552 replies to this topic

[mweb08]

I've liked Lowrie for a long time and wanted the O's to get him before he had major league success; oh well.

This seems like a pretty high price to pay for him, especially if he's not going to play short.

[JeremyStrain]

I've liked Lowrie for a long time and wanted the O's to get him before he had major league success; oh well.

This seems like a pretty high price to pay for him, especially if he's not going to play short.

3B has that positional premium on it right now too, so either way they were going to pay more.

[mweb08]

3B has that positional premium on it right now too, so either way they were going to pay more.

Sure, but he still loses value playing there vs 3B.

[JeremyStrain]

Sure, but he still loses value playing there vs 3B.

Not really, the increased value of a SS is because of the lack of prospects/players at any given time, since 3B has the same lack of prospects/players right now they have about the same value at either position.

[mweb08]

Not really, the increased value of a SS is because of the lack of prospects/players at any given time, since 3B has the same lack of prospects/players right now they have about the same value at either position.

3B still produces a fair amount of more offense.

[DJ MC]

Third base does produce more offense, but second base is very, very close.

[BSLChrisStoner]

FanGraphs: Top 15 Prospects
http://www.fangraphs...spects-2012-13/

[BSLChrisStoner]

CBS Sports: Oakland A's Preview
http://www.cbssports...kland-athletics

[BSLChrisStoner]

Athletics Nation: Chris Young: Plate Discipline and Outcomes
http://www.athletics...ne-and-outcomes

[BSLChrisStoner]

Grantland: Can Anyone Explain Why the A's Are Good?
http://www.grantland...the-as-are-good

[BSLChrisStoner]

Full Count Pitch: A's Winning With Others
http://www.fullcount...ng-with-others/

[BSLChrisStoner]

Sports Illustrated: Don't look now, A's rolling again
http://mlb.si.com/20...wr_a5&eref=sihp

[Matt]

From that SI article:

 

Just over one-third of the way through the season, the Oakland has benefitted from a bit of a soft schedule, going 9-0 against the Astros and 5-1 against the Angels but  20-23 against everyone else. A look at the expanded standings at Baseball-Reference.com shows that the A’s are actually just 11-19 against teams with records of .500 or above, compared to 23-5 agains those below .500. With 10 of their next 13 games against losing teams (the Brewers, White Sox and Mariners) the smooth ride may continue for a while, but eventually the A’s are going to have to show that they can hang with the tough teams while walking over the doormats. In the meantime, they’re again one of the game’s more surprising and fascinating teams

I don't think they will last all year.

[BSLChrisStoner]

CBS Sports: A's proving last season was no fluke
http://www.cbssports...-him-off-charts

[Oriole85]

ESPN: A's, M's forced into same locker room

 

http://espn.go.com/m...ame-locker-room

 

Will this finally get Bud Selig to act? Not sure what it will take on the MASN front, a flood in Hunt Valley?

 

I'm not even sure where the A's would play if it was deemed as such.The Raiders would probably be an easier fix as they're are two football facilities in the immediate area(Cal/Stanford) in addition to SF if they had to share.

 

With DC out of the picture now for relocation, there's no facility that would only need relatively minor renovations to host an MLB team. Las Vegas hosted some games when the Coliseum was renovated to bring the Raiders back. I can imagine that kind of thing would be the quick fix.

 

We are probably atleast three years away from any new ballpark for the A's anywhere from the time the announcement is made. So if it was announced tomorrow, I think the earliest a new ballpark could happen would be the middle of the 2016 season, probably 2017. For all the faults of the Trop, I doubt it will ever get this bad there since it was built in the late 90s. It's more just undeseriable than unsanitary.

 

Sharing a locker room is just completely awkward at any level, a bunch of millionaires doing so must really hate it. Have fun attracting FA's Oakland!

[DJ MC]

If this causes MLB to act, that doesn't mean it would involve moving the A's out of the Colosseum immediately. MLB would get that committee on San Jose together and get their recommendation out--which would likely go in the A's favor, since if the outcome wasn't going to cause the Giants to hit the roof and start calling Peter Angelos for advice in suing MLB the report would have been delivered years ago. Then a ballpark plan would be created, and the A's might get their ballpark by 2018.

 

Of course, as Craig Calcaterra put it today, MLB under Bud Selig has a tendency to keep their heads in the sand until events create a PR disaster, then they make a quick decision that is often seemingly random and just as often quite insane. So they are likely to come out this week and make the A's a road-only team (Calcaterra, again), or something equally crazy.

 

If something were to happen, like Alameda County declaring the Colosseum condemned, the A's would probably end up playing in AT&T Park on an interim basis until they found a solution. Nobody would like that, though. Maybe Candlestick could be kept open for a short while, but everything I've heard suggests that it is in even worse shape than the Colosseum.

[Oriole85]

If this causes MLB to act, that doesn't mean it would involve moving the A's out of the Colosseum immediately. MLB would get that committee on San Jose together and get their recommendation out--which would likely go in the A's favor, since if the outcome wasn't going to cause the Giants to hit the roof and start calling Peter Angelos for advice in suing MLB the report would have been delivered years ago. Then a ballpark plan would be created, and the A's might get their ballpark by 2018.

 

Of course, as Craig Calcaterra put it today, MLB under Bud Selig has a tendency to keep their heads in the sand until events create a PR disaster, then they make a quick decision that is often seemingly random and just as often quite insane. So they are likely to come out this week and make the A's a road-only team (Calcaterra, again), or something equally crazy.

 

If something were to happen, like Alameda County declaring the Colosseum condemned, the A's would probably end up playing in AT&T Park on an interim basis until they found a solution. Nobody would like that, though. Maybe Candlestick could be kept open for a short while, but everything I've heard suggests that it is in even worse shape than the Colosseum.

Yeah doubtful, they'll be moving out immediately until it's completely unacceptable to play in.

 

The Giants ballpark is privately owned, would they allow it? Would MLB force them? (could they?) I'm sure they could charge them rent or something. I know the Mets basically had no choice since Shea was city owned. Not so familiar with the Angels at Dodger Stadium, I know that was Dodgers owned. Candlestick is an interesting possibility, Oakland would almost have to be condemend by the end of the year though to save it since the wrecking ball is scheduled after the 9ers last game. Just from watching the 9ers games on TV, it doesn't appear they really made any renovations after the Giants left so I think it's actually plausible.

[DJ MC]

http://www.usatoday....-selig/2431019/

 

The A's, of course, have tried to bolt town for the last five years. The San Francisco Giants won't share their territory and permit the Athletics to move to San Jose. Major League Baseball, which hoped the A's and Giants would somehow reach an agreement on their own, finally got a resolution from their blue ribbon committee. The committee submitted a set of guidelines to Wolff in February, and if he agreed to meet the requirements, a move could soon be underway.

Wolff won't talk about the guidelines. Neither will the Giants. Or even Major League Baseball.

 

That's interesting. And it doesn't sound like the "guidelines" were particularly fair-minded.

[DJ MC]

http://hardballtalk....monopoly-power/

 

San Jose will sue MLB over both the Giants' claim specifically and the overall monopoly power in general.

 

This ends well.

[Oriole85]

http://hardballtalk....monopoly-power/

 

San Jose will sue MLB over both the Giants' claim specifically and the overall monopoly power in general.

 

This ends well.

Does anyone think this is relevant in the least to the O's/Nats MASN saga? I'm sure Angelos is rooting for the Giants here.