Bringing the "A" Game - An Oakland Dynasty

[riafkcin]

The Memoirs of Nick James

If you would have asked me before the start of the 2011 baseball season if I was going to manage a major league ball club, I would have laughed and joked around about my online fantasy league. But when a good friend of mine, Cecil Workman, bought the Oakland Athletics, I was apparently number one on his list to manage to ball club. I guess it must have been my 5 year win streak in the fantasy league we played in together. But whatever the reason was, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Now instead of looking at projected stats and ranking players for the upcoming fantasy draft, I'm pouring over scouting reports, looking at team financials, and gearing up for a grueling 162 game season. And believe me, it will be grueling. Don't get me wrong, I think the club has potential to be great, but potential is all they have right now. Especially by the way they played in Spring Training, it was down right ugly. Hard part is, Cecil expects the team to have a winning record. You gotta love the man's optimism.

So I did something any good manager would have done in my situation, make a trade. I spent the last few weeks of spring training on the phone with other ball clubs day and night to try and swing a deal. I didn't think I could make anything happen till the day before our opener I managed to come to agreements with the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox. I sent 31 year old center fielder Coco Crisp and 24 year old prospect second basemen Jemile Weeks to Seattle for 23 year old prospect second baseman Dustin Ackley, 24 year old third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo, and 29 year old reliever Chris Ray. With Chicago I sent 32 year old left fielder Josh Willingham, 31 year old right fielder David DeJesus, and 26 year old starter Josh Outman for 25 year old right fielder Lastings Milledge, 32 year old right fielder Ryan Church, and 32 year old second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

I felt the moves put our team in a better position to win next year while still being competetive this year. That, and it lowered the payroll from $71,518,550 to $61,378,833 even after signing 28 year old starter Jeremy Bonderman, 30 year old reliever Edwar Ramirez, and 27 year old reliever Charlie Haeger from free agency. The local sports media gave mixed reactions to the trades and signings calling them all "minor" deals that won't have too much of an effect on the team. I thought the moves were the best thing since sliced bread, but who cares what I think.

As I pencil in the lineup for today's opener against the Mariners, I take a moment to look around the club house and enjoy something I had only dreamed about growing up. I couldn't help but smile as my players headed out towards the field to start their pregame in front of their own fans. I can only hope we don't dissapoint them and that my trades don't haunt me in the end.

Starting Lineup
1. Lastings Milledge RF
2. Cliff Pennington SS
3. Daric Barton 1B
4. Hideki Matsui DH
5. Conor Jackson LF
6. Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
7. Ryan Sweeney CF
8. Kurt Suzuki C
9. Mark Ellis 2B

After the game the mood in the locker room was a lot different than earlier that day. Heads were hung low and nobody dared to talk. Reporters were lined up outside the doors waiting for the first interviews of the season, but the players were in no hurry to greet them. Especially Brett Anderson who gave up all of the Mariners 5 runs in 6.1 innings on 5 hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. I thought he pitched well and said so during the press conference. If it wasn't for his breakdown in the 5th inning where he gave up 4 runs, we would have won. But the media wouldn't let me off that easy. They demanded answers on how I planned to fix the team's lack of offensive power after trading away their only hope in Josh Willingham. But I stayed optimistic and praised the team for scraping together 4 runs against the toughest pitcher in the league, Felix Hernandez. We will just have to wait and see how things turn out down the long stretch.

[riafkcin]

After dropping 2 of 3 against the Mariners, the team rallied against the Blue Jays to win two in a row. I will admit the team had me worried there for a bit, but when you look in the standings and see your team with a winning percentage over .500 (3-2), you seem to forget all the little problems. The offense spurred by Daric Barton, Conor Jackson, and Kevin Kouzmanoff has managed to score 9 runs in both wins against Toronto. It sure has lessened the media's scrutiny about acquiring a big offensive bat.

The biggest thing on my plate right now is trying to figure out who to send down to the minors on the 9th when the team will need a 5th starter. Two names come to mind and right now I'm at a loss as to who I should send packing. Ackley or Iwamura? On one hand I love Ackley's hustle and motivation, but I really think not starting every day might hurt his development. Then there is Iwamura, who has a lot of heart, but I'm just not sure he can step up when I need him too. I laugh when I say this, but it will probably come down to a coin toss. I know, pretty bad right?

Oh, one last thing before I sign off... Cecil has been pretty secretive lately and it has me worried a little bit, always saying he's busy and putting me off. When I asked his personal assistant about it, she said he had been on the phone with Baltimore's GM for the last few days, been talking non stop about Vladimir. As much as I would love his bat in the lineup, his $8,000,000 contract would be a lot to take on leaving little room to acquire anyone come the trading deadline if we need a piece of the puzzle. It's his team though, I guess I'm just here to manage it if he chooses to make that decision.

[Tom the Fish]

Iwamura is with the Eagles in Japan now, and I know he's been with them since the beginning of the year. Is he in the MLB start? Or is there another Iwamura?

I kinda wanted him to come back to the Swallows, where he was amazing (44 HR one year) but he's having an awful year over in Tohoku, so I don't mind so much anymore.

Tom

[riafkcin]

Yeah Akinori Iwamura is in the quickstart on the White Sox roster. He's rated pretty decent too, albeit not much power, but he adds good depth. I never knew he had that much power ever, just always seemed liked a toolsy infielder to me.

[Tom the Fish]

He was a 30+HR gold glove 3b for the Swallows for 4 years or so.

Ah, here's his stats in English for the ***. Looks like he struck out a lot as well.

