Lester is somewhere

Will Kemp go?

Will Price go?

Will Cole go?

Will someone we dont care about go?

god are they scared.

Hope those former Dodger fans appreciate the effort.

.

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

Without bothering to check, it always seems like they far surpass the usual number of in-season roster moves for a team. It must be weird rooting for a snakeskin of a team that will turnover so much before September.

Not bad. Just weird.

>

I mean this is a pretty horrible trade for the A's.

I haven't followed him closely, but I thought he was kind of a face of the franchise player for you guys, and he seemed pretty productive.

Or are you just confident in the brass going all in this season?

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

As popular as Cespedes is, the other A's players have been really good and scoring runs and hitting HRs. Once Gentry and Crisp came back, the outfield will still be deep. And Gomes should be able to give some of Cespedes' production, if not his arm. As a Bay Area native, Gomes was also extremely popular when he played here in 2012 , so it's sorta trading a fan favorite for a fan favorite.

And as good as 80% of our starting rotation has been this year! Hammel has been a pretty huge disaster since we traded for him. And since this is now August and were trying to stay ahead of the Angels, we can't afford a guaranteed loss every five starts.

So yeah, while I'd rather we just call up Millone and keep Cespedes, there is something to be said for going all in this season. And it's not like we're screwed next year either way.

The changes so far have come from a product of losing 2 of our 5 starting pitchers before the season started. The Smardja (sp?) and Hammel trade was for guys who hadn't played this year and wouldn't be ready to play for at least a season anyway. In fact. This is the first in season trade of a player of note that I can remember in quite some time. Most of the player shuffling happens in winter, and for at least the past few seasons, it's worked out so no one really cries about it.

This trade is weird though.

Just guessing again, but the team I follow is probably one of the most conservative in terms of roster turnover, so the difference is pretty stark.

I like the idea of a team as good as Oakland not being complacent and trying to set a playoff rotation up. And I like Lester as that guy for such a team to acquire. I think that Cespedes was a ton to give up, though he was going to be pretty expensive after next year. The competitive balance pick they punt to Boston isn't a tremendous dealbreaker in terms of value, but it also would kind of burn me a little if I were an A's fan because, a couple years ago, that's what they would have gotten as a consolation prize when Lester departed after the season. There's a rough anti-symmetry to trading a pick like that.

On the other hand, and keeping with the roster turnover theme, maybe there's another shoe here.

Trading one of the most popular (and productive) players for a Lester rental seems kinda short sighted. Especially with Gentry on the DL and CoCo hurt. Our deep outfield was one of our strengths. Yeah, we're getting Gomes back, but whatever.

I don't see why it was so hard to just bring Milone back up from the minors. Problem solved and you don't give up any players.

A's dont wanna lose to the Tigers again.

So the get a lefty rental (Tigers whole lineup owns lefties) and gives up a power hitting, rocket for an arm outfielder who terrorizes the tigers.....yea not a good move if I'm the A's.

Hope Lester goes back to Boston next year.

is there a metric in Billy Ball for 30Y.O. SPs

centipede's career is just getting started

?

anyway. Part of the reason that he signed with the A's is because it was for four years and he'd be able to test the market earlier. I wouldn't be surprised at all if his team told Beane that they'd be looking for $100 million after his contract was up.

That said, he miss out on his production this year and his contract year production next year. And I'm sure his contract year production is gonna be HUGE playing in Fenway half the year.

>e his contract year production is gonna be HUGE playing in Fenway half the
>year.

Just like I hate that it's not outside the realm of possibility that we don't win it all this year, and then Lester goes right back to Boston.

However, I hold out hope that Cespedes hits 35 jacks next season, then signs a $120 million deal with the Marlins, and makes every Sawks fan even more mad.

>However, I hold out hope that Cespedes hits 35 jacks next
>season, then signs a $120 million deal with the Marlins, and
>makes every Sawks fan even more mad.

they'll probably trade him back to us by 2017.

Once they don't make the play-offs this year and possibly next year, they're gonna throw money at every free agent to hit the market.

>That said, he miss out on his production this year and his
>contract year production next year. And I'm sure his contract
>year production is gonna be HUGE playing in Fenway half the
>year.

I didn't realize that he'd managed to negotiate actual free agency after 2015 - though it'd done in the oddest way. The A's are contractually obligated to non-tender him after 2015, even though he'd technically still be eligible for arbitration for two more seasons.

