Sale of the A's: Aftermath

The LA Times is now reporting that the A's will announce the extension of Beane's contract for four more years and a piece of ownership. This article has some very nice scoops and you have to wonder where was the local papers...

• "Do we pay $100 million for a player or do we extend Billy's contract?" Wolff said. Of course, every new owner since John Hendry and Jeffery Loria have made a splash at the beginning of a new team purchase; in this case, Wolff makes several motions that this is the splash.
• "We're looking at this as a long-term investment, and the reason we can is because the former owners are handing over an extremely well-run operation, both on and off the field," Wolff said. "That gives us, we think, breathing room to work on the venue and work on other activities that will increase the value of the investment without having to micromanage every aspect of the team." And...
• Although Wolff recommended one be built in the parking lot, adjacent to the current stadium, he said he was not necessarily wedded to that site. Another plus; this depends on if he is going off of the 2002 HOK sites or some newer ones.
• He said he planned to add a few minority investors with expertise in various ventures the A's could explore to raise revenue, possibly including a broadcasting outlet. Nice; aren't you tired of the Giants always getting their games on tv?
• "I'll tell him(SJ Mayor Gonzalez) our focus is on Oakland, we're going to honor the territorial rules, and that's the end of it," Wolff said. That's good enough for me; Wolff needed to put his foot down and focus on working with somebody.

Well, it looks as if Wolff's plan is to get revenue streams that can raise the intake of the A's. By keeping Beane, he is able to keep the profits so that once the streams open, the A's can boost payroll without going into pocket. Good enough for me although I wish Beane was extended for a bit longer. Also, on the broadcasting issue, one has to wonder whether it would be a radio station or a cable channel...

Sale of The A's: Owner Vote Wed.

Josh Suchon of the Oakland Tribune done a follow-up on the progress of the sale; the vote amongst all the owners is set for Wednesday. There shouldn't be a problem this time around as Wolff has been touted as a fraternity brother of Selig. Although it would be interesting to see how Mr. Magowen votes: on the one hand, he could show his displeasure with the continous and backless San Jose move and vote against the sale or he could decide to get on Selig's good side for getting the All Star Game in 07 by voting for the sale.

Either way, Wednesday will be the most interesting day of the week with Thursday being the second with the opeing game of the Bay Bridge series followed by a Friday press conference of the potential new owners.

UPDATE: The conference call will take place at 2 o'clock co. SF Chronicle.

OT - I'm Back!

Well it appeared that a "simple" tub clog grew to be a solid blockage in the waste pipe, not to mention complete corrosion of an old cast iron waste pipe for the kitchen sink. Luckly my dad had a Milwaukee Sawzall:



Then once that got fixed, it came to my attention that once we were down there, the phoneline went out so there went my internet access. But now I am back and with this whole issue out of the way, I can get back to some blogging. I appreciate those of you who have checked this blog for updates; this is a one man show so issues like these can mean closed curtains for the blog.

Sorry for the delay

I had some freaking plumbing problems with my shower; apparently, water and metal doesn't mix when it comes to screws...

by Thursday, I should have my report up regarding Japanese pitchers and their stats in Spring Training; right now, I have to dig through every paper scoreboard since 1997 to cumulate the stats. Just an FYI, take a Bonine before you ever use a microfilm machine!

There have been a few developments on the A's in regards to the roster i.e. Tyler Johnson being returned to the Cardinals. To think that they didn't get his rights with the Mulder trade is a complete error; there is no way that Johnson would be a deal breaker especially after being selected by the A's.

Again, sorry for the delay and thank you for your continued support!

Sale of the A's: Wolff takes over ballpark plans

The Oakland Tribune is reporting that Wolff has decided to take over the plans for a new ballpark to remove the political/stagnant factor and to reach out to the private sector for money via a larger project.

I have two feelings on this development; either he wants to ensure that he is comfortable moving forward on the people he works with or he wants to keep his ambitions hidden from the city.

But either way, it is some sort of progress on a new stadium.

Radio Daze

According to several sources, Infinity Broadcasting, the current owner of KFRC, is selling the station to Harold Camping, a religious zealot who owns one of the larger FM stations in the Bay Area. His MO is to sell his radio stations in swaps to make money; a buy low sell high strategy. He also is very enclosed when it comes to outside programming on his radio stations.

With respect to the A's partnership with KFRC, the question is whether the station changes hands immediately. If it does, then the A's should find a new station as soon as possible. And as it just so happens, KGO 810 happened to break off negotiations with the 49ers for their upcoming season.

UPDATE: The official FCC sale documents have been released; notice the part in the Covenants section that "...classify the Station as a noncommercial educational station, such reclassification to be effective no earlier than the completion of the 2005 Major League Baseball season." The question remains whether the A's have the ability to leave the station for another one. Al Davis and the Raiders will able to find a new station in no time after they left KNBR 1050.