Register : Iwamura, Akinori (Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles)

Tom

[riafkcin]

Pitching, pitching, PITCHING! I'm so fustrated with our starters not being able to make it past the 5th inning lately. Most of it is because of bonehead errors, which set up the huge run scoring innings, but it's still the guy on the mounds responsibility to pull it together and get the next out. Right? Anyways, Gio Gonzalez, who was designated as the ace of the staff, has an ERA of 5.72, and the combined ERA of Trevor Cahill and Dallas Braden is well over 6 while they figure out who wants the be my 5th starter. If it wasn't for the amazing job the bullpen has done, we would up a creek without a paddle right now. Well, save for Andrew Bailey who hasn't been able to find his old self after returning from the DL, losing his closer job to Brian Fuentes who was already doing a stellar job filling in the role. The biggest surprise though has been Jeremy Bonderman. Originally signed to be a spot starter and fill the 5th slot till Rich Harden returned, Bonderman has pitched his way into a permanent spot. He looks more like his earlier self when he was with the Tigers going 4-2 with an ERA of 2.55.

As for the offense, it's a sad thing to watch. Too many missed opportunities have been killing us. On the 23rd of April, Cecil did what he promised he would by trading a struggling Hideki Matsui for Vladimir Guerrero. The fans we excited and so was I. But here we are, nearly a month later and Vlad still has not hit a single homerun in 106 at bats in an A's uniform. Granted he still has .321 AVG, but I'm pretty sure Cecil traded for his homeruns. The biggest disappointment though has been Lastings Milledge who is batting .238. I just dont think he feels comfortable batting in the leadoff spot and I'm thinking about dropping him to the seventh slot to see how he responds.

It's May 20th now and the team is 2 games back with a record of 21-24. I know the team is better than that though, we just need to click. The decision I was having a hard time with last time was a tough one to make. But after sitting down in my office with both Ackley and Iwamura, we agreed it would be better for Ackley to play full time in AAA. At the big league level though he went 3-9 with 2 of his hits being doubles. I can't wait to see what the kid can do when he has the chance to come back full time. On another note, our AAA affiliate has been hyping the performance of Sean Doolittle. The guy has just been punishing the ball there and it's got me thinking about bringing him up to taste major league pitching. But with Daric Barton hitting a solid .274, 4 HR, and 27 RBI, it would only mean split time. I can't really do anything anyways yet till our starters get deeper into games because I can't afford to send down a reliever right now as the bullpen is getting over worked as it is. For now, all eyes are on the upcoming Amateur Draft where the scouts have been working overtime coming up with lists.

[riafkcin]

So much for Bonderman's run of luck as he gave up 6 earned runs in the first inning against the Giants. With a tired bullpen I had to leave him in there and continue to get lit up for a few more innings. As the story has been unfolding so far, the bullpen combined to pitch 6 innings and only gave up 1 hit and 1 walk. Too add insult to injury in the loss, Barry Zito, an ex Athletic, pitched a one hit shutout striking out 6 to pick up his 4th win of the season. I'm not sure if it was his stuff working well, or if our team gave up after that horrendus first inning. If there are any more games like that one, I'll die of a heart attack from yelling so much.

In other news, Vladimir finally flexed his muscles hitting a 3 run homerun that sailed over the center field fence 423 feet. Guess who he hit it off of... His old team, the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. Before the game, fans were giving him applause and seeking autographs. I think the attention took a bit of the stress off him and he was able to focus more at the plate. You could definately see a difference as he was smiling and joking around in the dugout the entire game. Not only did he hit the one, he added another in the 6th which increased the lopsided score to 11-0. I hope that after LA, Guerrero keeps that homerun stroke.

[riafkcin]

It's draft day today and the office looks like a war room. Hundred of names are written on a white board in respective order on who our scouts think is the most talented. Even though I haven't paid much attention till now, there was no escaping one neame. Armando Murna. If you think Bryce Harper's name was big last year, Murna puts his hype to shame. The guy didn't even start playing baseball till his junior year in high school, focusing only football till then, but in 5 short years he has show scouts something they haven't seen since Mickey Mantle in his prime. A 20 year old in his junior year of college at Texas University, Murna led the NCAA in batting average, homeruns, stolen bases, and came in third for the lead for RBI. The only weakness that scouts could pinpoint was his patience at the plate and his defensive ability in center. Too bad we don't have the first pick, that belongs to Houston, because this kid will be a legend if he lives up to the hype.

With the 9th selection in the first round, the Oakland Athletics drafted 18 year old third baseman Ze Peltier out of a high school in Southern California. Brazilian born, Peltier came over to the states seven years ago along with his father who was signed by the MLS soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy. Just like his father, Peltier was a highly touted soccer player throughout high school. But it was on the baseball field where this kid shined. Great athleticism, hand eye coordination, and raw power are all strong points. The kid even knows how to play every infield position as well. I have him projected to crack the starting lineup at age 22 and come close to a .330-20 HR-30 SB line when he gets settled in.

With the 9th selection in the second round, the Oakland Atheltics drafted 17 year old right fielder Jim "The Bird" Fowler out of a private high school in Nevada. Fowler was known for the long ball and is built like a heavy weight boxer. Some say his all for nothing approach will fail at the big league level, especially transfering over to wood bats, but when you see any 17 year old blast 21 homeruns in 38 games, you have to pull the trigger and take the chance.

The rest of the draft was finished by selecting a 17 year old unpolished pitcher name Fernando Galindo, 17 year old future gold glove winning shortstop Mark Acorn, and 21 year old college closer Ruben Garza. Overall the draft went fairly well, I had hope for better pitching to come out of it, but you take what you can get. My heart goes out to our newest A's and I wish them luck on their new journey through the farm system.