Blog Archives
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – May 1, 2013
I recorded The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast at the Willie Mays statue in front of AT&T Park in San Francisco. There was no Giants game. I just felt like going there.
I talked about the transition from April to May in baseball and wondered what being in first place at the end of April means.
Edwin Encarncion, Justin Verlander, Rickie Weeks and Jaime Garcia owned baseball on April 30, 2013.
To see the up to date tally of “Who Owns Baseball?,” click HERE.
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Patrick Corbin’s Confidence Creates Success For Arizona’s Starting Rotation
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The Arizona Diamondbacks have great tandem in the 4th and 5th slots in their rotation.Wade Miley and Patrick Corbin have been as reliable as you can get with pitchers that are in the bottom part of their rotation.The two pitchers are undefeated this season – and look to be part of the future for Arizona. They provide some depth to the rotation.
By Chris Lacey (Baseball Writer) Follow @aecanada12
The Arizona Diamondbacks knew that their starting rotation was going to be a strength for the club this season, but there are two pitchers who have performed better than they were expected to. The front-end of the Starting Rotation includes; Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon McCarthy.
They have pitched good, but not great in their starts this season. These 3 Starters were expected to carry the rotation, and help Arizona reclaim the NL West Division Title. The three pitchers that Arizona has in the front part of their rotation have under-performed in their starts this season.
Diamondbacks’ Wade Miley Tells A Joke On Intentional Talk. Mature Lyrics – Parental Guidance Is Advised
Athletics 8 Game Win Streak Is Nothing New To Pattern Formed Since Last Year
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Oakland Athletics’ Jed Lowrie has made Billy Beane look like a genius once again – with clubbing 16 hits, (8 of the Extra Base Variety), Scoring 10 Runs and Walking 6 times so far in the teams 8 – 2 start. He has an OPS of 1.258. He was acquired from the Houston Astros in a February trade which sent Chris Carter the other way. The man can play several defensive positions well. He is due for Arbitration at the end of this season, before becoming a Free Agent in 2015. Beane doesn’t seem to make a bad move these days.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Hands up.. How many people would have thought that the Oakland Athletics would start the 2013 season with the best record in the Major Leagues so far?
Of course this website is not surprised at all. Jonathan Hacohen (Website Founder and current Oakland A’s Correspondent) wrote a brilliant piece in the 1st week of July/2012 – breaking down Billy Beane‘s new MoneyBall Philosophy here.
I have to admit something right now.. I had not seen the movie “MoneyBall” even by this time. Yes…brutal and I was kicking myself for not seeing it before hand.
After the movie, I did some digging and was extremely flabbergasted with what I found about Beane’s magic. I wrote a Roster Tree for the Hitters and Pitchers in the organization. I studied every single transaction to back track how each of the current member of the team had arrived in an Oakland uniform. You can find that 2 part series here.
Can the Oakland A’s Do it Again in 2013 Preview:
Oakland A’s Player Roster in 2013: State Of The Union Part 2: The Pitchers
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A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013. The former University of San Diego Pitcher yielded a 1.13 WHIP during his time last year. As the teams #4 Starting Pitcher on the depth chart, Griffin should be able to see some favorable matchups in 2013. If he throws like 2012 again in 2013, he might very pole vault to being the ace of the rotation. We may have another 3 – 4 staff that contend for the AL Cy Young like the days of Hudson, Mulder and Zito.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Billy Beane has always recycled his great starting pitchers once they hit the experience level that he could not pay them for. His new crop of pitchers include Jarrod Parker, Brett Anderson, Tommy Milone and new Starter A.J. Griffin.
They also are bringing back Bartolo Colon for the 2013 season, despite taking a 50 game suspension for PED use last year. Billy Beane is a master tactician on assessing a players worth and especially pitchers. Just like the hitters, the pitchers are all mostly in the 25-30 Age bracket. He has a quality set of controllable relief pitchers in the barn to close out games too.
A.J. Griffin at University of San Diego:
Starting Pitching For The DBacks Will Make Or Break Their Season
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Follow @mlbreportsWednesday, March.06, 2013
The Diamondbacks will need their rotation to be a strength as they compete in the NL West for a playoff spot this season.
By Chris Lacey (DiamondBacks Correspondent) Follow @aecanada12
The Arizona Diamondbacks will have to rely on their starting pitching more than ever this season. The two division rivals they have to contend with feature very good pitching rotations along with potent offensive lineups.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed Hyun-jin Ryu from South Korea as a Free-Agent, and they also signed the top Free Agent pitcher this winter in Zack Greinke.
