Can someone explain the bru ha ha over Darin Erstad this offseason? Doesn't he really suck? I mean, I guess he can play CF defence, right?

From ESPN.COM January 7, 2002 (a month after the Erstad pullback):

One hand hasn't always known what the other is doing in Anaheim, with much of the confusion caused by the emergence of Paul Pressler as the baseball power at Disney. It was apparently Pressler, not Tony Tavares (who resigned last week as team president), who nixed the Erstad trade.

It would have made sense if the Angels were commited to rebuilding -- the Angels were getting center fielder Chris Singleton, a potential ace in Jon Garland and two minor leaguers, one of whom was reported to be front-line pitching prospect Brian West -- but unbeknownst to almost everyone, Pressler had other plans. He has a free hand to execute them after the recent resignation of Tavares and hopes to increase attendance.

"If we build a competitive team, they will come," Pressler told the Los Angeles Times last week. "We're really focused on that."

Today, Paul Pressler resigned as president of the Gap (owned by the money behind the Oakland A's) after a lousy unprofitable Winter.

I wonder why the Rockies didn't go ahead and extend an offer. I can't see Erstad back in Anaheim. Unless Li'l Sarge is a disaster, Ersty'd never get off the bench.

the Marlins and White Sox are offering him greater playing time

Hah! I knew KW wouldn't be able to resist.

Yay! Some good news today for A's fans! Go Angels, go White Sox, go Marlins! Get your man!

Shooty, if you had to choose between Podsednik and Erstad, who would you choose? I admit it's Hobson's choice.

Shooty, if you had to choose between Podsednik and Erstad, who would you choose? I admit it's Hobson's choice.

My god, can those really be the choices? I'll take Posednik, simply because he might be able to play and won't scream at everybody. If I was Kenny Williams, I'd take a pass on both and go with Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney and see if Arizona will hadn off Jeff Davanon to me. Really, that has to be a better option out there than Erstad. Joe Borchard, at this point, is a better option than Erstad. Can't they send the Fish an Ozzie Guillen Tickle-Me-Ozzie doll to get him back?

Ach, what am I saying? What if KW or Bill Stoneman is reading this. I'd want Erstad! The man can punt a baseball 450 feet on the line! Erstad! ERSTAD!

Hmm, but seriously, now that I think of it, I wonder if the Sox would have any interest in Kotsay. He's not very good, but any port in a storm...

<i>From ESPN.COM January 7, 2002 (a month after the Erstad pullback):

One hand hasn't always known what the other is doing in Anaheim, with much of the confusion caused by the emergence of Paul Pressler as the baseball power at Disney. It was apparently Pressler, not Tony Tavares (who resigned last week as team president), who nixed the Erstad trade.

It would have made sense if the Angels were commited to rebuilding -- the Angels were getting center fielder Chris Singleton, a potential ace in Jon Garland and two minor leaguers, one of whom was reported to be front-line pitching prospect Brian West -- but unbeknownst to almost everyone, Pressler had other plans. He has a free hand to execute them after the recent resignation of Tavares and hopes to increase attendance.

"If we build a competitive team, they will come," Pressler told the Los Angeles Times last week. "We're really focused on that."



Today, Paul Pressler resigned as president of the Gap (owned by the money behind the Oakland A's) after a lousy unprofitable Winter.</pre>

Paul Pressler was something of a disaster when he was in charge at Disneyland, so his failure with The Gap is no kind of surprise.

Awesome HTML tags there, Waterloo.

My god, can those really be the choices?

So it would appear.

I'm not thrilled by it, but then it's not my money. If the Sox have a <100 OPS+ LF who can at least throw some leather compared to a purely hypothetical 120 OPS+ LF who can't field a lick yet signs for something in the neighborhood of 6/100, that's a market inefficiency exploited to the benefit of being able to afford to spend more wisely in some other places.

That's what I suppose to be the thinking, anyway. We'll never know, KW says his thinking is a trade secret.

That's what I suppose to be the thinking, anyway. We'll never know, KW says his thinking is a trade secret.

