Oakland Athletics

Former A's update: After watching Chris Carter and Brad Peacock for almost two months now, what are your impressions? I know many in the A's community were surprised that Peacock was demoted given his stuff compared to other guys in the Houston rotation. I love Trogdor. He's pretty much come as advertised high strikeout, high walk guy with some serious power and bad defense. We're hoping that his strikeout rate comes down quite a bit from the near 40% level it's currently at and we're finding out that he's a streaky hitter. There's hope that he'll be a big part of this team going forward probably as the team's designated hitter. Brad Peacock flat out was ineffective. He struggled with his control and command. The entire pitching staff was struggling at the time of Peacock's demotion so he wasn't going to be afforded the opportunity to work it out at the major league level. He seems to have worked something out at AAA; unfortunately for him, the rotation has pitched much better recently so he'll have to wait until ineffectiveness or injury knocks someone out of the rotation. And even then he may be called up to pitch out of the bullpen before being given another shot at the rotation. Do you think Jose Altuve will be traded before the deadline? He's the most talented and valuable player on the roster, and will likely be close to free agency by the time the Astros are competitive again. No, Jose Altuve will not be traded at the deadline. Any sort of trade scenario's involving Altuve should begin with your favorite prospect because you're going to have to overpay to get him away from the Astros. He just turned 23, he doesn't become a free agent until 2018 and he's already improved on his numbers from last year, primarily in the defensive category where he's making highlight plays on a regular basis. Throw in the fact that he's a fan favorite and it's going to be expensive for a team to acquire him. Altuve recently changed his agent from Scott Boras to Ocatagon and the Astros have expressed an interest in possibly signing Altuve to an extension so something may already be in the works. Is it possible Altuve gets traded? Sure, I just don't think it happens. At the time, I recall hoping that George Springer would fall to the A's in the 2011 draft. That was obviously silly. How is he progressing so far? Springer is on pace to make his debut next year. His fielding came as advertised as well as his raw bat. He's showing a lot of power but he's also showing a high strikeout rate. The writers of TCB actually just had a discussion concerning Springer's high strikeout rate and whether or not that means doom for him at the major league level. Overall, the prospects who had a similar strikeout rate to Springer did not fare so well at the major league level -- you guys remember Brandon Wood. The glimmer of hope is that strikeout rates are on the rise so he may slide right into an era where strikeout rates don't matter as much as long as walking and hitting with power. We're all still very high on him but there are some concerns regarding his development. What's the deal with Astros owner Jim Crane? The A's owner, Lew Wolff, gets a lot of guff - some deserved, some undeserved -- but he normally stays out of sight. Crane, however, seems to invite criticism with things like canceling charity events. I've had a real gut check with the way the business side of the Astros has been running things for the past 10 months. The business side has taken a hard bottom-line approach with everything from the food they serve at the ball park (snow cone anyone?) to the personnel they've hired to run the business side. They've let a lot of good people go and this has led to self-induced PR nightmares like raising Joe Niekro from the dead to attend a luncheon to taking foul balls from kids at a college tournament it's just been one Astros business blunder right after another. Not all of it is Crane's fault, part of that blame goes to the recently resig