In addition to not likely wanting to spring for his open-market value, being non-tendered after 2015 makes Cespedes different next year than other emerging free agents in that the A's can't recoup a compensation pick by extending a qualifying offer. Players can't be non-tendered and then given a QO.

Combine the inability to rebuild a little after losing him *and* the fact that he's a guy who hits the ball in the air an absolute ton in a giant ballpark and I think there was a bit of risk control here by Oakland as well. He's the kind of player who can see his batting average completely crater due to some rough luck. Knock 30 points off of his average/OBA and he stops looking like the kind of guy who can net you an ace to front a playoff rotation - even a rental.

you lost me here

last I checked the As had the best record in the AL

and the best pitching (era wise I believe)

not sure why rebuilding is an idea now

from what you wrote, centipede would have been under contract through next season...

yeah, just doesn't make sense to me

I mean Lester could just go back to BOS

and they add centipede for Gomes?

since this trade.

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

vv

I'm sorry I had to go do something else before you responded.


"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

Lester to respond speculatively about something that you confirmed?


"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

I thought maybe my posts were in another post

Wishes do come true.


"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

as rumored...nighty night for the NL Central.

it's easier because while the yankees are just good enough to be fooled every year the sox get bad enough to sell moves like this to their fans... meanwhile the yankees teeter being just good enough every year...

As far as the A's, they better win it all this year, and honestly, they probably should, but still, pitching staff vs pitching staff alone, detroit and the dodgers can still match up with them

even with him becoming an FA and you getting a great young hitter back

>but still, pitching staff vs
>pitching staff alone, detroit and the dodgers can still match
>up with them

A's rotation: Gray, Kazmir, Lester, Samardzija, and Chavez. That's pretty hard to fuck with. Dodgers front two is still the best, but Haren hasn't been great and Beckett is hurt.

Now, if the Dodgers say fuck it and do whatever they need to do to make the trade for Price, then it's a question. But right today, I think we have the best in Majors.

I don't have a problem with playing you guys in a seven game series. It's the five game series that are/were structured to favor y'all. Five games series are in general an abomination. I'd rather they get rid of the two wild card thing and make the Divisional series 7 games.

I'd rather take the chances of the Yankees getting in the playoffs and then everything becomes a crapshoot.

but man, the returns on the trades that sox are making today are fucking unbelievable. if they do end up resigning lester this offseason im going to be so pissed.

the Yanks ain't beating Oakland or Detroit, no chance

@rob_starrk

The A's were apparently interested in Sam Fuld as an extra outfielder. I'm not really sure what the Twins want with Milone. I mean, he's sort of better than most of our pitchers now but they need more than "sort of better than most of our pitchers" so hopefully it's not more than Fuld they kicked over.

...it's a strange move on our part. After a bumpy start, Milone became an excellent pitcher this year. Before getting sent to AAA after the deal with the Cubs, you could have made the argument that he was the third best pitcher in our rotation. However, his career before that had been up and down.

It just seems strange that we would trade a rotation-ready guy for someone who we let walk earlier this year. I don't know. If we win the World Series, it washes everything away.

Depending on who's there, I could see them wanting some extra outfield defense and speed. Fuld has the ability to be a pretty useful bench player if you use him correctly.

But yeah, if I were an A's fan I'd rather them find somebody with Fuld's exact skillset (which isn't uncommon) than trade a useful starter for somebody that wasn't worth a roster spot a few months ago. It just looks weird.

Crisp's neck is hurt, but they've been resting him and hope to play him for the homestand starting tomorrow. He's get defense and speed, but a noodle arm. Gentry is on the DL with a broken hand, and he gave us both speed and defense; it's why we got him for Michael Choice.

Even without them, we've been kind of defined by a weird outfielder rotation this season. Moss occasionally plays LF, and Stephen Vogt sometimes plays right when we want to use our three catcher offense. The latter doesn't happen as much since Reddick came back from injury.

I don't know, I guess in an ideal world, it goes Reddick in RF, Crisp in center, and some combo of Moss/Fuld in left. Then Vogt or Nate Freiman plays first and Jaso is at the DH.

>I don't know, I guess in an ideal world, it goes Reddick in
>RF, Crisp in center, and some combo of Moss/Fuld in left. Then
>Vogt or Nate Freiman plays first and Jaso is at the DH.

That makes sense. Both Gentry's hand and Crisp's neck are the kind of volatile injuries that a smart team hedges against. And Milone was like multiple blocked in the Oakland rotation. Still seems like a bit much to give up for Fuld. Maybe the Yankees aren't as in on a playoff run as they sounded? He'd have fit there.