The San Francisco Giants have the 2012 NL MVP Award Winner & Batting Champion in Buster Posey. The Giants also have two very good pitchers in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum to anchor their staff.
30 Clubs in 30 Days Arizona Diamondbacks:
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Arizona DiamondBacks Roster In 2013: State Of The Union
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday, February.16, 2013
The Diamondbacks will look to regain the magic that aided them in winning the division in 2011.
By Chris Lacey (Diamond Backs Correspondent) Follow @aecanada12
Arizona Diamondbacks fans had some high hopes coming into the 2012 season after winning the division in 2011 and making their way back to the playoffs for the first time 2007. The 2012 off-season saw them bring in free agent OF Jason Kubel. The season started off great with a three game sweep of the San Francisco Giants, but when CF Chris Young went crashing into the wall to catch a deep ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates the team was never the same. The Diamondbacks are in tough division the NL West, which is known for pitching. They will have to rely on their young starters if they hope to compete with San Francisco Giants & Los Angeles Dodgers. The offense will have to get better with manufacturing runs and instead of depending on the long ball to score runs. They traded away RF Justin Upton and 3B Chris Johnson, but they brought in versatile player Martin Prado and pitching prospect Randall Delgado.
Game #7 of the 2001 World Series – Gonzalez Game Winner – Can the 2013 DBACKS get back to the WS?
Arizona DiamondBacks Payroll In 2013: And Contracts Going Forward
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday, February.14, 2013
Arizona have won 5 Division Titles in just 15 years of existence – including winning the World Series in 2001. The franchise consistently is rated as one of the top rated front office organizations – and routinely rank as the most fan-friendly team in the MLB. The Franchise is 2nd amongst Expansion Clubs for Winning Percentage (.498) behind the Angels (.499.) The DBacks are only 10 games below .500 for their ALL-Time record (1210-1220). Will they be able to compete with the Dodgers and Giants in future years by increasing Payroll?
By Chris Lacey (Diamond Backs Correspondent) Follow @aecanada12
The Diamondbacks finished the 2012 season with disappointment as they struggled to get over .500 for much of the season. They lost the last game of the season to the Rockies that summed up what happened during the year. When they got good starting pitching, the defense would make a costly mistake, and then the offense would struggle to score any runs. The Diamondbacks enter the 2013 camaign with plenty of new faces on the club.
General Manager Kevin Towers has changed the makeup of this team these past two off-seasons. He has put an emphasis on players who can make consistent contact, rather than hitting the long ball. The Dbacks GM is always looking to improve upon the bullpen. He did this by taking a risk on Heath Bell who had a bad year with the Marlins, but Towers believes a change of scenery will help. Towers not only brought in bullpen help, but also signed some key players’ to long-term contracts that will aid the team to not only contend now, but for the future.
2011 DiamondBacks Post Season Highlights. Lyrics May Contain mature content so Parental Guidance is advised:
Braves Selling Low on Hanson and Jurrjens: Moneyball Ain’t Alive in Atlanta People
Monday December 3rd, 2012
I was thinking back this week to one of my fave articles from this past year. Being an admirer of the Oakland A’s methods of building a ball team and the “Moneyball Movement”, this past July I published a Billy Beane article - focusing on the modern Moneyball movement. Back in 2011, many critics were quick to jump on Beane and the A’s, mocking the A’s GM and the release of the movie Moneyball. Panned as a historical piece, Beane was viewed as a dinosaur. His methods outdated. The rest of the baseball world had caught on to his sly ways and overtook him. I refused to buy into it and was unwilling to write-off Beane. But nobody, not even the A’s GM himself saw was to come in 2012. We know how the season went down- the A’s slipped in as the AL West champs and make a good run in the playoffs. Nobody was laughing anymore and Beane went from hack back to genius overnight. While in my last article I focused on Beane’s construction of a young and talented lineup, most analysts view Beane’s success in terms of being able to flip pitchers at their peak. Billy Beane is a master of this art and it has led to much success in Oakland. Compare this now to Atlanta, which has essentially lost Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens for almost nothing. Not the Billy Beane way of doing business- and now the Braves will be paying the price. Read the rest of this entry
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers And Analyzing Mulder, Hudson and Zito Post Oakland
Sunday, Dec.02/2012
A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look to the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Yesterday we talked about the hitters of the Oakland Athletics current roster and today we will talk about their pitching. This has been an organization that has thrived on brilliant drafting of young arms. In the early 2000′s, the team featured three ace pitchers in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. Billy Beane had to let each of them leave Oakland because they couldn’t pay them the kind of dollars needed to secure them long term. With the exception of this year, Barry Zito has not lived up to his 7 Years and 126 Million Dollar contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants since leaving the Athletics. Despite a 15-8 year for the SF club this past year, he holds a 58-69 (.447) record for San Francisco lifetime with a 4.47 ERA. He was 102-63 (.618) and a 3.55 ERA with the A’s before leaving at the age of 29. The guy made 18.25 Million in his Oakland days and has already pocketed 99 Million with SF.