Since this is my first post at AN, perhaps I should say a few words about myself and what I'm about. I tend to go into exaggerated tales of self-discovery when I do that, though, so I'm going to consciously keep it brief. Some of you are probably familiar with my work at a bunch of different places over the years, and if you are, you probably know I focus on two things: sabermetrics and scouting. I started out as a hardcore post-Moneyball sabermetric type and gradually blended in more and more of a scouting perspective--I've already attended almost three dozen minor league games this year--and I fully appreciate what both methods have to offer in baseball evaluation. I live on the East Coast (Winston-Salem, NC, to be exact), and as such, while I do have extensive opportunities to see minor league baseball (there may be no better city in America to have proximity to so many MiLB stadiums), I rarely get to see the farmhands of my beloved A's. However, last week, I decided to splurge and go on a four-day trip to Nashville to catch the visiting Sacramento River Cats in action. It was a worthwhile trip, and I could probably easily write ten thousand words describing the players that comprise the River Cats roster, but because I don't have that kind of writing stamina and I'm guessing you don't have that kind of reading stamina, I'm going to limit the discussion today to just vaunted pitching prospect Sonny Gray. Before we get to what I learned about Oakland's 2011 first-round pick, let's first look at what we as a community know about Gray. Picked 18th overall out of Vanderbilt University two years ago, the righthander was billed as an explosive yet polished arm with two bigtime pitches--a fastball that reached 97 mph and a big overhand curveball. His small size, the effort in his delivery, and his lack of a third pitch led some to believe he was destined to be a reliever rather than a starter, though. Gray was so polished at the time of his drafting that the A's essentially sent him straight to Double-A, where he responded by allowing just a single earned run in twenty innings down the stretch, striking out eighteen and walking just six. However, a return trip to Midland for the 2012 season proved less stellar, as his strikeout rate dropped to a weak 15.4% and his walk rate rose to a decent but unexceptional 9.1%. It seemed that all of his supposed polish was not materializing, and he was stagnating much like another former A's first-round pick, James Simmons (who, incidentally, also threw for Sacramento in the series). Fast forward to the present day, though, and Gray has taken remarkably well to the hitter-friendly environs of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He has a 2.49 ERA and a 2.65 FIP, and he's added 7.9% to his strikeout rate without adding any walks. He also has a 55% groundball rate for both this year and his career according to Minor League Central, which is excellent. It seems that he's rounding into MLB form, and as a result, he's been repeatedly mentioned as someone to take over for Jarrod Parker as Parker has been up-and-down this season. But that's just what the numbers and some general reports say. What does Sonny Gray actually look like? What does he do that produces these numbers, and how can we expect it to translate to the Coliseum if and when he gets the call? A lot of people like to start a report of a pitcher off by discussing what he throws. In this case, though, I think it's worth dedicating some space up front to how Gray throws. Here's a video of Gray pitching at Vanderbilt in 2010: Vanderbilt Sophomore RHP Sonny Gray vs. UCLA (via rkyosh007) A few things jump out. Gray used a bit of a hip turn, had a very long, slow delivery out of the windup including raising the ball over his head, had a pronounced back-leg collapse, and had a high-effort followthrough. This is what he looked like in the May 11 start I attended: Sacramento RHP Sonny Gray vs Nashville RF Khris Davis

A bar stool is an elevated stool that is usually placed by the bar so as to give the person sitting on it a higher view as they enjoy their meals or drinks. Outdoor bar stools are just like the ones used indoors. The only difference is that the material used to make them is weather resistant because they are designed for outdoor purposes. Thus, if you want a better view or setting for relaxing by the pool side or in the garden, then you should buying some. It will be amazing to entertain your guests in such a setup. One of the very many advantages of the outdoor bar stools is that they can be converted to indoor stools without looking odd. Thus when you have many guests over on a rainy day, you can move the stools in the house and they will not look weird. This is because both the indoor and the outdoor ones resemble. Thus, when you buy one, you will have acquired  two-in-one furniture. It is so convenient in cases where you do not have enough money to buy sufficient bar stools for indoor use. When you go shopping for outdoor bar stools is the height. You should ensure that you choose a height that will be comfortable for you and your friends to sit on. If it’s too long or too short then it will be very uncomfortable for you to sit on. You will strain your muscles especially the leg causing you pain at the end of the day. Also consider maximum weight that the stool can handle. Some of them are made of very light material and thus when a heavy person sits on them they can fall apart very easily. You can make a few changes to the outdoor bar stools so as to ensure that they match the theme color of your home and increase comfort. For example you can add extra padding to the back rest and the arm rests as well so as to make them more comfortable. You can use a different color for the extra padding so as to improve the aesthetic and to ensure that it blends well with the other furniture in the home. To avoid regrets, make sure that you research on the quality of the stool and also compare different options for the furniture when you go shopping for one.