But another aspect of this remains with the future of the team; while the A's are partners with KICU for the next 3 seasons, there are no long term obligations, especially with one year stadium lease options starting in 07. So the type of contract the A's get will be telling as to how they view their future in the Bay Area.

Opinion: Street to not crack the roster

With Huston Street rockin' spring training by retiring all 9 of the batters he has faced, one would think that he would definantly be taking the roster spot of the injured Bradford.

However, I say not so fast; there are 4 reasons why Street will not make the club out of the spring:

1. Calling him up would use a player option
2. Oversimplification of Street's talent
3. Loss of possible clubhouse impact by a callup
4. Starting his arbitration clock

Well the first two reasons are not necessarily deal breakers as Street's talent will make those other player option obsolete. However the last two eerily focus on a former hotshot prospect who blazed through the farm system the same year as being drafted..

that would be Barry Zito. You see, Zito was selected in the first round of the 1999 amateur draft. After brief stops in A through triple A, Zito started 2000 with an awesome spring training. Of course, he did not start out on the A's roster; he started the season in Sacramento. And while his counterpart Mulder had a horrible spring training by statistical accounts, he still made the team in the fifth spot of the starting rotation.

Before Zito was called up to the A's on July 22nd, the A's were 51-44; after Zito's arrival, they were 40-26. He was a huge boost to the team especially when Mulder went down with a herrniated back in September. However, he was called too soon in the season and his arbitration clock started; he is a free agent after the 06 season.

As the A's are running a tight ship, Street is a luxury the A's cannot afford at the start of the season. If for some chance the pen should falter, Street can just as easily step into his role from Sacramento as he would if he was on the opening day roster.

Byrnes Trade: Macha Speaks

Before I talk about Byrnes being traded, ESPN visited the A's training facility and did a sights and sounds feature with Eric. It was somewhat tough to watch it knowing that I advocate trading him. I mean it as no disrespect to Byrnes and actually I would rather have him on our team then Hatteberg; but I doubt Beane sees it that way.

Now, Macha has come out to say the following:

"He might not be here; it's not under my control," Macha said. "[But] he doesn't have to show me anything; I know what he can do."

What's funny is that how all of the sudden, Macha knows Byrnes well enough that Byrnes doesn't have to display anything. Especially since he has previously stated Eric was not guaranteed a spot in the OF.

Bradford to have MRI

Because of the way he contorts his back while pitching, Bradford has had chronic issues with his back. As a result, this year he has had spasms and underwent an MRI this week (courtesy of Joe Roderick)

This certainly throws a monkeywrench in Beane's possible plans in the sense that Bradford will be that much harder to move on account of the back. Anyway he can get Harikkala and Johnson in the pen will make it a deeper and cheaper pen.

BTW, Harikkala pitched 2 innings on Thursday allowing 1 hit and striking out one hitter.

UPDATE: Well it looks like Bradford is out for 3-4 months to have surgery on his back. Somehow my objections to keeping Bradford before ST are ringing louder in my ears.

Byrnes Trade: Update

Something that went somewhat un-noticed yesterday was the fact that Eric was started in right field and played there for at least 4 innings. He did not commit an error and had a 2 run homer in the 2nd inning.

Just something to think about when Cameron makes his first bad break in right...

Sale of the A's: Updates

In Tuesday's SF Chronicle, Matier and Ross wrote about a poll of 400 Oakland Residents as to which of a group of pressing issues were most important to them:

-- Keeping libraries open (98 percent).
-- Maintaining parks (96 percent).
-- Attracting new business to Oakland (95 percent).
-- Building a new ballpark for the Athletics (38 percent).

It should be noted that this group is extremely small as it is less then .1% of the population of Oakland as of 2000. But the A's are going to have be tough sell in Oakland so we'll see what happens there.

As for San Jose, according to NBC11 news, the City Council is close to acquiring the location best suitable for a new ballpark. Of course it won't matter so long as baseball has anti-trust exemption.

ESPN new stat: Negative Runs

Apparently, Buster Olney, the proponent of the productive out, is pushing a new stat: negative runs. Here's his explaination:

After my conversation with GM Kevin Towers for ESPN the Magazine, I have decided that while the newly implement steroid abuse policy is a step in the right direction, there just isn't enough impact for the cheating player's team in the present. A 10 day suspension only affects future games that the cheating player would miss. So I give to you negative runs...

So it looks like three teams/players have already been disciplined.



When will it stop Buster?

Updates coming soon

Sorry for not updating the blog; been somewhat busy. I am going to pick up MLB 2K5 tonight and I have a theory I may or may not post here for dissection.