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KTE Oakland

Frayed Knot Jul 21 2017 07:43 AM

I used to know most of the Oakland players and at least understood what it was Billy Beane was trying to do even if he was usually many dollars short of being able to pull it off. But in recent years I've lost track of both of those. When BB started prematurely dealing away the likes of Josh Donaldson and Addison Russel for ... well, not much really, it all seemed to go off the rails. Now? Well they're last in the AL West -- 20 Games behind Houston -- even though no one is technically out of the WC race over there. They're 4th worst in the AL at scoring runs and 3rd worst at preventing them and that was before they dealt away their two best relievers. They'll hit some HRs but are DFL in BA and 2nd from the bottom in OBA Players? Yeah, they seem to have some. C - They release local favorite Steven Vogt a month ago. Now it's two guys named Phegley and Maxwell. Yeah, I dunno either. 1B - Yonder Alonso. He was one of the myriad of 1st baseman drafted back in the 1st round in 2008 (7 of the first 23 picks!). The 8th pick overall (10 slots ahead of Ike Davis) he never topped double digits in HRs until the 21 he has this season now that he's just on the verge of FA-gency. 2B - Jed Lowrie. Another former 1st round pick of someone else (Boston 2005) who's muddled along with four orgs and only occasional success. SS - Marcus Semien. I hope he can field because he can't hit 3B - Oakland's own 2015 1st round pick Matt Chapman. Made his ML debut in June. LF - Chris Davis. He hits HRs: 116 over the last 3-1/2 seasons CF - Another guy who just made his ML debut - Jaycob Brugman - seems to be getting the starts these days. RF - Matt Joyce, the ex-Tiger, Ray, Angel, Pirate Friday 7:10 -- Matz vs Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is a former 1st round pick of the Cubs acquired at last year's trade deadline. This will be his 4th ML start Saturday 7:10 -- Wheeler vs Sean Manaea Manaea was KC's 1st round pick in 2013. He qualifies as the A's version of an ace. 8-5; 3.68 Sunday 1:10 -- Montero vs Daniel Gossett 2nd round pick in 2014 out of Clemson, this will be his 8th ML start If anyone else has any actual knowledge on this team to contribute, feel free to chime in.

MFS62 Jul 21 2017 08:14 AM Re: KTE Oakland

Their uniforms are green and gold. Alonso was one of the rumored targets for the MFYs at the trade deadline. Annnnnnnddd .. that's all I got. Later

Frayed Knot Jul 21 2017 10:40 AM Re: KTE Oakland

Frayed Knot wrote: 1B - Yonder Alonso. He was one of the myriad of 1st baseman drafted back in the 1st round in 2008 (7 of the first 23 picks!). The 8th pick overall (10 slots ahead of Ike Davis) he never topped double digits in HRs until the 21 he has this season now that he's just on the verge of FA-gency. 7th pick actually now that I look more closely. I remember how unusual that draft was due to all the 1st basemen taken. Taking a look at that year: 2nd: Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh -- he was actually taken as a 3rd baseman but was so bad there he moved to 1st where he was so bad he moved to DH. Then he stopped hitting. 5.9 career WAR. Currently in AAA in the Baltimore system. No ML time at all this year. 3rd: Eric Hosmer, KCR -- he was the only HS 1st baseman of the bunch and, IIRC, was considered the highest ceiling of the group. 12.5 career WAR. Stayed with one team the entire time, FA at the end of this year. 7th: Yonder Alonso, Reds -- two partial years with the Reds, then three with SD, now his second in Oakland. 7.5 WAR, nearly half of that from the 2015 and 2017 seasons 11th: Justin Smoak, Rangers -- dealt to Seattle in the middle of his rookie year. Claimed off waivers by Toronto in 2015 then signed to a two year deal this past off-season. Was basically a part-time bust until catching fire this season. 4.4 career WAR but 2.9 of it in just this half-season. 13th: Brett Wallace, Cardinals -- scouts liked his bat but weren't sure where he'd play. Turns out his bat wasn't good either. -0.6 WAR with Houston and SD. Not playing anywhere this year. 17th: David Cooper, Blue Jays -- 211 ML ABs in pieces of 2011 & 2012 but that was it. Kicked around the minors thru 2015 0.1 WAR 18th: Ike Davis, Mets -- you might remember this guy. 4.9 WAR, 3.3 of it as a rookie. Currently at AAA in the LAD system 23rd: Allan Dykstra, Padres -- 31 ABs for the 2015 Rays was his entire ML career. Had a good season in 2014 with Vegas but never got the call to Queens. -0.5 WAR, out of baseball since 2015 You usually don't see 1st sackers get drafted so high because hitting, and especially power hitting, is the toughest thing to project and if 1st basemen don't hit there generally aren't a lot of secondary skills to fall back on. And I think the results from this group might serve as a reminder to clubs not to do it again, although it certainly didn't stop Sandy from drafting Dom Smith.

Edgy MD Jul 21 2017 08:34 PM Re: KTE Oakland

Frayed Knot wrote: SS - Marcus Semien. I hope he can field because he can't hit. Four hits today, though.