[Editor's note: A big welcome to Jake, our newest SFist contributor]
Oakland A's fans everywhere should be forgiven for the fit they threw on December 18, 2004. Just two days after trading Tim Hudson to Atlanta for three guys we'd never heard of, the A's traded Mark Mulder to St. Louis for two other guys we'd never heard of, plus Kiko Calero. It was a dark day. Night. Whatever.
Most of us have calmed down, but on Hegenberger Rd. it's a brave new world for 2005. Pitchers (minus Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder) and catchers reported last week,and conventional wisdom picks the A's, who finished one (winnable) game behind Anaheim in 2004, to finish last in the AL West. Conventional wisdom sucks, though, so let's take a look at Billy Beane's One Crazy Green and Gold Winter and see what to expect in 2005.
We won't miss Mark Redman, Arthur Rhodes, Jim Mecir, Chris Hammond, and Damian Miller. SFist does have a soft spot for Vacaville's own Jermaine Dye, who had 59 RBI in 61 games with the A's in 2001, but in 2004 he played like it was company-picnic softball and he was drunk. So far, so good.
We will miss Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, who are great. Mulder makes good hitters look bad; Hudson makes them look worse. Eric Chavez called Hudson the heart and soul of the A's; Billy Beane compared him to Dave Stewart. Neither pitcher is exactly coming off a career year, but this space will not claim that trading them was savvy, or that it removed an albatross from around anyone's neck.
But here's what the A's added (rage... subsiding...):
Relief pitchers:
Juan Cruz
Kiko Calero
Keiichi Yabu
Tim Harikkala
Remember that one game that separated the A's from the Angels last year? The bullpen lost it. Over, and over, and over. Like Susan Slusser sez, Calero and Cruz setting up for Octavio Dotel means fewer starters kicking things in the dugout.
Starting pitchers:
Dan Meyer
Danny Haren
We don't know the difference between Meyer and Haren, but Karl Ravech says they and Joe Blanton will start the third, fourth and fifth games of the season. All three have impressed in spring workouts, but they're all, like, twelve years old, so we'll see.
OF: Charles Thomas
Thomas was one of the three guys we'd never heard of who came from Atlanta in the Hudson trade. We should have, though. He hit .288 and made some great defensive plays in his rookie year, and his team made the playoffs.
IF: Keith Ginter
Apparently there's an NL team called the Milwaukee Brewers, and someone named Keith Ginter played for them last season.
Kendall's legit. He can hit, catch, throw, and run. Plus, adding his contract in an otherwise cost-cutting winter suggests the A'sdon't plan to turn into Kendall's last team.
So, the Coliseum's other tenants won't suck the A's down to their level this year (of course, we've underestimated the Warriors' sucking powers before). Barry Zito has something to prove. Rich Harden throws really hard. Mark Ellis is healthy; Bobby Crosby should improve; Nick Swisher should contend for Rookie of the Year. Is that enough to hang with the Mariners, who added Richie Sexson (meh) and Adrian Beltre (gulp)? The Angels, who added Steve Finley and Orlando Cabrera, and who probably got rid of Troy Percival at the right time? The Rangers, who didn't make any significant changes but whose good young players probably got a year better? That's why they play the games. See you on the BART bridge.
-- SFist Jake, contributing
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Mark Muldfer said today on KNBR that Hardin had bettr stuff than the other three...put together. Mulder was unstinting in his praise of Hardin's "stuff". It is "electric" and Mulder thinks Hardin is ready to step up to #1 slot.
We should keep in mind the possibility that Zito, Thomas, Ellis, Dotel, etc. have already peaked, and so have you, Jake.