A's Brand Baseball: Game Over, Man
We've come to bury Ken Macha, not to praise him . . .
2005 was a down year for the A's, and they won 88 games. That's 3 fewer than they won in 2004--a year when they were expected to contend for the World Series.
Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder are starting in the playoffs for the Braves and Cardinals this week, and A's pitchers had the 6th-best staff ERA, and the lowest opponents' batting average, in major league baseball.
When the A's were busy going 7-20 in May, A's Brand Baseball expected neither that the green and gold would finish the season 14 games over .500 nor that we would find it a little disappointing when they did. After all, we've seen rebuilding teams in Oakland before--they don't usually find themselves tied for first place with two weeks left in the season. By any realistic measure, the 2005 campaign was a pleasant surprise and a wild success. Realism is for suckers, though, and anyway it doesn't fit with this space's purview, fanaticism. Our final narrative evaluations for the season, after the jump:
What worked:
Pitching, pitching, pitching. When he was healthy, Rich Harden overpowered the American
League. Barry Zito's W-L might suggest otherwise, but this season #75 returned to batter-embarrassing, world-beating, Cy-Young-contending, boy-crush-inspiring form. Danny Haren's and Country Joe Blanton's stats speak for themselves, but we can amplify them for you:
Haren, OAK: 217 IP, 163 K, 53 BB, 3.73 ERA
Blanton, OAK: 201.1 IP, 116 K, 67 BB, 3.53 ERA
Mulder, STL: 205 IP, 111 K, 70 BB, 3.64 ERA
Hudson, ATL: 192 IP, 115 K, 65 BB, 3.52 ERA
Wow.
The rookies. Little Nicky Swisher and Dan Johnson are major league hitters, who will only get better. See Country Joe's stats above. Huston Street was better than any of them and should win the AL Rookie of the Year.
The Mulder trade. Billy Beane deserves mad props for this one: Haren outpitched Mulder this season, for far less money, and is younger. In the deal, the A's also got solid relief work from Kiko Calero, and 1B/DH prospect Daric Barton, the onetime prize of the Cardinals' farm system, should start the season in AAA and see some major-league action in midsummer 2006.
What didn't work:
Well, pretty obviously, coaching. Ken Macha and hitting coach Dave Hudgens are gone, and we can't really imagine we'll miss them, especially because of . . .
Jason Kendall. A's Brand Baseball's friends, and anyone within shouting distance during a game this season, knows that Jason Kendall provided less offense per plate appearance, or per payroll dollar, than any other position player in 2005. Of 80 players in the AL with enough PAs to qualify for the batting title, guess where Kendall's OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) ranked? Yup. In 601 at-bats, Kendall hit fewer home runs than Keith Ginter (3) or AL pitcher C.C. Sabathia (1), and exactly as many (0) as Porter from Grateful Dogs, over there on the left side of your screen. Now, a down year from a 3-time All-Star is not necessarily the fault of the manager or hitting coach, but Kendall's backup, Adam Melhuse (2 HR), only saw 97 at-bats, and Kendall hit leadoff most of the season--and hit third in big games down the stretch. There's gotta be a better way.
The Hudson trade was every bit as bad as the Mulder trade was good. Shipping Huddy to Atlanta brought the A's Juan Cruz, Charles Thomas and Dan Meyer, who combined to give the A's not one meaningful major-league contribution.
In conclusion? It shoulda been worse, but it coulda been better. The 2006 season opens April 3, at home against the Yankees. Zito or Harden, we assume (0-0, 0.00) vs. Some Overpaid Jerk in Pinstripes. Go A's.