ST updates

As the title of the SF gate article suggest, Cust is now an Oakland A after many years of being "traded." I have to say that Cust is very smart as a baseball player because not only does he acknowledge that he fits perfectly with the A's system, but that he feels he has a bad rap on being a bungler in the outfield. It's important for a ballplayer to have a positive attitude when it comes to their talents like in the case of Kielty rejection of becoming a right handed hitter only.

Hopefully, Cust can improve enough in the outfield to be a DH/Corner OF in the Rondell White mold. Especially since Hatteberg and Durazo are free agents next year.

Finally, I put up a link to the Knight Ridder beatwritters' blog; it's pretty informative when it comes to the whole ST experience.

Roster Issues

As the A's start spring training, there are some important issues that need to be tackled with respect to the 25 man roster. As of now, the team is over the 25 man roster...

C - Kendall, Melhuse
1st - Hatteberg
2nd - Ginter, Ellis, Scutaro
SS - Crosby
3rd - Chavez
LF - Byrnes, Thomas, Kielty
CF - Kotsay
RF - Swisher
DH - Durazo

SP - Zito, Harden, Haren, Yabu, Etherton
RP - Bradford, Johnson, Rincon, Cruz, Calero, Dotel, Duchscherer

Total: 14 hitters/12 pitchers

That's 1 player over; not even counting the true utility player we need in the Bobby Smith/Jermaine Clark/Hiram Bocachica mold who are capable of covering every position except catcher.

I am trying to confirm whether Etherton has a major league contract or not because he would have to pass waivers( not likely ) in order to be sent to the minors. And by the looks of what Beane hs said, Etherton is not going to be filler.

UPDATE: Joe Roderick of the Mercury News has informed me that Etherton does have a major league contract; he WILL be a starter IMO. Look for a Zito, Harden, Haren, Yabu, Etherton to start the year.

If Beane isn't careful in trading Byrnes, he may tip his hand. He has to gut this team of four players: Scutaro, Byrnes, Bradford, and Duchscherer. Reasons?

• Scutaro- very low OBP, subpar defensively at SS; great fielding but average range at 2nd
• Byrnes - 29 years old, possibly at peak, strikeout-prone, bad breaks on balls in OF, blocking Kielty and Thomas
• Bradford - expensive for talent, is a clone-copy of Harrikala
• Duchscherer - high risk swings in palatable stats, wore down at the end of season, allowed 5 hrs in last 15 1/3 innings

To have the optimal team possible, you have to make some adjustments...

Sale of the A's: Reggie speaks

Reggie was on KNBR today, talking about many things from the steroid issue to his ownership hopes.

According to Jackson, there are elements in the A's and MLB offices that want to move the team, mainly to Vegas. That was the reason why he wasn't allowed to have a meeting with Wolff as he would have kept the team in Oakland.

Well, not so fast Mr. Jackson; he told the Las Vegas Sun that he wants to bring a team to Vegas. And this may have been before the scheduled meetings with Wolff and Schott. Or it could be that his is joining another ownership group, i.e. the D-Rays.

Whether the team moves are not is based on what happens with Vegas. If the Marlins cannot get their money for a stadium, they will move to Vegas. San Jose may not be an option unless the city decides to legally fight baseball's anti-exemption rights.

Byrnes trade update

UPDATE: Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is confirming that a trade of Byrnes for a player or players, from a list both teams have agreed to, will occur. As I have stated many a time, Byrnes was NOT an option for this team.

Gammons reported from FLA this evening that Pittsburgh is looking to get Byrnes and that should happen before the end of February.

Hopefully, it takes place sooner. The A's need to see Thomas at LF and Kielty at first because those are options that will need to be looked at.

Sale of the A's: Marlins/A's Ballpark updates

Although at first glance a comparison of the Marlins and A's respective ballpark situations are not similar, they are. The Marlins top proposal has them moving right next door to the Orange Bowl in downtown Miami. Here is a before and after look:

As you can see, the plan is very similar to the A's coliseum plan. That plan would require squeezing the new ballpark in the upper-corner portion of the existing parking lot. But the issues with that plan are:

• 1. The position of the ballpark; is it going to be oriented in such a way that there will be pleasant outfield views?
• 2. Surrounding area development; will the long-awaited development started make a significant impact?
• 3. Will Mr. Davis complain? He could be the wild-card as he can up and leave without the permission of his league. However, seeing as how he/the city have a debt to take care, that may not be possible. But would he be willing to sue over lost parking?

And as the A's luck would have it, this is the only available plan for Oakland. Based on the recommend sites from the 2001 HOK report, the Howard Terminal, Oakland Estuary, Uptown, and possibly, Laney College, are all gone. If Wolff sees that the coliseum plan is not a worthy investment, he will bolt to greener pastures.

