The WBC Blues?

All I heard today after the A's lost the game in the 9th was that Huston Street was suffering from not attending Spring Training (ST) due to the WBC. I am not Huston Street, I am not his friend, agent, trainer, teammate, or manager. It is not my place to say whether he is or is not exhibiting the symptoms of not being at ST. Is this a blip on the screen, and once he gets some innings under his belt he'll be just fine?

I certainly hope so, but there is no way to know. Isn't it true that once in a while, he is going to blow a save? Could it be that a lead could be blown by anyone at anytime? Of course those things can and will happen, but it just seems so easy to say that he's suffering because he was a part of the WBC. Sure, I'd like to believe that also. So what you're saying is that if he hadn't have participated that today would have happened differently? Maybe you're right, but when he did finally blow a save, what would have been the reasoning then?

That brings me to Esteban Loiaza. Here we have a case of a HISTORICALLY strong starter out of the gates. Why is it then, that we see him struggling here early on for us. Oh, wait, he was a participant in the WBC also. Wasn't he? Of course, but why is it then that Loiaza is on the receiving end of so many fans' rants and raves? Is it because he's being paid so much? Is it because he's a veteran? Is it because he's new and has something to prove to us?

For most A's fans I would say that you fit in at least one of those categories. Look at the superstars in this sport, all of them have an almost ritualistic off season program, and many would tell you that the work they put into the offseason pays off during the season itself. So then why are so many A's fans ripping Loiaza. Clearly something was different this offseason than any offseason he's ever had: The WBC.

So what if he's suffering from the WBC Blues, you still gotta give him a chance. If you don't agree with me, that's ok, but you'd better be ALL OVER Huston Street tonight..... I didn't think so.

The Loiaza plan.

During this offseason I found myself trying to figure out which team was going to offer the most for Barry Zito this time around, and how often would he be facing us during the 2006 season. As events unfolded, Barry never left, and the A's took on players and payroll.

What??!?

There are two things that have yet to unfold that we should keep in mind. One, it is very early in the season, and the A's haven't fallen out of playoff contention. The second point is, we have not reached the trade deadline yet. Billy Beane made it very clear that Barry would start the season in an A's uniform, but will he finish it in that same jersey? That brings us to the signing of Esteban Loiaza.

Beane has defended his rather large contract with Loiaza by saying over the last few seasons Loiaza has been a very good pitcher. He has done well, showing flashes of an ace from time to time, but overall I would say that he is a "good" pitcher. So why spend all of this money on a "good" pitcher? This signing brought me to the following conclusions.

It was widely speculated in the media that if the A's were ever going to resign any of their stars to a long term deal that it would have been Eric Chavez. Here we are a few years later and I'm STILL surprised that former owner Steve Schott pulled the trigger. How many of you were expecting that? Now fast forward to today, if the A's were going to sign any of the "Big Three" which one would it be? When you think about it, the answer isn't that hard. Only one of them has never been injured. Only one of them has won the Cy Young. If you include that he is also the youngest he would be the best candidate.

So why would you sign Esteban Loiaza? With Z making about $8M and Loiaza making about $7M this just doesn't make sense to me. Combined, two of the starting five making roughly $15M. Would you rather have both Z and Esteban for one season, or Z for seasons to come? I don't see how the A's couldn't get Z to sign for less than $15M per year. Basically what I'm saying is that the $7 spent on Loiaza could have went to resigning Z. Why haven't I read or heard anyone else make this point besides me?

Does Billy already know that Lew is going to pay Z? Did Z say that he wanted to see ownership bring some people in before he made his decision? Is Loiaza a verteran presence until Dan Meyer is ready? Will Beane trade both if the A's are out of it come July? Was this a "last run"?

Will Z bring more people to the park? (Whether it be Fremont or Oakland?) How much of this could be a business decision as well as a personnel decision? What would resigning Z do for Wolff's image as a new owner?

So many questions.....

Frank Thomas: Good for the A's?

Mark McGwire played 1B for the A's, and Frank Thomas played 1B for the White Sox. Isn't that how it was? Which among us had the foresight to see a day when the "Big Hurt" would be wearing the green and gold? Not this member of the Oakland Faithful, I'll admit that much. The question that I found asking myself before the season started was very simple: Is this a good signing for the A's? Let's take a look at that question as we look back at this very young season.

Does having Frank Thomas in the line up provide the right handed bat that we were missing?

A: Yes..... but where has it been? In his first at bat with the A's he hit a HR off of the "Big Unit". Since then he has been non existent other than his name on the line up card. He has definately made opposing pitchers aware of his presence, and that may or may not be contributing to Chavvy's faster start this year, but is that enough?


Would Frank Thomas's spot in the line up be better used by someone else?

A: I believe that it is too eary to know the answer to this question. Depth is a great problem to have, but could his at bats be better utilized with Payton/Swisher/Johnson in the line up? I've been asking myself this question ever since the A's signed Thomas. DJ has been on a terrible slump, (so has Thomas) so its not really hurting the A's right now. If DJ steps it up and Thomas continues to sputter, it will be up to Ken Macha to sit the "Big Hurt" down and let him know that he is going to become a bench warmer. With the depth that this club has, it can't afford to waste at bats on someone that isn't producing. With Swish at 1B and DJ at DH, that really opens up some playing time in the OF, especially for upset Athletic Bobby Keilty. At some point, the players are going to have to write the line up, and I hope its with the "Big Hurt" batting 3rd or 4th.



With Frank making so little money, I believe that this was a move to show the league that the A"s were making a SERIOUS run this season. It also had something to do with attracting the fans to the park, where the ownership is running a "dry run" of sorts to see what kind of commitment the team has from its fans. I'm exicited to see the A's in the post season, let's just hope that Frank helps 'em get there.

Go A's.

"Under New Management": A new era of A's baseball?

About a year ago the Oakland Athletics were purchased by Lew Wolff, a real estate guy originally brought on by the former owners to assist in finding the A's a new baseball only ballpark. Since he has taken over, one could certainly say that this is a new era of A's baseball. Is it really?

One of the first moves that Billy Beane executed was resigning Mark Kotsay to an extension. This was a change from the A's of old, who would have probably traded Kotsay to a respective suitor in exchange of some younger and cheaper alternative. Many fans, including myself, were shocked by this. This was only the beginning.

The A's also signed SP Esteban Loiaza, DH/1B Frank Thomas, and traded for OF Milton Bradley and IF Antonio Perez. The only thing that the new ownership did was take on around $10 million in payroll, and in essence keep the foundation of last years upstart A's. All the while, staff ace and remaining member of the famed "Big Three", Barry Zito, was still around to get beat up on Opening Day. What is this? A big time free agent in the final year of his deal sticks with the team? Now I'll admit that the season hasn't reached the trade deadline yet, but history tells us that Barry would have been gone already.

Is this an owner that believes that he can retain the Cy Young pitcher beyond this year, or is it just a final run at a World Series with Barry on the roster? The jury is still out on this new owner, as he has still quite a few tests to pass, but you can't complain about his performance thus far. Let's see what happens to Barry, and where the search of a baseball only ballpark leads us. Then, we can all come to our own verdicts. Good luck Lew.