37 replies to this topic

[nickalero99]

Seems like there are going to be quality arms that fall short again this year.  I was assuming they would not re-sign Colon or McCarthy in order to make the rotation Anderson-Parker-Milone-Griffin-Straily.  A formidable rotation of young guys.  Now it seems like one of the last three listed is going to miss out barring injuries.  Any projections or insights as far as how it will pan out?

[baltimore_boy]

Who did they sign? I don't remember seeing anything. If they did sign someone, then I would guess Straily is the odd one out.

[parrothead]

baltimore_boy, on 28 December 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Who did they sign? I don't remember seeing anything. If they did sign someone, then I would guess Straily is the odd one out.

They re-signed Colon pretty early on in the offseason.  Straily wasnt that spectacular in his performances in the bigs, I also remember he was the guy they were trying to trade when they went after Hanley Ramirez so maybe they are not fully confident in him as slam dunk no question rotation guy.  Injuries often happen too and Colon is 40 years old, so its not like these guys are all lock 200 IP guys and nobody can crack the rotation.

[cyberer]

Don't they have brad peacock too?

[baltimore_boy]

parrothead, on 28 December 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

baltimore_boy, on 28 December 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Who did they sign? I don't remember seeing anything. If they did sign someone, then I would guess Straily is the odd one out.

They re-signed Colon pretty early on in the offseason.  Straily wasnt that spectacular in his performances in the bigs, I also remember he was the guy they were trying to trade when they went after Hanley Ramirez so maybe they are not fully confident in him as slam dunk no question rotation guy.  Injuries often happen too and Colon is 40 years old, so its not like these guys are all lock 200 IP guys and nobody can crack the rotation.

I must have missed that. Either way, Straily will go back down unless an injury or he is great in the spring. It's a nice situation for the A's. I also wouldn't be surprised to see one of them traded at some point this year. The A's could use another solid bat to pencil in behind Cespedes, Reddick, and the Carter/Moss combo.

[kobe24]

Why the hell did they resign colon?

[AnonymousRob]

Anderson
Parker
Colon
Milone
Straily/Peacock/Griffin (with my guess being Griffin)

My best guess right now. We'll see how well some of the less proven arms pitch come spring training.

[AnonymousRob]

kobe24, on 28 December 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

Why the hell did they resign colon?

Why not? If he's still able to pitch like last year, that's very valuable. There's concern his age will take a toll and/or without drugs he won't be effective. But if he can pitch similar to 2012, that's always needed on any team. 200 innings of mid 3 era will help any rotation. For 3 million dollars it's about as low risk a gamble a team can make.

[kobe24]

Just doesn't make sense to me. This is a young and up and coming team and colon is going on 40. They also have plenty of young arms ready for the majors like Griffin and straily who need experience

[AnonymousRob]

kobe24, on 28 December 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

Just doesn't make sense to me. This is a young and up and coming team and colon is going on 40. They also have plenty of young arms ready for the majors like Griffin and straily who need experience

You can never have too many quality arms. Injuries will happen. Some guys won't perform well. And if all the pitchers are doing well and manage to stay healthy, you can trade some of them for other holes as the season progresses.

Prior to getting suspended, Colon pitched 152 innings. He went 10-9 with a 3.43 era. If Milone, Straily, or one of the other mid to back end starters did that you'd be hard pressed to say it wasn't needed. So why the hang up with Colon? Because he's old? Who cares what his age is? If he can be productive, welcome to the team. Oakland doesn't have the luxury of dropping big money at every arm. They have to take inexpensive gambles that could offer some major bang for the buck.

When Blanton, Liriano, and other mediocre arms are signing for 7-8 million dollars a year, signing a guy for 3 million who can do the same thing (or better) is an absolute no brainer. It potentially buys the team a great deal of flexibility at a ridiculously low price. If he can repeat last year's results imo it's going to be one of the bigger steals of the offseason. If he falters for whatever reason? Great, call up the youngins.

[parrothead]

cyberer, on 28 December 2012 - 11:37 AM, said:

Don't they have brad peacock too?

he had a 6ERA last year in Sacramento.  Had k per 9 and like 12 wins, but 6era and 1.5 whip, he will need more seasoning.

[Nick Mitchell]

parrothead, on 28 December 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

baltimore_boy, on 28 December 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Who did they sign? I don't remember seeing anything. If they did sign someone, then I would guess Straily is the odd one out.

They re-signed Colon pretty early on in the offseason.  Straily wasnt that spectacular in his performances in the bigs, I also remember he was the guy they were trying to trade when they went after Hanley Ramirez so maybe they are not fully confident in him as slam dunk no question rotation guy.  Injuries often happen too and Colon is 40 years old, so its not like these guys are all lock 200 IP guys and nobody can crack the rotation.

This.

Without reading the rest of the thread, I would assume Straily will be among 2 or 3 others competing for the 4 and 5 spots. I expect him to wind up in the pen to start the year, but the chance Colon can give the A's 200 innings is like 2%. If he wins just 10 games again and pitches 140 innings, I think they would be happy...

