weeks | 2b | Age – 23 | Grade – B/B-

5. Grant Desme | OF | Age – 24 | Grade – B-

Cust re-signs with A’s

I just heard from a source close to the negotiations that DH Jack Cust will return to the A’s on a one-year deal worth just over $2.5 million, with incentives that can push the total to close to $3 million.....

The A’s will wind up potentially saving as much as $1 million on Cust after declining to offer him arbitration. His base salary in 2010 will be slightly less than it was last season and he can max out at not much more than that figure. Arbitration might have taken him to $4 million or more.

Sickels: Oakland A’s Top 20 Prospects for 2010

Sickels on the prospects of the People’s Republic:

1) Chris Carter, 1B-OF, Grade A-: I just absolutely love this bat, enough to override the questions about defense and give him an A-. He added pure hitting skills to go with the power.

2) Michael Taylor, OF, Grade B+: Borderline A-. This was a great pickup: he fits into Oakland’s needs more easily than Brett Wallace. More defensive value than Carter, but a year older and doesn’t have quite as much power.

3) Grant Green, SS, Grade B+: Glove is very fine at shortstop, and I’m optimistic about his bat. At worst a steady regular, and could develop into a star.

4) Grant Desme, OF, Grade B: Strikeout rate precludes a higher grade, but he’s always had good tools and put them to use last year.

5) Adrian Cardenas, 2B, Grade B-: I’m not sure why, but there’s just something here holding me back from giving him a straight B. Todd Walker type with better glove?

6) Jemile Weeks, 2B, Grade B-: I don ‘t think we’ve seen him at his best. Between Cardenas and Weeks they have two good options for future second basemen.

7) Tyson Ross, RHP, Grade B-: Reminds me of a young Scott Erickson with hard sinker, let’s see if he can keep his command in gear.

8) Max Stassi, C, Grade B-: Glowing scouting reports from high school are nice, need to see some performance before ranking higher. Baseball people rave about his intangibles.

9) Josh Donaldson, C, Grade B-: Great plate discipline, nails baserunners, still polishing other defensive aspects and power remains largely untapped.

10) Sean Doolittle, OF-1B, Grade B-: Knee injury was badly timed. Needs a fast start to separate himself from the 1B/OF pack in this organization.

Yahoo Sports: Duk: The top 10 playoff disappointments of the 2000s

Next up are the most disappointing playoff teams of the decade, a group that crept close to the promised land before leaving all of their fans to wonder what might have been. We weighed a number of factors before including each member, but please note that this list does not include any World Series teams. It’s our view that an AL or NL title can rarely be viewed as a total downer. (We’re sure, though, that fans of the 2002 Giants, ‘03 Yankees, ‘04 Cardinals and ‘06 Tigers would like to disagree.)

A’s agree to contract with Justin Duchscherer

Nothing can stop the Duke of early signing…

Free-agent pitcher Justin Duchscherer has agreed in principle to a one-year, guaranteed major league contract with the Oakland Athletics, a baseball source told ESPN.com.

The deal could be worth about $5.5 million if Duchscherer attains his incentives, the source said.

Duchscherer, a two-time All-Star, has a career record of 31-24 with the Athletics. He missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing elbow surgery in spring training and then seeking treatment for clinical depression.

The agreement won’t be official until Duchscherer passes a physical exam, which isn’t expected to take place until after Christmas.

Duchscherer will add a veteran presence to an Oakland rotation that includes young arms Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, Vin Mazzaro and Gio Gonzalez. In 2008, Duchscherer posted a 10-8 record with a 2.54 ERA in 22 starts with the Athletics.

Purdy: S.F. Giants must think San Jose is full of clueless rubes

If you’ve ever had shingles, you could get chickenpox now!

The San Francisco Giants must be really afraid. They must also think we’re totally stupid here in San Jose.

We aren’t. And I expect we will prove it over the next year or so, as the issue of whether the A’s can move here is finally resolved.

You see, I have the curious belief that San Jose residents should decide if a major league ballpark for the A’s should be built in downtown San Jose. I’m sure most San Jose citizens agree.

The San Francisco Giants don’t. Which is why the last week has been such a comedy of clumsy, nearly desperate moves on their behalf, including a bizarre lawsuit threat. Also, the team has induced the formation of a bogus San Jose “coalition” to challenge a potential A’s ballpark project.

The Giants evidently are expecting us to be South Bay rubes who can’t figure out what’s happening behind the curtain. Wrong.

Neyer: A’s adding Crisp?

Crisp: The ballad of reading defensive goals?

Coco Crisp is nearing an agreement with the Athletics on a one-year deal in the $5MM range, MLBTR has learned. The deal will include an option for 2011. Crisp had been talking to the Padres as well, and his agent Steve Comte expected a decision before Christmas.

...OK, let’s everyone take a deep breath and remember that teams don’t acquire players; they acquire contracts, and $5 million for one year of Crisp’s services—if he’s healthy, of course—is not an unreasonable contract.

With that out of the way ... I don’t get it. Unless someone is traded, this makes no sense at all for the A’s. Sweeney has to play, because he’s an outstanding outfielder and a decent enough hitter who’s young enough to get better. Rajai Davis isn’t as young, and it’s far from obvious that he’ll ever hit as well again as he did in 2009. But he does seem to be an excellent defensive center fielder. And Scott Hairston is decent enough to play, to say nothing of giant prospect Michael Taylor, just acquired from the Blue Jays.