Awww, he's just saving it for the book. I still don't understand why he couldn't get a pitching prospect AND a left fielder for Freddie. Does Gavin Floyd really have a future? Couldn't they have snagged Luke Scott and Buchholz from the Astros for him? Shoot, depending on what you think of Jennings, that may have been a better deal for both teams. Don't get me wrong, I think KW is solid, but the GM's are puzzling me this off season. Even my lord and master Billy Beane has me scratching my head.

Even my lord and master Billy Beane has me scratching my head.

Psst! It's all part of his plan to get Bonds on the cheap.

Psst! It's all part of his plan to get Bonds on the cheap.

Conspiracy is the new market ineffiency? That would be cool.

This used to be an Erstad thread, didn't it? Sorry about that Erstad fans.

A's trade Saarloos to the Reds for David Shafer (25 year old RH reliever who hasn't picthed above AA. Nice numbers, though...). That's one way to solve the roster crunch. Nice pickup for the Reds, who could certainly use a GB pitcher.

A's trade Saarloos to the Reds for David Shafer (25 year old RH reliever who hasn't picthed above AA. Nice numbers, though...). That's one way to solve the roster crunch. Nice pickup for the Reds, who could certainly use a GB pitcher.

That's a celery dump! Jason Windsor, welcome to the big leagues!

So who is taking Saarloos spt in the rotation?


Haren, Loaiza, Blanton, Harden, ???

So who is taking Saarloos spt in the rotation?

One of the following: Gaudin, Kennedy or Windsor.

Assuming Witasick and Embree are guaranteed spots with their guaranteed salaries, I think the staff will start the year with:

SP: Harden, Haren, Loaiza, Blanton, Kennedy
RP: Street, Duchscherer, Calero, Witasick, Embree, Gaudin, Halsey

I think Halsey has an option left, so they may take Marshall instead. Windsor might win the job out of spring training, which would mean Kennedy to the bullpen and Halsey to AAA.

The hero of Operation Dumbo Drop.

RP: Street, Duchscherer, Calero, Witasick, Embree, Gaudin, Halsey

Do we still have Witasick? Man, that's a gift that keeps on giving. Hopefully he's the PTBNL going to the Reds.

That's a lot of innings to expect a reliever to pick up. Saarloos will be a solid addition; GABP cries out for a sinkerballer. At first look, Reds win this trade bigtime.

PECOTA sez: 4.50 EqERA from Shafer, 5.07 from Saarloos (with some starts).

That's a lot of innings to expect a reliever to pick up. Saarloos will be a solid addition; GABP cries out for a sinkerballer. At first look, Reds win this trade bigtime.

Talentwise, absolutely. But with Windsor/Gaudin, the A's save a million bucks and don't really lose production. Saarloos has zero margin for error, and it's probably best for the A's to cut bait now that Captain Kirk is a millionaire. He was nice to have on the team but not overpaying guys like Saarloos is what efficiency is all about. Good luck to him in the Cincy, tho! He was fun to root for and I hope he helps the Reds out.

Chicago sports radio is apparently reporting that Erstad to the White Sox is a done deal, pending a physical.

Meh.

And Podsednik is going to have groin surgery. <insert Lisa Dergen joke>

So Erstad is our opening day LFer. Awesome.

How much do you want to be that Chicago has him hit leadoff? Ughh, well the defense in LF will be considerably better.

be = bet

MLB.com confirms.

One-year deal with an option for 2008.

I've got to think that Erstad would be a fourth outfielder, splitting time with Ozuna and maybe Sweeney in LF until Podsednik comes back.

So Erstad is our opening day LFer. Awesome.

With Anderson in CF? If Dye reverts to his career averages that's a pretty horrible OF offensively. (although potentially great defensively)

What do recent defensive metrics say about Erstad's OF defense? Is it still well above average?

And Podsednik is going to have groin surgery.

Wait, what? Again? Now, in this late part of the offseason? After the Sox resigned him?

The hell? He's not good, but I was counting on him being healthy.

Is it still well above average?

For the 10 games that he'll be healthy, maybe.

What do recent defensive metrics say about Erstad's OF defense?

They say he's played 27 games in the OF over the last 3 years.