And there's also that huge chance they deal Colon by the break- the A's might take a big step back this year (even though I like their team, you have to admit it) and he could be just another piece to move for Beane, and Straily or whoever would enter the rotation then...

Really, it's kind of a new trend in MLB. I start to wonder: is the 6-man rotation coming soon? Look at even some of the weak teams. Take the Cubs for perfect example. They have 6-7 capable rotation arms right now, and guys like Bowden and Loux who could be #5 starters for good teams (more so Bowden, IMO, but Loux could still have a future as a back-end guy...) projected to the pen or AAA (Bowden was said to be getting a shot to crack the rotation and was stretched out over the winter, but I have not heard a word of that since the Cubs signed went and signed 3 or 4 SP). They may not all be great- but they are all serviceable pitchers, and in the NL, I would like to see how a guy like Feldman could respond (perhaps a turnaround similar to Lohse? Most of Feldman's peripherals in Texas had gotten better since his 17-win year, that's the funny thing). Same goes to Baker, once he is fully recovered and if he slots into the rotation.

Teams are just stockpiling pitching. Look at the Cards last yr too. Some of the teams, I can't even keep up- they have when seems like an endless supply of #3 pitchers (or better) and half of 'em are under 25 and being built up and kept in the pen for now. The Yankees too.... they had enough depth where losing their big trade ticket for a year+ hasn't really hurt them much at all....

I could go on and on, but I would want to start pulling depth charts up then...

Truth is, injuries just happen all the damn time and I think teams are insuring themselves a lot more these days.

[Nick Mitchell]

AnonymousRob, on 28 December 2012 - 04:33 PM, said:

kobe24, on 28 December 2012 - 04:28 PM, said:

Why the hell did they resign colon?

Why not? If he's still able to pitch like last year, that's very valuable. There's concern his age will take a toll and/or without drugs he won't be effective. But if he can pitch similar to 2012, that's always needed on any team. 200 innings of mid 3 era will help any rotation. For 3 million dollars it's about as low risk a gamble a team can make.

I agree with re-signing Colon (I would actually have made him a priority over McCarthy, given how many young arms the A's have and McCarthy's durability issues and costlier price-tag).

If the A's do fall back to earth a bit, he could make a great trade chip if he can just keep his ERA under 4.00 heading into the break. Teams like the Cardinals and others are always looking for cheap innings-eaters to spot in mid-season, after a guy like Jaime Garcia's shoulder has fallen off or whatever (just using the Cards as an example here, because they always seem to acquire a SP at the deadline or three).

I do not foresee 200 IP from Colon in any situation. That's where I disagree. But it is a harmless signing. And it doesn't hurt to have at least one vet with his credentials in the rotation with so many young guns on that staff.

[Nick Mitchell]

Also, Rob was dead-on when he mentioned how Colon is making 3mil while guys like Blanton are being paid 8. Beane jumped on Colon before the market could dictate himself- smart move honestly.

[vornporn]

I am concerned about the mounting injuries, but damn, how about them A's? What a game!

[Oriole Way]

Nick Mitchell, on 29 December 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Also, Rob was dead-on when he mentioned how Colon is making 3mil while guys like Blanton are being paid 8. Beane jumped on Colon before the market could dictate himself- smart move honestly.

I wouldn't pay either of them.

[AnonymousRob]

Oriole Way, on 13 April 2013 - 01:27 AM, said:

Nick Mitchell, on 29 December 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Also, Rob was dead-on when he mentioned how Colon is making 3mil while guys like Blanton are being paid 8. Beane jumped on Colon before the market could dictate himself- smart move honestly.

I wouldn't pay either of them.

3 million is a lot of money to us folks in the normal world but it's nothing in mlb terms. It's far from a sure thing Colon can repeat last year. But if he can approach last year's numbers and innings, that's something every team in baseball can use.

It's such a relatively inexpensive gamble. When you're a small market team these are the kinds of moves/gambles you have to make. It helps take pressure off the kids to start the year. And maybe after being in the majors so long he can offer some advice/insight to the rest of the rotation.

I can tell you I'm a lot happier with Colon at his price than I would be with CJ Wilson, Dan Haren, Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett at their salary.

Tampa, Miami, and Houston are the only teams with a lower budget than Oakland this year.

Edited by The Harsh, 13 April 2013 - 11:24 AM.
Please avoid the personal angles.

[Sine_cera]

This team sure knows how to make pitchers work and draw a walk. The BB% must be up to 11% after this game. I'm loving it.

[Fenam]

On behalf of fans everywhere, I am sorry Athletics fans. Worst call I've seen in awhile. Joyce's call on Galarraga's "perfect" game comes to mind but at least Joyce didn't have a chance to review it with multiple broadcasts.

Disgusting.

[6 toe lezcano]

No doubt.  That whole umpire crew deserves to be suspended.  Give them a couple of weeks off to think about it.  Absolutely horrible.