So, yeah, the A’s are collecting outfielders. At 30, Crisp is the oldest of them. I suppose he could open the season in center field, but only if Billy Beane is able to swap Davis or Hairston for someone who can hit home runs. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Anisin: My Conversation With Billy Beane

As Oscar Zamora-Wilde once threw out there..."Conversation about designer scarves is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

I was really lucky to meet the Money Ball man himself at the A’s premium seat holder’s party, which was held at the bar behind the home plate at the A’s stadium. Not anticipating the horrible traffic, we almost didn’t make it there in time! When we finally got there, Billy Beane (A’s GM), A’s coach Bob Geren and Mike Crowley (A’s President) were taking questions from the audience about the team and baseball in general. Afterwards, I got enough courage to go up to Billy introduce myself and had a friendly conversation.

...Billy Beane on Money Ball & Brad Pitt – I asked Billy if he was happy that the “Money Ball” movie got picked up by another production company. He said that it’s great that the movie is going to be made after all. I then asked him how he felt about someone like Brat Pitt to be playing his character. Billy laughing a little said that it would be much more exciting if he was 25 and single! He also said that Brad Pitt came over to visit his Danville home. Telling me that both his nanny who is a very casual dresser and wife got all made up when he came over. He thought it was very funny that his wife got up at 6am to get ready for Brad’s visit. I then asked if Angelina came with Brad and he said that unfortunately she didn’t. I bet if Angelina came over Billy would have been up at 6am getting ready! Lol

...After our conversation I handed him my Baseball Beauties business card and it got quite a reaction! “I better hide this one from my wife or she’ll think that I’m pulling a Tiger Woods!” Billy said laughing. (he is quite a character, VERY animated, friendly, smiling every chance he gets) “You can give it to your wife, the website is for women” I said in response. Billy was so taken back by my card that he shared it with the GM and Bob Geren and Mike Crowley, and they all giggled about it referring back to Tiger Woods and his many women.

EV Tribune: Mesa puts Cubs batting cages on hold

Mesa is refusing to upgrade a ballpark used by the Chicago Cubs unless the team enters more serious negotiations to keep spring training here.

The city was about to sign off on roughly $684,000 for semi-enclosed batting cages but on Thursday decided to hold off until top Mesa officials meet the Cubs in Chicago on Friday.

The city had expected the Cubs would welcome improvements that the team requested, Mayor Scott Smith said. But he noted that when a Chicago sports columnist asked Cubs manager (sic - he’s team president) Crane Kenney about the batting cages, no comment was given.

“The silence that came out of Chicago and the Cubs was deafening,” Smith said.

Heyman: Big teams still have moves to make

Just for BBC:

The Astros are telling teams Lance Berkman is unavailable. The Red Sox are one team to have inquired.

And for the Met fans:

Of Igarashi, the Japanese reliever who’s about to go to the Mets, one Japanese scout said, “I’ve seen him great but he wasn’t great last year.’’

Done: Phils get Doc; Lee to Mariners

A series of four deals was completed on Wednesday, bringing ace Roy Halladay to the Phillies, with Philadelphia sending prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud to the Blue Jays after trading Cliff Lee to the Mariners for three prospects, right-handers Phillippe Aumont and JC Ramirez and outfielder Tyson Gillies.

Toronto flipped Taylor to Oakland for prospect Brett Wallace.

Finally.

BtBS: Blue Jays Trade Michael Taylor to Athletics for Brett Wallace

Michael Taylor will turn 24 on Saturday. Yesterday, he was part of a package sent to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for starting pitcher Roy Halladay. Hopefully none of his family or friends went out and bought Blue Jays gear for his celebration, because Taylor is no longer with organization. Instead, he will wear the green and gold of Oakland next season as Toronto swapped him out with “third” baseman Brett Wallace.

Turnaround deals like this involving Billy Beane invoke memories of Moneyball scenes from the past with him edging on Omar Minaya to land some fat third baseman named Youkilis before flipping him to Oakland. Either this swap had been discussed before hand or Toronto worked at rapid pace while Halladay went suit-shopping for his introductory press conference.

As mentioned, Taylor is currently 23 and formerly a Stanford attendee who stands around 6’6” and weighs 250 pounds. Baseball America describes him as “A physical specimen”, which is a kind way of saying he sticks out in a crowd of normal folk. The most endearing skill Taylor possesses is his power. In 128 Triple-A plate appearances - small sample, indeed - Taylor’s ISO was .209; in 363 Double-A plate appearances it was .236 and even before then, in High-A it was .230. The man has the ability to crush baseballs. Defensively he has a good arm but, like his offensive game, the finer things need developing.

By comparison, the 6’1”, 245 pound Wallace is small. Not many things human can make Wallace look small, but Taylor is one of them. Wallace’s position is listed at third base, but that seems rather unlikely to be the case. Wallace is supposedly more polished at the plate than Taylor, but I’m not sure how much of that is true. Wallace spent most of last season in Triple-A and had a .203 ISO once joining the Cardinals. Scouts seem to like his plate approach more than Taylor’s, but their walk and strikeout rates suggest Taylor does more of the former and less of the latter.

Thanks to Enaeb.