Mark Mulder never was the same pitcher in the NL and was out of baseball four years after being traded to St. Louis. His A’s career had netted him an 81-42 (.659) record with a 3.92 ERA. He was only 22-18 (.550) and a 5.04 ERA with the Cardinals before retiring. As you will read in this article below, the franchise made a worthy trade in returns for this man. Mulder made 25.3 Million in his contract with the Cardinals after making only 8.4 Million with the A’s.
Tim Hudson on the other hand, has been one of the better pitchers in the NL for the last decade, still towing the hill for the Braves at the age of 38. He was 92-39 (.702) with a 3.30 ERA for the A’s. He has since gone 105-65 with a 3.52 ERA for the Braves in in 8 years. He definitely has been worth the $ invested (84.5 Million plus another 9.0 Million in 2013.) He only made 4.5 Million in his 6 years with Oakland. The sandwich pick they landed for Hudson’s Free Agent signing was Travis Buck. Unfortunately Buck only played 170 games for the franchise, hitting .250 with 18 HRs and 71 RBI in 571 AB.
Total Record for 3 other teams is 185-152 (.549) and they have made 208.8 Million away from Oakland, whereas they were 275-144 (.656) and made a total 33.15 Million Dollars with the Athletics. I would say, Beane made the right decision in not signing them.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
For The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters Click Here
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters
Saturday, Dec.01/2012
How important was Cespedes to The A’s Lineup in 2012? They went 82-47 with him in the lineup and 12-21 without him. He was the biggest reason the team soared into the playoff race and won the AL East. Beane secured him in Free Agency before the start of last year. He is signed for 3 more years at 9 Million Dollars Per Year.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
A few months ago, our Lead Columnist/Website Founder (Jonathan Hacohen) wrote a brilliant piece about the assembly of the Oakland Athletics roster. He called it “MoneyBall 2.” Right after the piece, the A’s surged to the greatest record in the second half of the season and won the AL West. The team is now constructed of power hitters and power pitchers. The man behind it all is Billy Beane. I will not get into too much of this philosophy as you can read that piece here. What I intend to do is to show the roster of how it was comprised by Beane in the form of a roster tree. It is just like a family tree, however this shows trades dating back 2,3,4,5,6 fold etc.. in order to show you the mastery of the GM’s ability to field a roster on a limited budget.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers click here.
Top Ten Stat of The Week: Odds To Win The AL/NL/WS
Monday July.9, 2012
The Yankees pay at the rate of +190 to win the American League and +375 to win the World Series. They are actually the 2nd favorite in the MLB for both to Texas. These odds are not flattering to throw any money down on either team.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024)- I thought we would try a different top ten today with the ALL-Star Break here today. This morning I did some research on the odds of what http://www.bet365.com thinks will happen for the rest of the MLB Year based on their gambling futures. Gambling is an increasing industry like no other entity in the world. The NFL is better suited for ‘punters’ to throw down some bucks at Vegas. They have only one game a week and the gambling experts think that baseball is easier for the bad teams to beat the good teams. I will tell you as one of these ‘so called experts’, they are completely right. The worst teams in baseball usually can still beat the best teams 1 out of 3 games in a series. This makes normal gambling for a regular season game really hard to make any money, or minimize losses. I do think that betting who makes the playoffs and who wins it all has some good value picks.
Y0u have to search for the value in anything. I never like to play the #1 favorites of each league because they simply don’t pay enough of an odd. Right now, Bet365.com has the Texas Rangers at +175 to win the AL, or The Yankees at +190. I love these two teams to probably represent the AL in the World Series, however these odds are not good at all. As I list all of the odds for each league first, then the World Series, I will make some notes up. I have two teams in the NL that I have already wagered with and I am coming up roses on them so far. It is time for Gambling 101. Read the rest of this entry
Keep the A’s in Oakland: Will They Stay…or Move to San Jose?