We all remember December 18, 2012.  Maybe not off the top of our heads, but we all recall what took place that day.  That was the day the Athletics introduced their brand new imported shortstop.  ”Hi Oakland, my name is Hiroyuki Nakajima, but you can call me Hiro. I am honored to be here today. Thank you very much, Mr. Beane.”  Those were the first words from Hiro Nakajima as he read an assuredly memorized statement in English to the Bay Area media.  Memorably he went on to proclaim Billy Beane to be “sexy and cool” and that he looked forward to “doing the Bernie dance with Oakland.” This is the only time Hiro Nakajima has been spotted in an Athletics uniform, Opening Night 2013. (Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports) The A’s universe immediately fell in love with the guy.  He was a big hit at the FanFest event in January, and his beaming smile radiated throughout Spring Training in February and March.  There was just one problem, he never hit during Cactus League play.  Be it that his timing was off, or the fact that he was facing a number of pitchers he had never seen before, or if he was having  trouble adjusting to life in the United States, we don’t know what caused his struggles. He was injured at the tail end of Spring Training, what turned out to be a fairly severe hamstring strain.  Nakajima would be placed on the 15 day DL and the Athletics were spared having to option him to Triple A Sacramento at the end of the spring.  His hamstring appears to be more or less healed, and he has now appeared in 13 games for the River Cats.  Today the Athletics announced that they were activating him from the DL, and optioning him to the River Cats.  All this means is now he is no longer on a rehab assignment, he’s a minor leaguer. In the 13 games he’s played, he’s posted a .265/.316/.347 line in 57 plate appearances.  It’s not a line that will pop out at you, but it’s certainly an improvement over his spring numbers when he couldn’t buy a hit.  But with the emergence of Jed Lowrie at shortstop, there is no longer a sense of urgency to get Nakajima to Oakland. With Lowrie entrenched at short, and Eric Sogard and Adam Rosales occupying somewhat of a platoon at second base, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of room for Hiro.  But the fact of the matter is the A’s made a two year commitment to Nakajima and they still don’t know exactly what they have.  The chances that he can provide more offense than either Sogard or Rosales are fairly high.  They both have had their moments, but neither of them are truly worthy of being everyday players.  Nakajima may still be, we simply don’t know.  He’s been working out at second base, at third base, maybe he’s even been secretly catching bullpen sessions for all we know.  Either way, he is working diligently to make himself as useful as he can to the Oakland Athletics.  He may not be in Oakland any time soon, but I believe the chances are high that at some point he will play an important role with the Athletics.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports The Oakland Athletics activated infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima from the disabled list on Thursday and optioned him back to Triple-A Sacramento. Nakajima, who has yet to make his official debut for the A’s on the big-league level, had been serving a 20-day rehabilitation assignment with the River Cats. He suffered a strained left hamstring in late March that sent him to the DL, and had worked hard to get back into playing condition. Over the 13 games of his rehab, Nakajima hit .265 with four doubles and went .357 over the final four games of the span. That has to be encouraging for the A’s, who had expressed some concern over his hitting abilities in Spring Training. He’ll head back to the minors for some more seasoning before the A’s have to make a decision regarding when to call him up for his Major League debut. The team’s 25-man roster currently includes infielders Adam Rosales and Eric Sogard in addition to regulars Josh Donaldson and Jed Lowrie — so there isn’t really much room for Nakajima at the moment. Plus, Oakland has two other infielders hitting well in Sacramento in Jemile Weeks and Grant Green, but as of now there are no official plans to bring them up anytime soon (and if such moves have been discussed, they haven’t been made public yet). It’s hard to see Nakajima spending much more time in the minors, though, considering the A’s signed him to a two-year, $6.5 million deal in the offseason to bring him to the majors. It’s not unreasonable to expect to see him called up within the next month or so, assuming all goes well in Sacramento. Adrian Garro is an Oakland Athletics writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter and/or add him to your network on Google.

