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MLB Reports ‘Junior Reporter’ Haley Smilow Interviews Padres OF Will Venable
Posted by MLB reports
Will Venable Q&A With Haley Smilow
The Padres OF recently had a chance to talk about some things with our Junior Reporter Haley Smilow.
The questions covered a lot of parameters that Venable is not asked on a regular basis.
He is a baseball lifer, coming from a long standing tradition of baseball that goes back to his dad Max.
Posted in Interviews with MLB Stars, The Rest: Everything Baseball
Tags: andy parrino, Angels Stadium, chiba lotte marines, chicago bears, golden state warriors, haley smilow, jim abbott, luis polonia, Major League, max venable, mlb, nba, portland, princeton, San Diego, san diego padres, tender greens, waiting for guffman, wil venable, winston venable
Oakland Athletics Payroll in 2013 And Contracts Going Forward
Posted by aelacey
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Follow @mlbreportsMonday, August.05, 2013

Coco Crisp is having a good season for the Athletics, while playing superb defense for the club. He has a .251/.332/.752 triple-slash in 347 at-bats on the season. He has 10 HRs and 39 RBIs to include 16 Doubles and 87 hits overall. Coco is still a threat to steal bases with him swiping 16 bases and has only been caught four times. He also shows tremendous plate discipline with walking and striking out 45 times this season. He is a switch-hitter, but prefers to face right-handers with a .275 batting average in 218 at-bats. He does struggle against left-handers, as he only has a .214 average in 126 at-bats. He does a good job with runners in scoring position, as indicated by his .266 average and 29 RBIs in 64 at-bats.
By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12
The surprise team in the American League this season has to be the Oakland Athletics. They have a 2 ½ game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West division and they are doing it with their pitching.
The Athletics are 6th in the AL with a starters ERA of 3.90 this season and they have a solid offense that is 8th in the AL with 488 runs scored. The best thing about this team is that their rotation is comprised of several young pitchers.
The Swingin’ A’s 2012 – Parental Guidance Is Advised
Posted in MLB Payroll and Contracts, MLB Teams: Articles and Analysis, The Rest: Everything Baseball
Tags: @aecanada12 on twitter, A.J. Griffin, AL West, alberto callaspo, andrew werner, andy parrino, bartolo colon, brandon moss, brett anderson, chris young, coco crisp, Dan Otero, dan straily, derek norris, eric sogard, evan scribner, fernando rodriguez, grant balfour, jarrod parker, jed lowrie, jemile weeks, jerry blevins, jesse chavez, john jaso, josh donaldson, josh reddick, Luke Montz, michael taylor, nate freiman, oakland athletics, pat neshek, pedro figueroa, ryan cook, scott sizemore, sean doolittle, seth smith, Shane Peterson, sonny gray, stephen drew, stephen vogt, texas rangers, tommy milone, yoenis cespedes
Athletics 8 Game Win Streak Is Nothing New To Pattern Formed Since Last Year
Posted by chuckbooth3023
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Follow @mlbreportsFriday, Apr.12/2013