Byrnes Trade Update

Byrnes was on KNBR and said the following:

• There were two instances where he was very close to being trade; once to San Diego and very recently to Arizona. It was so close that he was told by people from Arizona that the deal was done. Of course, AZ then got Cruz Jr.
• Acknowledges that Pittsburgh has been asking and that he is not sure what to think about it. Mentioned that he is meaning to call Billy but he doesn't think Pittsburgh is possible.

I think he doesn't realize how possible that situation is...

Sale of the A's: More Updates

This past week and a half has created a flurry of activity in the sale of the A's...

Last night, Ron Gonzalez proclaimed that he and his council will submit a proposal to MLB that would bring an MLB team, most likely the A's, to San Jose. Well, the council did send a proclamation to MLB asking for their rights to be removed. This time, the council will submit a stadium plan in the effort to appeal Mr. Selig. Mr. Gonzalez wants to leave a legacy behind, like all politicians. The best manner to do this is not to submit a proposal to MLB, but to legally challenge them on their anti-exemption rights.

An article that I meant to mention, in the San Jose Business Journal quoted, Randi Kinman, president of the Del Monte Neighborhood Advisory Committee, as "one of the most outspoken critics of the city's actions to date." Well now, she has written a correction regarding said statement.

We aren't "up in arms" over it as we understand this will be a long process; we just need to be part of the process from the beginning.

Finally, this is an account from Monty Poole regarding Reggie failing to acquire the A's in 2003 and 2004. As you may remember, he also tried to get the A's back in 1999, but MLB tabled the group over finances. This time, it was a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

And frankly, I am happy that Reggie did not get the A's because...

• He would have moved the team; there is a reason why he would have paid extra money to get the A's. Vegas will build a fully, public-funded stadium so if you were to buy a team, all you had to do was make sure you pumped money into the purchase price.


• Reggie would not have given Beane the type of autonomy that he would want; ego plays a huge part in this. Anyways, this all happened before Mayor Goodman of Las Vegas indicated that Reggie would be getting a team. I think it will be the D-Rays...

I should be receiving more information on the latter subject within the next few days.

Sale of the A's: Updates

The Oakland Tribune has the scoop on Wolff and the City Council moving towards the transfer of the lease for the Colisieum. Important item of note(IIoN) is that the ownership group has to present a financial plan indicating the direction of the team.

Also, there is another Tribune article discussing Wolff giving a year timeline for the City of Oakland to come up with a plan to cover the remaining costs of a new stadium. IIoN: Unlike the numerous situations regarding Schott, Wolff will move quickly on securing a stadium whether it be in the Bay Area or elsewhere. The fact that the team has three one year options after 07 is the main reason for an impetus. Wolff is not going to want to have to pay high prices for extra lease years to wait while another stadium is being built somewhere else.

Matier and Ross are reporting the sale figures, which have been known for some time, as $170 million dollars. They go on to collaborate with Glenn Dickey's figure of Schott's purchase price in "Champions" of 80 million. Then the topic of who the owners are surfaces; apparently, Wolff is just the managing partner, for now, while John Fisher, son of Gap founder Donald Fisher, is the one with the capital.

Things are going to happen very very quickly...

OT: Feds - "Not Recommended"

In respect to the VTA/BART extension, the Federal Transportation Agency released its "New Starts" transportation plan for the 2005 fiscal year.

Of most importance to the issue, the Feds have declined recommendation for the extension, citing inadequate information regarding ridership and time saved from a Bart Extension.

The issue here is how this implicates a ballpark in San Jose. It was smart of Mayor Gonzales to push for a complete extension because phasing in the project would have required building sites on non-researched land and for trains to be held in an East Bay rail yard. That would have defeated some of the time and cost-saving advantages. Of course, as the article mentions, this is not a death sentence to the project; it will just require the citizens of Santa Clara County to decide on approving another half-cent tax for additional funds. Not an easy proposition...

Although one issue that could have been looked at is whether to get Alameda County back on the ball in regards to finishing the Fremont to Warm Springs extension, thus allowing VTA to expand it's light-rail system to Warm Springs. This would help bring higher ridership on VTA/BART and could include a ticket-transfer system like many transportation agencies have.

Pittsburgh Tribune: Talks over Byrnes

Joe Rutter of the Tribune-Review is reporting the Pirates have initiated talks with the A's regarding Byrnes.

I could repeat the same ol' line but I won't; just that Thomas sure looks good in the outfield...

Byrnes and A's agree

Old news, but still important: The A's announced on Friday that they had agreed to a one-year deal with Eric Byrnes for the amount of 2.2 Million. This was pretty smack-dab in the middle of the two sides as the A's offered 2 million and Byrnes asked for 2.5. He also has some performance and trade bonuses in his contract; and a trade equals 25k extra.