They were probably unsure whether or not they'd be able to get some innings for Alex Meyer this year and wanted make sure that they got their appearance from somebody that has represented DC.

2007 - Ramon Ortiz
2008 - Livan Hernandez
2009 - Luis Ayala
2010 - Jon Rauch/Matt Capps
2011 - Matt Capps
2012 - Jason Marquis/Matt Capps
2013 - Shairon Martis (And Jamey Carroll)

I blame the Alfonso Soriano deal falling through in 2006 to explain why that didn't work out. I'm sure that Nationals would have thrown in a lefty reliever like Mike Stanton or Joey Eischen or something.

Will he even be around next year?

>Will he even be around next year?

He'll be arbitration eligible for the first time next year. They'll have him through 2018 at arb prices if they want him.

And it's reasonable to hope that they will. He'd be the 2nd or 3rd best pitcher in our current rotation.

y

damn...they finally gave up on Craig...I gotta say I'm not surprised.

For Craig and Kelly?!? I kind of like the sneaky buy low on Craig, he just seems like the kind of guy who goes to Boston and has his OPS jump 100 points. And the fans will, uh, love him.

Lackey could probably use the change of scenery.

He had a Tommy John clause in his contract which knocked the last year of the deal down to just 500,000 bucks.

I mean fuck Lackey, but here's to Craig getting traded before he could get out of his funk!


"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard

.

and old ass mediocre pitcher? But I guess Craig is not that young and its almost August and at some point his "slump" becomes just a bad season, baseball is funny, a guy can be at an all-star level one year and completely fall the next at age 30. Kelly had his ups and downs too.

Lackey is pretty much the consolation prize for missing out on Price and Lester I guess.

I guess this move gets my avi in the lineup every day now too...

this was Mozeliak saying to Matheny..."oh so you can't make up your mind? Don't know who to play in right? Flip flopping these dudes daily even though Craig is struggling mightily? I'll make it easy for you. PLAY THE FUCKING KID EVERYDAY!!" I'm sure Mo really like Craig, but Tavares is HIS GUY. He has put his name behind Tavares big time and Matheny wasn't really playing him. You can't have Tavares up there to not play...you just can't. Mo ran a power move.

>this was Mozeliak saying to Matheny..."oh so you can't make
>up your mind? Don't know who to play in right? Flip flopping
>these dudes daily even though Craig is struggling mightily?
>I'll make it easy for you. PLAY THE FUCKING KID EVERYDAY!!"
>I'm sure Mo really like Craig, but Tavares is HIS GUY. He has
>put his name behind Tavares big time and Matheny wasn't really
>playing him. You can't have Tavares up there to not
>play...you just can't. Mo ran a power move.

Being bad in a good division but having a lot of desirable trade assets is a nice spot to be on the last day in July. That's easier said that done though. Having good players is usually a real obstacle to sucking.

That just seems odd, even if they're setting themselves up well.

Sets themselves up nicely for next year if they can land a top of the rotation starter via a trade or free agency.

http://i.imgur.com/bobDaEO.png

NOW>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MOST CERTAINTY WILL BE MOVED>
gotta love the internet

Not sure what the Dodgers hangup was but if we get this done I wouldnt be mad at all. No problem resigning him either.

You'd think that us getting Lester would raise the price (dumb unintended pun) for the Tigers. But who knows?

He's essentially been deemed off limits.

The Tigers always seem to surprise me on the trade market, but that cupboard looks... really bare. Not a lot going on in Detroit's system. So if they called and Tampa Bay said "Drew Smyly" instead of simply looking at Detroit's farm system and hanging up, that's probably a discussion you continue.

Delightful!

http://deadspin.com/jim-bowden-caught-stealing-from-fake-twitter-account-d-1614081824

Kinda feel for him, though. That fake Joel Sherman Twitter account isn't really an obvious parody (at least it doesn't seem like it from that tweet.)

Deletes his default photo then changes his Twitter handle as if that's going to result in all of his followers suddenly not knowing who he is or even unfollowing him

this is great

Or like all of my passwords.

>Deletes his default photo then changes his Twitter handle as
>if that's going to result in all of his followers suddenly not
>knowing who he is or even unfollowing him

He hits RHP and plays good d, which are the 2 big things Khris Davis doesn't do well. It's a good depth move. I'd love to see them make more of an impact play, like grabbing, I can't believe I'm saying this, Adam Dunn, but they have nothing in the minors. I'm surprised they even had enough to get Parra.