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:
Posted in The Rest: Everything Baseball
Tags: @chuckbooth3024, A.J cole, A.J. Griffin, a.j. Kirby-Jones, aaron cunningham, AL West, albert pujiols, American league, andrew werner, andy parrino, arizona diamondbacks, barry zito, bartolo colon, baseball, Baseball 2012 ALDS, bash brothers, bash-bros, bernie olshansky, billy beane, Bob Melvin, boston, brad peacock, brad ziegler, brandon inge, brandon mccarthy, brandon moss, brett anderson, brett wallace, carlos gonzalez, chris carter, Chuck Booth, cj wilson, cliff pennington, Coco Crisp. Josh Reddick, collin cowgill, colorado rockies, connor robertson, craig breslow, dan haren, dan straily, dana eveland, daric barton, Daric Barton. Collin Cowgill, derek norris, detroit tigers, eric sogard, evan scribner, george kottaras, gio gonzalez, graham godfrey, grant balfour, greg smith, hiroyuki nakajima, jarrod parker, jason kendall, jed lowrie, jemile weeks, jerrod parker, jerry blevins, jesse chavez, john jaso, Jonny Gomes. Seth Smith, jose canseco, josh donaldson, josh hamilton, josh reddick, kila ka'aihue, kurt suzuki, Marco scutaro, mark mcgwire, mark Mulder, matt albers, michael taylor, Miguel Tejada, minnesota twins, mlb, MLB Amateur Draft, MLB Team Leaders, nate freiman, o.co coliseum, oakland ahtletics, oakland athletics, orioles, pat neshek, pedro figueroa, pirates, rob bowen, robert gillam, rosales, ryan cook, safeco field, san diego padres, san francisco giants, sean doolittle, st louis cardinals, stephen drew, texas rangers, the ballpark in arlington, the fastest 30 ballgames, tommy milone, toronto blue jays, Travis Blackley, travis buck, trevor cahill, tyson ross, yoenis cespedes
Oakland A’s Player Roster in 2013: State Of The Union Part 2: The Pitchers
Posted by chuckbooth3023
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday, Mar.24/2013

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:
Posted in MLB Payroll and Contracts, MLB Teams: Articles and Analysis, The Rest: Everything Baseball
Tags: 2012 ALDS, @chuckbooth3024, A.J cole, A.J. Griffin, a.j. Kirby-Jones, aaron cunningham, American league, andrew werner, andy parrino, arizona diamondbacks, barry zito, bartolo colon, billy beane, boston, brad peacock, brad ziegler, brandon mccarthy, brett anderson, brett wallace, carlos gonzalez, chris carter, Chuck Booth, collin cowgill, colorado rockies, connor robertson, craig breslow, dan haren, dan straily, dana eveland, daric barton, derek norris, detroit tigers, eric sogard, evan scribner, george kottaras, gio gonzalez, graham godfrey, grant balfour, greg smith, jarrod parker, jason kendall, jerry blevins, jesse chavez, josh reddick, Marco scutaro, mark Mulder, matt albers, michael taylor, Miguel Tejada, minnesota twins, MLB Amateur Draft, money ball the movie, national league, o.co coliseum, oakland athletics, orioles, pat neshek, pedro figueroa, pirates, rob bowen, robert gillam, ryan cook, san diego padres, san francisco giants, sean doolittle, st louis cardinals, the fastest 30 ballgames, tommy milone, toronto blue jays, Travis Blackley, travis buck, trevor cahill, tyson ross
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers And Analyzing Mulder, Hudson and Zito Post Oakland
Posted by chuckbooth3023
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
Posted in The Rest: Everything Baseball
Tags: 2012 ALDS, @chuckbooth3024, A.J cole, A.J. Griffin, a.j. Kirby-Jones, aaron cunningham, American league, andrew werner, andy parrino, arizona diamondbacks, barry zito, bartolo colon, billy beane, boston, brad peacock, brad ziegler, brandon mccarthy, brett anderson, brett wallace, carlos gonzalez, chris carter, Chuck Booth, collin cowgill, colorado rockies, connor robertson, craig breslow, dan haren, dan straily, dana eveland, daric barton, derek norris, detroit tigers, eric sogard, evan scribner, george kottaras, gio gonzalez, graham godfrey, grant balfour, greg smith, jarrod parker, jason kendall, jerry blevins, jesse chavez, josh reddick, Marco scutaro, mark Mulder, matt albers, michael taylor, Miguel Tejada, minnesota twins, MLB Amateur Draft, national league, o.co coliseum, oakland athletics, orioles, pat neshek, pedro figueroa, pirates, rob bowen, robert gillam, ryan cook, san diego padres, san francisco giants, sean doolittle, st louis cardinals, the fastest 30 ballgames, tommy milone, toronto blue jays, Travis Blackley, travis buck, trevor cahill, tyson ross