The A's reinstated Hiro Nakajima from the 15-day disabled list Thursday and optioned the rookie shortstop to Triple-A Sacramento.

Boasting a low payroll and enjoying continued success, the A's certainly have reason to be the object of other teams' envy. This season, you can add the pitching staff to the list. More specifically, it's Oakland's sensational bullpen that warrants jealousy.

The Oakland Athletics activated shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima from the 15-day disabled list Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento. Read more Hiroyuki Nakajima news

In business, inventory management is crucial. If there are too many widgets on the shelves, you are hosed. All your money is trapped in unsold widgets instead of things like advertising or new widget development. If there are too few widgets on the shelf, you're still hosed. Your customers will buy their widgets from your competition and many buyers won't come back. The A's have two types of inventory to manage, the players on the field and the seats that surround the field. Since there are plenty of people on this website better-suited to assess the players' performance, I won't delve into the subject of players as inventory, as impersonal as that sounds. (I will make this observation, though: In addition to being a great method for evaluating field performance, sabermetrics is a great way to manage player inventory.) What I worry about is all those empty seats. From the A's sales perspective (and now, apparently, the Raiders') the Coliseum simply has too many seats, too much inventory. Prior to the Great Tarp Experiment, the capacity of the Coliseum, with Mt. Davis, was in the 50,000-seat range, not counting luxury boxes and club seats. That capacity was required by the NFL. Multiply 50,000 times 81 home games and you end up with an inventory of more than 4 million seats. Yikes! That's one helluva lot of tickets to sell. Even the almighty Giants, who were bested by only Philadelphia and the Yankees in 2012 attendance, couldn't sell four million tickets. The A's have a big inventory problem. The number of available seats far exceeds the A's ability to sell those seats. Having an empty seat instead of money in the bank from the sale of that seat is bad enough. But it's actually much worse. The value of a seat, as opposed to a widget, decays rapidly. Once a game begins, the worth of the unsold seats is zero. You can't sell them at a discount in Eastern Europe, either. Having too many available seats crushes your future cash flow because you won't be able to raise ticket prices. Beyond that, excess capacity makes it almost impossible to draw new audiences in a competitive entertainment market. The Social Psychology In promoting the live gate, you must sell the primary attraction, of course. Without that, you might as well be selling widgets. But you must also sell the communal experience of live attendance. Just look at the adorable, Bernie-leaning, bacon-eating, Balfour-loving nutjobs in the right field bleachers. Yeah, they come for the A's, but they also come for each other. The fact that they are there, concentrated above right field, adds value to their experience. They feed off each other's energy and wackiness. They are connected. In live attendance, familiarity breeds, not contempt, but repeat ticket sales. The A's would like nothing better than to replicate the right-field bleacher experience throughout the stadium. (Actually, in the playoffs last season, they did. And wasn't that nice!) But, most days, the Coliseum is just too damn big. So the A's decided, if they couldn't sell all those seats, they had to make them disappear! Thus, the Great Tarp Experiment. Let's face it, the tarps could have been worse. Instead of the A's name and logo on a green background, the tarps might have featured ad signage for Bob's Muffler Boutique and Gabinetti's Italian Dim Sum Bistro. But the A's didn't go to the tarps for the miniscule, direct ad revenue they might have gleaned. (I believe the idea was to make the upper deck fade away rather than draw attention to it.) I have heard some suggest the A's did it to save money on ushers and security for the upper deck. Although saving money is rarely a bad idea, the A's were not being cheap. Installing those tarps probably cost a lot more than a couple of ushers. Beyond a long-term capacity reduction, I'm convinced the A's Great Tarp Experiment was prompted by something more benign: A genuine desire to enhance the value of the live experience for the fans. And the A's d

A's fans Shelby Cardoza ans Priscilla Moreno are the latest contestants attempting to win cash in the latest edition of "Bucks on the Pond."