Frayed Knot

Third Oakland base running gaffe of the day !!!! Plus 2 GiDPs -- that's five outs the hurlers didn't have to get.

The Smoker Josh gets the better we hit ... or something like that.

Or maybe we can. Treinen's been better so far for the A's [4 innings, 1 hit] than Doolittle has been for the Nats [2 innings, 2 runs].

Keith's a music critic now. We can't go scoreless off Blake Treinan for a second night in a row. We just can't.

Well the Yanx just dealt Rob Refsnyder to Toronto (remember, don't pronounce the second T or you'll never get out of the airport in Teheran) for some minor league 1B*. Their recent acquisitions put them in a position where they had to deal Refsnyder or expose him to waivers, something which occasionally factors into these deadline deals. * Ryan McBroom - 25 y/o slashing .243/.321/.402 in AA New Hampshire

The throw he made to 2nd to start the DP was apparently accurate ... so there's that.

ALL-TIME MLB TRIPPS ... SINCE 1960 (I'm defining that as anyone who played even one ML game from 1960 on) 1) Stan Musial 177 (Last played - 1963) 2) Roberto Clemente 166 (1972) 3) Willie Wilson 147 (1994) 4) Lou Brock 141 (1979) 5) Willie Mays 140 (1973) 6) Willie Davis 138 (1979) 7) George Brett 137 (1993) 8) Pete Rose 135 (1986) 9) Brett Butler 131 (1997) T-10) Vada Pinson 127 (1975) T-10) Jose Reyes 127

That Castro just got converted.

Maybe evil Robles has been banished!?!

Cut & pasted from a similar discussion in another thread since it deals with possible Duda trade and the Yanquis Joel Sherman suggests a potential Mets/Yanx deal involving Duda, suggesting Big Lucas for ... * One of: Jonathan Holder / Ben Heller / JP Feyereirsen / Giovanny Gallegos * plus one of Domingo German / Ronald Herrera * plus one of Tyler Austin / Garrett Cooper * plus Rob Refsnyder The first two groups of non-household names are youngish relievers with mostly good numbers in the minors and much more limited success in limited ML innings Austin and Cooper are position players: Cooper is the 1B they just traded for and, at worst, he swings RH and could fill in the rest of this year and platoon with Dom Smith next season. Austin also is a RH-hitting 1B/OF who saw some big league time this year. Refsynder was a guy Yanx fans were making a big deal about when he hit well for his first 100 or so ABs in 2016, he also has good minor league numbers. But the more they saw of him the less they seemed to think of him and it's totally unclear what position he should (or even CAN play). A year ago he'd have been the obvious choice over the similar sized/skilled TJ Rivera, but now maybe not so much. A (highly theoretical) deal like this lacks the high-ceiling guys that fans crave when dreaming of prospect hauls, but what it lacks in that it would make up for in quantity, and maybe that's exactly what our bullpen needs going forward: a competition among five or six guys to see who can fill those slots leading up to the end of the game. If we had anyone like that now you'd figure they'd currently be on the squad but there don't seem to be any even on the horizon.