But that's not important; what is important is that the A's would have had to go to arbitration with Byrnes on February 17th. Because of the gap of time between the agreement and the, now-defunct, arbitration date, the A's are able to complete a deal for him far easier. You see, if you trade for an arbitration-eligible player, you are almost guaranteed to lose in a hearing. Case in point, AJ Pierzynski.

Byrnes is a goner; the A's just packed his bags.

Update: Well the D'Backs made their trade for Jose Cruz Jr. Now, I could retract my whole deal of Byrnes being gone, but I won't. Fact is, there are two other teams that could want Byrnes: Houston and Pittsburgh. Though I would be a fool for saying this news doesn't hurt Byrnes chances of going.

AZ Republic - New Team in the Mix

The deal was supposed to happen on Wednesday, but a new team came out with an offer of a center-fielder. I have come up with three teams that are viable options for as the new team:

Boston/Jay Payton
Seattle/Randy Winn
Minnesota/Lew Ford

The issue is that each of those teams can be looking to move their respective players to Arizona for prospects especially since they need to move them for openings. With Boston, Payton is expendable because he is a forth outfielder; but the flipside is that he is the best backup they have in case Nixon gets hurt again.

Seattle has the issue of insurance when it comes to Sexson and Ibanez as Ibanez will rotate between LF, 1st, and DH while Winn has to compete with Jeremey Reed for CF. And if Sexson has an injury with Winn gone, you are looking at an Ibanez, Reed, Ichiro outfield and Jacobson at first with someone else DHing. And in case you have forgotten, Edgar aint around no more.

Minnesota is really the darkhorse here because they don't have to move Lew and they may not even want to. I honestly do not think Terry Ryan would move Ford... but if Arizona is willing to pay more, they could have Jacques Jones. Now that would be interesting.

One things for sure, this offseason is far from over from an A's perspective.

Way OT: Justice for the Caped Crusader

I'll probably catch some flak for this, but I happen to have a certain affinity with the third installment of the Batman series, "Batman Forever." Yes, in comparison to the previous two films, it was far too light, but key scenes were removed in order to keep the film closer to the two hour mark and for marketability to kids. The latter decision was forced to light because studio execs did not like how dark "Batman Returns" was. You know, with the snacking of the nose and all.

Well, it came to my attention that the director, Joel Schuemacher, has been given a budget and authorization in creating an extended, and seamless director's-cut of the film. This cut will be about 30 minutes longer then the original film and completely darker. Cut scenes courtesy of IMDB.COM:

• The longer opening with Two-Face's escape from Arkham.
• Longer dialogue between Alfred and Bruce Wayne as he shoots through the tunnel from Wayne enterprises to the Batcave.
• After the Riddler tries to punch the security guard at the casino and fails, he picks up his cane and beats the guard to the ground with it.
• Alfred and Bruce examining one of Edward Nygma's boxes in the batcave.
• Extra exterior shots of Nygmatech at night.
• Shots of Dick and Bruce escorting Chase into Edward Nygma's party at the Ritz Gotham.
• The Riddler reading the newspaper headline, "Batman survives subway sabotage" and getting enraged-this would have led in the scene later on where he shows the headline to Two-Face.
• More shots of Robin hitting Two-Face on Claw Island.
• More shots of Bruce and Chase hitting Two-Face`s thugs in Wayne Manor.

There are further more scenes like Bruce confronting a giant bat and the like. And it's always cool to see how directors go back and use CGI to re-edit and enhance workprints.

AZ Republic - Trade close to completion

Well, as I have said since the inception of this blog, Eric Byrnes would be gone. According to the AZ Republic, that may very well be the case. The story quotes general partner Ken Kendrick as stating that "we confident we're going to bring in a new center fielder to complete the team."

Now, Cameron is also an option for them however Newsday is reporting that the Mets are "mulling" over offering Magglio Ordonez a contract. But they have to have made this decision rather quickly if they were indeed sending Cameron to AZ. Not to mention banking on a successful workout session from Magglio.

Basically, I cannot call this offseason a success if Hatteberg is not dealt by the beginning of the season. I like the guy, but the problem is age and being worn down at the end of the season. There are far better options at first that do not involve Dan Johnson, such as Bobby Kielty. Kielty you say? Yeah well not just me... Problem is, would Billy be gutsy enough to move the "picking machine?"

UPDATE: Feb. 3rd edition of the Post indicates that Cameron is not the center-fielder that the D-Backs are going to acquire. Well that narrows the list down to just Byrnes and Payton... do you think Mr. Moorad and the D-backs will want anything to do with the Red Sox again?