Oakland A's thread, or, How I Stopped Worrying and Love the Future Holliday Trade

[MartyFunkhouser]

I'm going to go ahead and start the official Oakland A's thread even though the season is basically already over.

Decent game from Vin Mazzaro in his first MLB start. The good 6.1 IP, no runs allowed. The bad: 4 BB, 1 SO.

He was the least heralded of the 3 top pitching prospects. Hopefully, he fares better than Cahill and Anderson have this year.

Good to see that Holliday is busting out of his early year slump. He has pulled is OPS+ up to 119. It is now a foregone conclusion that he will be traded soon, so it will be interesting to see what the A's can get out of him.

What a frustrating season this has been for the A's.

[RC Vikings]

Holliday was killing me on my fantasy team. This last month has been better but I'm still hoping he goes to the Yankee's or Texas.

[Donuthole]

There is already an official A's thread.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showth...6959#post76959

[DU Ute]

Good to see that Holliday is busting out of his early year slump. He has pulled is OPS+ up to 119. It is now a foregone conclusion that he will be traded soon, so it will be interesting to see what the A's can get out of him.

Meanwhile Carlos Gonzales is tearing it up in AAA Colorado Springs. Yeah, it's Colorado Springs and the PCL, but he's still only 23. If Beane can get more for Holliday than what he gave up he truly is an evil genius.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Meanwhile Carlos Gonzales is tearing it up in AAA Colorado Springs. Yeah, it's Colorado Springs and the PCL, but he's still only 23. If Beane can get more for Holliday than what he gave up he truly is an evil genius.

Just like he tore it up for Sacramento before coming up to the big leagues and sucking. Several organizations have given up on him already. I don't think it will be hard at all to get a lot more than Carlos Gonzalez out of Holliday.

[DU Ute]

Just like he tore it up for Sacramento before coming up to the big leagues and sucking. Several organizations have given up on him already. I don't think it will be hard at all to get a lot more than Carlos Gonzalez out of Holliday.

Yeah, a half a season at 22 means he will never make it. Matt Holliday had an OPS of .708 in AA when he was 23, I'm sure Gonzales will pan out just fine.

[DU Ute]

Just like he tore it up for Sacramento before coming up to the big leagues and sucking. Several organizations have given up on him already. I don't think it will be hard at all to get a lot more than Carlos Gonzalez out of Holliday.

And being traded is hardly a condemnation of a player. Some other team needs to want him bad enough to make the trade. Of course the Rockies aren't led by the great and powerful Beane

[MartyFunkhouser]

And being traded is hardly a condemnation of a player. Some other team needs to want him bad enough to make the trade. Of course the Rockies aren't led by the great and powerful Beane

I think it is more the reason that the 2 organizations have traded him more than anything.

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."

After his hot streak Goldstein had this to say about him "This is hardly the first time Gonzalez has gotten hot in his minor league career, as Gonzalez is just that, going 9-for-18 in his last four games. Effort issues and poor big league performance had Arizona and Oakland willing to move him along in trades, but he's still just 23, and the tools are undeniable. It's not like the Rockies are going anywhere, so why not give him a look and see if that thin mountain air is just what the doctor ordered."

Baseball America no longer has him listed as a top 100 prospect.

I guess Carlos Gonzalez could still end up being good because he is still young, but he has work ethic issues and lack of plate discipline to deal with. It will be easy to get more than Gonzalez in a trade for Holliday.

[DU Ute]

I think it is more the reason that the 2 organizations have traded him more than anything.

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."

After his hot streak Goldstein had this to say about him "This is hardly the first time Gonzalez has gotten hot in his minor league career, as Gonzalez is just that, going 9-for-18 in his last four games. Effort issues and poor big league performance had Arizona and Oakland willing to move him along in trades, but he's still just 23, and the tools are undeniable. It's not like the Rockies are going anywhere, so why not give him a look and see if that thin mountain air is just what the doctor ordered."

Baseball America no longer has him listed as a top 100 prospect.

I guess Carlos Gonzalez could still end up being good because he is still young, but he has work ethic issues and lack of plate discipline to deal with. It will be easy to get more than Gonzalez in a trade for Holliday.

BA doesn't list him in their top 100 because he played a half season in the bigs.

[cougjunkie]

Good call on Gonzales, I would give up on him too.

Signed,

Carlos Pena, Adrian Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz

[MartyFunkhouser]

Good call on Gonzales, I would give up on him too.

Signed,

Carlos Pena, Adrian Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz

Plain fact is the A's gave up at best one high level prospect to get a great hitter for a season or to flip him at midseason. Gonzalez is the only player that is worth a shit that they even gave up. It was essentially a straight up trade of Gonzalez for Holliday. Even if he ends up being great, it was absolutely the right trade. I guarantee that when the A's end up trading Holliday they get 2-3 Carlos Gonzalez level prospects out of the deal.

Look Gonzalez right now is rated the 7th best talent under 25 in the rookies organization by Kevin Goldstein, that isn't that impressive.

Find me a single quality baseball writer that thought the trade was a bad trade.

[Hot Lunch]

Good call on Gonzales, I would give up on him too.

Signed,

Carlos Pena, Adrian Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz

Don't forget that Zack Geinke and Klayton Kershaw signed this as well.

[Hot Lunch]

Hold on there funkytime. Weren't you the one saying that by signing Orlando Cabrera it would take the A's from 86 wins to 88 wins and a chance to win the pathetic AL west?

Are you saying that the A's are not going to make that prediction?

[MartyFunkhouser]

Hold on there funkytime. Weren't you the one saying that by signing Orlando Cabrera it would take the A's from 86 wins to 88 wins and a chance to win the pathetic AL west?

Are you saying that the A's are not going to make that prediction?

I said the projections on the A's from Baseball Prospectus changed from 86 to 88 wins with the signing of Cabrera.

However, the A's have been decimated by injuries and it is clear they have no chance of competing.

Yes the AL West is pathetic, but it is still better than the NL West

[MartyFunkhouser]

Don't forget that Zack Geinke and Klayton Kershaw signed this as well.

Because prospects never flame out and always reach their potential.