I think you can get part of next year's bullpen for a few of the two-month rentals (meaning AAA relievers who look promising), and that would be more than good enough. Bruce is playing well enough to bring back more than that, as is Duda (which I can't believe people don't see), and it's always a sellers market for relievers this time of year. But you don't need to do anything today. Of course Bruce was hitting just about the same last year (pre-trade) as he is right now and the buyer then was getting 1 year + 2 months of him - and all that netted the Reds was Dilson Herrera who, despite his initial promise, still hasn't cracked a big league roster since 2015 and isn't exactly tearing up AAA either, plus a low-minors arm who is struggling in the low minors. Joel Sherman suggests the Mets look across town for their bullpen replenishment needs seeing as how the Yanx now have veteran relievers stacked up like planes over LaGuardia and would be willing to part with spare parts for Mr. Duda. His WATP suggests big Lucas for * One of: Jonathan Holder / Ben Heller / JP Feyereirsen / Giovanny Gallegos * plus one of Domingo German / Ronald Herrera * plus one of Tyler Austin / Garrett Cooper * plus Rob Refsnyder The first two groups of non-household names are youngish relievers with mostly good numbers in the minors and much more limited success in limited ML innings Austin and Cooper are position players: Cooper is the 1B they just traded for and, at worst, he swings RH and could fill in the rest of this year and platoon with Dom Smith next season. Austin also is a RH-hitting 1B/OF who saw some big league time this year. Refsynder was a guy Yanx fans were making a big deal about when he hit well for his first 100 or so ABs in 2016, he also has good minor league numbers. But the more they saw of him the less they seemed to think of him and it's totally unclear what position he should (or even CAN play). A year ago he'd have been the obvious choice over the similar sized/skilled TJ Rivera, but now maybe not so much. A (highly theoretical) deal like this lacks the high-ceiling guys that fans crave when dreaming of prospect hauls, but what it lacks in that it would make up for in quantity, and maybe that's exactly what our bullpen needs going forward: a competition among five or six guys to see who can fill those slots leading up to the end of the game. If we had anyone like that now you'd figure they'd currently be on the squad but there don't seem to be any even on the horizon.

d'Kong76 wrote: Is it me, or should this should have been over around 9:50? As is often the case, the first few innings (the first four in this case) flew by, but then the pitching changes, replay review, the inured 1st baseman, and parade of relievers slammed the brakes on.

John Axford?!?!? I had forgotten all about this guy.

I would really like to NOT see Salas in this game (unless they happen to blow things open in bottom 8) so this might just come down to a parade of LHPs

Speaking of interleague play (as per the booth's Twitter Q of the Day) the National League, which was getting kill't earlier in this season in IL matchups, has rapidly closed the gap in recent weeks to where the gap is just 95-90 in favor of the AL (and about to go 95-91?). After the NL had the edge in four of the first seven years after full-time IL was started in 1997, the AL has won the last 13 consecutive seasons including five times by a 55/45 margin or greater.

Ashie62 wrote: To each his own, I'm going to restring my guitar. It's not gently weeping, is it?

Edgy MD wrote: Early-assed exit for Matz? I was surprised just like the boys in the booth were, particularly since Matz needs a PH less than most pitchers in the league. On the other hand, at 86 pitches thru five (essentially six innings worth of work) he had probably only one more inning in him at best. And if he doesn't like it (and he clearly doesn't) maybe he'd be better off not giving up three consecutive hits twice in a five inning span.

Ashie62 wrote: Why is Jose Reyes taking up starting roster space. 26 for 70 w/13 XBH (.371/.387/.657) over the last month perhaps? oe: cross-posted w/Edgy

41Forever wrote: Wow. So with the potential loss of the entire infield, it might make some sense to see what Rosario can do. It's clear they only want to bring him up if he's going to play regularly and he's not going to play regularly until they clear out some or all of the guys blocking him. Whether the current guys are in because the team is praying for a miracle finish or because they're being showcased, until they're off the team they're going to play. As far as Rosario goes (and Smith for that matter) the last remaining question -- especially for those who think the 'Pons are given to playing the 'cheap' card -- is whether you even bring him up at all this year. The next "threshold" as far as service time goes is mid-April of next year. 2018 rookies not making their ML debut until after that point would see their FA window shift from 2023 to 2024. But unless they're willing to wait to that point, he could be brought up tomorrow, or after the trading deadline, or not until rosters expand on Sept 1st, and it would make no difference at all.

And now of course they have Dildogate II [fimg=500:dvnbmdgz]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.3340106.1500521520!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/thor.jpg[/fimg:dvnbmdgz]

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.

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.

Reed--just like Walker, Duda, Cabrera, Granderson and Rene Rivera--is a FA at the end of the season. Oh, and Reyes too.

Cespedes just picks his spots. He can run just fine when he [crossout:1iqz0wsv]needs to[/crossout:1iqz0wsv] feels like it. I'd personally like to thank Trevor Rosenthal who apparently was under the impression that he needed to count 'Three Mississippi' before moving toward covering 1st.

Mr. Orange Hair drives in Mr. Blue Hair we have the walk-off infield grounder!!