Thursday May 10th, 2012
Bernie Olshansky: Whether or not the Athletics stay in Oakland has been an ongoing issue since John Fisher and his ownership group bought the team in around 2006. The A’s have played in a multi purpose stadium for baseball and football since the 1960s. At first, the stadium wasn’t bad, with a great view of the Oakland Hills out past the center field wall. When the Raiders returned to the Coliseum in 1995, their owner, Al Davis built suites and more seats (sarcastically dubbed “Mount Davis”) that stretched higher than the upper deck of the rest of the stadium. The once beautiful views were blocked and the stadium became a concrete bowl. In late summer and early fall, the centerfield grass (where the bleachers are placed for football) is in a state of disrepair compared to the otherwise perfect playing surface. Still, when the A’s were winning, they managed to draw crowds. The A’s had many prosperous years, winning the World Series in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989, and losing in the World Series in 1988 to the Dodgers and in 1990 to the Reds. More recently, in their “Moneyball” season of 2002, the A’s won 20 consecutive games and made the playoffs, but lost to the Twins in the ALDS.
It’s been a long time since the local fans have seen a winning A’s team. The last time the A’s made the playoffs was 2006, when they lost to the Tigers in the ALCS. The only time they went .500 since 2006 was in 2010. This could be due to general manager Billy Beane’s knack for trading everyone away. Notable trades include Andre Ethier for Milton Bradley, Carlos Gonzalez for Matt Holliday, and Mark Mulder for Dan Haren (who eventually was also traded). The team hasn’t been consistent since 2006. Last year, the team looked like it was finally going to be competitive with pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson healthy and ready for the season. Top prospects Michael Taylor and Chris Carter were ready to make an impact. Unfortunately Anderson got injured and needed Tommy John surgery, Cahill didn’t pitch to his potential, and Taylor and Carter spent the majority of the season in the minors because they didn’t perform in the majors. The final blow came when this winter, the A’s traded Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals and Trevor Cahill to the Diamondbacks. All of these events together had the fans asking: are we ever going to contend again? Read the rest of this entry
Do the Diamondbacks Have a Strong Enough Rotation to Win the NL West?
Wednesday January 11th, 2012
Sam Evans: Last year, the Diamondbacks came out of nowhere and won 94 games. This was thanks mostly in part to their offense. But having three pitchers throw over two hundred innings each didn’t hurt. This offseason, the Dbacks gave up some of their premium minor league talent to acquire Trevor Cahill, who should prove to be another solid pitcher in their rotation.
Last year, Arizona’s best pitcher was Ian Kennedy. He had a breakout year, finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young voting. Kennedy had a 3.22 FIP, 2.88 ERA, and was worth a 5.0 WAR. Kennedy has turned into an ace ever since coming over from the Yankees in 2010. If Kennedy can turn in another workhorse season, the Diamondbacks will have their first All-Star pitcher since Dan Haren in 2009.
Daniel Hudson deserves almost as much credit as Kennedy for the Dbacks success. Hudson was worth a 4.9 WAR in 2011, and was better than his 3.49 ERA suggested. Another Dbacks pitcher who has less than two years of throwing two hundred innings is going to be heavily relied upon in 2012.
On December 9th, Arizona traded top prospect Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill, and reliever Ryan Cook for Trevor Cahill, Craig Breslow, and cash considerations. The Dbacks will probably come out on top in this trade. Jarrod Parker is going to be a stud for the A’s, but he still has some developing to do. Arizona acquired a front of the line starter, who brings much-needed consistency to the Diamondbacks rotation.
If the Diamonbacks have an area to improve in 2012, it’s their league worst GB% ( 41.9%). Cahill will already be a big boost to that, as he brings his 55.9 GB% from 2011.
After Josh Collmenter had pitched only 36.1 innings last season, he had garnered a following of non-believers. They said that once Collmenter faced the team for a second time, his effectiveness would disappear. Part of this opinion was probably formed because Collmenter was never a top prospect, yet was making the prospect experts look silly. Collmenter proved the haters wrong, finishing with a 3.38 ERA in 154 innings. This just goes to show that we can’t be right about prospects all the time.
In 2012, Collmenter will have a bigger workload and higher expectations. But if he proved anything last year, it’s that he’s up for a challenge.
The fifth starting spot for the Diamondbacks is still unknown. The Dbacks could bring in a free agent like Hiroki Kuroda or Jeff Francis. They also have some organizational options such as Wade Miley, who started seven games last year, or even 2011 first-rounder Trevor Bauer, who seems to be major league ready.
All of the Dbacks top three starters have come in through trades. With pitchers like Tyler Skaggs and Trevor Bauer on their way to the majors, it looks like the Dbacks are starting to find homegrown talent as well.
I would say that the Dbacks rotation is second in the N.L. West only to the Giants. With a far superior offense than the Giants, it looks like Arizona has a pretty good chance of being able to win their division again in 2012.
**Today’s feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter***
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