Team is basically getting a serviceable body to put at 2B. Cabrera will be fine in the field, I'm sure. Last two seasons he's sporting a robust .700 OPS. That clears about .70 points over Espinosa this year.

Right-side Espinosa has hit .295/.375/.474 so far this year though. I thought they might try a switch-hit platoon with him and Walters, but this is the move.

So it's Price or bust. If a deal has been brokered, they're probably waiting for Smyly to be done for the day and announce the trade. He's the one they would move for Price.

probably all of MLB.

Jackson goes to Seattle, and Nick Franklin to TB. Good move for almost everyone, though Raji Davis has to be an everyday CF now.

Apparently Beane offered them Addison Russell a while ago for him. That seemed like a better haul.

Seems like the A's were the only team that traded talent for talent.

usually they're duds.

When the Red Sox traded Nomar and revamped their infield.

but for personal reasons of course.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140617/SPORTS02/306170103/detroit-tigers-prospects-willy-adames

Willy Adames: One of the youngest players in the Midwest League, Adames assumed the role of everyday shortstop after Curt Powell was promoted to Lakeland because of an injury to Erie’s Devon Travis very early in the season. Adames had never played in America, only the Tigers’ Dominican Summer League affiliate. Tigers prospects often stop in the short-season Gulf Coast League or Connecticut, honing their skills for full-season baseball. But Adames took the bull by the horns and showed he belonged from day one, even at the age of 18.

At the plate, Adames starts with a wide base and the bat on his back shoulder. He has a toe-tap load mechanism, gets his hands into a strong hitting position and generates “plus” bat speed through the zone. He has some pop in the bat and is able to barrel up pitches.

So far, the young infielder has put up a .260/.333/.402 line, with an 8.9% walk rate. Hitting for power and walking as a teenager is always a good sign.

Adames has the lateral movement and quickness to play shortstop right now. However, he has strong, thick legs, and at 6-feet-1 and 175 pounds, some scouts think he could move to third base in the future. Regardless, Adames has a first-division starter ceiling, something that cannot be said about many Tigers positional prospects, and you should see him in the top 10 of prospect lists as early as this off-season.

Provided Iglesias returns (no reason to think he wont) Adames had a log jam in front of him

And this is without me even hearing what the Tigers gave up in exchange.

Oh no. That was unexpected. There is a bit of a backlog in the outfield now with JD Martinez playing so well.

never saw that before.

This is a pretty good trade.

-------------------------------------------------------
Keep the crack raps up that shit is double plus what-ever-the-fuck.
Everybody's afraid to say that it just sucks to watch talented motherfuckers pretending they sell drugs - EL-P

>Lester is somewhere
>
>Will Kemp go?
>
>Will Price go?
>
>Will Cole go?
>
>Will someone we dont care about go?


http://i41.tinypic.com/4incbm.jpg
Use rep code JR9103 for 25% off @ www.karmaloop.com

Not sure that's how they wanted to go about it

I understand being hesitant though to trade one of our prime prospects..

I would have sent them Seager ..maybe even and Guerrero too....


but a nice deal for the Tigers...

*tries to find more room in eyeballs for more toothpicks*

Cosart, Hernandez, Wates from #Astros to #Marlins for Marisnick, Moran, comp pick and a young pitcher.

The much got lost in the Price to Detroit shuffle.

It was all good for Rays just yesterday.

http://deadspin.com/did-espn-get-fooled-by-a-fake-twitter-account-reporting-1614166900

.

if it's on Twitter first, you're beat to the story and not breaking anything. so...you probably want to maybe make a call or two before you announce it on the nation's biggest sports media platform.

did random people prank-call ESPN 20 years ago and they immediately run whatever they just heard? because that's basically what goes on now.

Like 10 seconds of cross-referencing on Twitter and Google could tell you that all of those accounts were bogus. But MLB Network, ESPN, and Jim Bowden all just couldn't be bothered to look at the damn Twitter handles and were like, "I didn't think Ken Rosenthal had 3 underscores in his Twitter name, or only a few hundred followers, but it must be him because he's got the scoop."

Why else would his avatar, account handle, and name all change like that? I mean you would have to be a crazy person to do all of that yourself. And I guess the hacker went in and stole that unsourced Tweet from fake Joel Sherman. Hackers are always doing that. Accessing your account and then doing your job, but doing it really poorly such as relying on a fake source and then not attributing it. He's kind of a joke already, so I bet this blows over.

I know somebody that works with him on occasion, so I will see if I can get any intel on this though