If there were an 'Official A's Thread'

[Donuthole]

it would bear mentioning that Matt Holliday went 0-7 yesterday in the loss to Seattle. Isn't this the guy Beane gave up some of Oakland's top prospects for in hope of "flipping" him later this year for a "profit"? Though the season is young, that's not looking like the best move so far. I mean, who could've known that Holliday's stats were inflated from playing half his games at Coors?

[Hot Lunch]

it would bear mentioning that Matt Holliday went 0-7 yesterday in the loss to Seattle. Isn't this the guy Beane gave up some of Oakland's top prospects for in hope of "flipping" him later this year for a "profit"? Though the season is young, that's not looking like the best move so far. I mean, who could've known that Holliday's stats were inflated from playing half his games at Coors?

He will be flipped by mid June for a less than what he was purchased for. That is my prediction.

[DU Ute]

In 2 years Carlos Gonzalez will be putting up better numbers than Holliday, maybe sooner.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Carlos Gonzalez has zero plate discipline. I would be very surprised if he ends up being half the player of Matt Holiday. Even in the A's farm system, a system that focus in on plate discipline, he wasn't able to develop any.

Gonzalez was the only decent prospect in that trade. Greg Smith had a career year that he will never duplicate. His ERA was good but all of his peripherals suggest he will never put up a year like that again. Murton is nothing special and was just a throw in. Huston Street is a middle reliever that had some success as a closer but was easily figured out and has sucked this year.

The A's will absolutely get more than they gave up when they trade Holliday. It won't even be tough to swing a deal that gets at least a Carlos Gonzalez level prospect.

Yes, the A's anticipated that Holliday's numbers were inflated by Coors Field, that is why they likely looked at park adjusted stats in making the trade. Yes, Holliday has struggled a bit this year, but it was still a very good trade that will pay off for the A's.

[MartyFunkhouser]

it would bear mentioning that Matt Holliday went 0-7 yesterday in the loss to Seattle. Isn't this the guy Beane gave up some of Oakland's top prospects for in hope of "flipping" him later this year for a "profit"? Though the season is young, that's not looking like the best move so far. I mean, who could've known that Holliday's stats were inflated from playing half his games at Coors?

By the way it was 1 top prospect and a bunch of overvalued prospects. There was a reason that you couldn't find a single good baseball analyst criticizing the trade. Holliday's park adjusted stats were still very impressive.

[DU Ute]

Gonzalez was pressing too much in the bigs last year, 22 year olds will do that, but he has walked about once every 10 PAs in the minors this year and last. That's a good ratio for someone so young. I don't think he'll put up the numbers Holliday did in Colorado in his prime, but I really think he'll be putting up better numbers than Holliday, wherever he is, in a couple of years and a much better price. Tell me again how you feel about this trade when Holliday ends the year with 15 HRs and a .270 average and not even Beane can get anything of value for him.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Gonzalez was pressing too much in the bigs last year, 22 year olds will do that, but he has walked about once every 10 PAs in the minors this year and last. That's a good ratio for someone so young. I don't think he'll put up the numbers Holliday did in Colorado in his prime, but I really think he'll be putting up better numbers than Holliday, wherever he is, in a couple of years and a much better price. Tell me again how you feel about this trade when Holliday ends the year with 15 HRs and a .270 average and not even Beane can get anything of value for him.

I would absolutely be shocked if Beane cannot get anything of value for Holliday. We are talking about 90 PAs so far this year. The guy will start hitting soon and have a lot of value at the trade deadline. It won't be hard to get at least one prospect of Gonzalez's value out of Holliday.

In the scenario that you presented the A's probably could re-sign him at a bargain and take a risk that he will rebound in his career.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Kevin Goldstein on Gonzalez "Gonzalez has plenty of tools, but he had trouble showing anything with them in the big leagues, and his 'cruise control' mentality has now failed to endear him to two organizations."

[MartyFunkhouser]

A's are now on a 6-game winning streak. Here is hoping for a 2005 like turnaround for the Oakland A's.

Vin Mazzaro, the least heralded of the 3 A's pitching prospects, is now up to the big leagues and has been solid in his 2 starts. In fact, some scouting services weren't real high on Mazarro and didn't know what to make of his great minor league numbers.

In 2 starts:
13.2 IP
.878 WHIP
0 Earned Runs
5 Ks
4 BB

The BB are a little concerning and I would love to see more K's, but he is looking good early on.

Crazy to think the A's rotation right now is Braden (25), Cahill (21), Anderson (21), Outman (24), and Mazzaro (22). The average age of the starters is 22.6 years old. The number of starts that the current pitching staff had prior to this season was 24 for Braden and 4 for Outman; Cahill, Anderson, and Mazzaro didn't have a single start before this year.

Hopefully the young pitchers can become solid starters and we can add our ace, Ynoa in a couple of years. A's have acquired a lot of good young pitching talent, it is now time to focus in on hitters with the Holliday deal.

[JohnnyLingo]

mpfunk, do you intentionally select teams like the A's and Trailblazers because they are young and completely unproven?

[MartyFunkhouser]

mpfunk, do you intentionally select teams like the A's and Trailblazers because they are young and completely unproven?

No, I'm a Blazers fan because I lived in Portland. I'm an A's fan because of Moneyball. When I started rooting for the A's they were not young and unproven. They were a good team with 3 great pitchers.

[DU Ute]

No, I'm a Blazers fan because I lived in Portland. I'm an A's fan because of Moneyball. When I started rooting for the A's they were not young and unproven. They were a good team with 3 great pitchers.

Hey, Funk! The Rockies just called up Gonzalez. I'm sure you're excited to see what this kid is really made of.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Hey, Funk! The Rockies just called up Gonzalez. I'm sure you're excited to see what this kid is really made of.

I have no ill will towards Gonzalez, just not sure if he will ever live up to his potential.