WHY did the A's do this?

Question

They trade all their good pitchers for c**p

If they hadnt traded their rotation would be

Haren

Duchsherser

Blanton

Zito

Harden

They are STUPID

Answer 1

the A's got ALOT of high talent prospects from teams they traded their pitchers to. And Zito wasn't traded, he was a free agent at the end of the season and the Giants signed him.

I can see the A's making new aces with the prospects they've gotten, just give it some time, the A's know what they are doing.

Answer 2

The A's are always playing for three years from now.  Billy Beane just wants to keep trading everyone who is halfway decent and is approaching arbitration or free agency.  The organization has shown that they are cheap and don't care too much for the fans.  They have no problem treating the fans like trash.  As long as they get their revenue sharing check from MLB, the owners are happy.  In Oakland, "next year" is always three years away.

Answer 3

This is part of Billy Beane's Moneyball scheme. When the A's are champions in 5 years, you will appreciate his idea.  Plus, the only flawless pitcher was Haren.  Duchsherser is having a fluky year after being a journeyman pitcher. Blanton had one good year and returned to his usual form this year. Harden is a great pitcher, but he is hurt all the time. Zito has just been terrible for the Giants. The A's will be way better off making these trades.

Answer 4

if oakland sold out every game and had a million more dollars to their budget, then this would be their rotation for this year. but the way beane does it is like no other in the game. he gets rid of players when he is able to get legit prospects for them, who will come up the oakland farm system and turn into a stud player.

personally, i think they are getting their farm system loaded with players who will make it to the majors the year they move to the new stadium. thatd be legit in my opinion.

Answer 5

Haren we got Carlos Gonzalez who's been very impressive in his brief time up in the majors. He's 4th in rookies in doubles and has played in far less games, he's got a .355 batting average with runners in scoring position and Ryan Sweeney who we got for Nick Swisher is our only .300 hitter and he hits better than Gonzalez with runners in scoring position. We also go Gio Gonzalez from the White Sox.

Did you not know that two of our starters who struggled recently but have been solid all year in Greg Smith and Dana Eveland were traded for Haren.

Blanton we picked up a solid second base prospect who can hit, the lefty in outman is supposed to be a solid player as well. Zito wasn't traded he wasn't resigned because he was way out of the market for them. Harden had to go because of his injury history and that he was going to command a lot of money. We got Gallagher who's only 22 and so far has been impressive since he got to the A's. So, who says the players traded for are c**p.

It's more of the players that they had before Mark Ellis has struggled all season, Daric Barton who we actually going in the Mark Mulder deal hasn't hit like he did last year, Emil came out on fire with 25 rbi's in his first 25 games, but has what 23 since then, Bobby Crosby was hitting well before he strained a hamstring, Eric Chavez has been hurt most of the year, Jack Hannahan has struggled at the plate but has been very impressive in replacing Chavez, Donnie Murphy has stunk, and Brooks Conrad hasn't done much since being called up.

The problem with the A's has nothing to do with their pitchers. It has everything to do with the fact that the A's hired a clown to be their hitting coach. A career .132 hitter who only played a few games in the majors and his other time was spent in the minors where he only hit .279. So, if you want to blame anything blame it on the hitting.

Cameron you must have not been paying attention. Justin Ducscherer a journeyman pitcher? Have you been living under a rock recently? He's been with the A's for the past 6 years being a reliever but he's always wanted to start. The A's finally relented and he's been solid just like he was when he was a reliever. Also, did you not notice that he was an all-star coming out of the bullpen in 2005.

Miguel Tejada and Jason Giambi weren't traded they signed as free agents elsewhere. The A's made offers to both players but their demands were too far up there for the A's to even consider, so they went on their way. The only player in recent memory the A's gave a long term contract too was Eric Chavez.

Answer 6

a really good rotation, for sure...but in the end, looking at what they got in return in these trades, the As are going to be a lot better, i think...they have had pretty good teams there with these guys, but not won...i think it's very possible that now they stand an even better chance of winning and going to the series in the next couple or three years...remember...few pitchers have really good years more than once or twice, and those who do...like clemons, seaver, et al...are rarities and actually are found only by waiting for them to actually do it...look at zito, pavano, messerschmidt, milton, etc...the list goes on an on of pitchers who got to the top of their game and then disappeared from the charts...

so who knows?  we all love our teams, hate to lose the good ones, but the reality is simple...any player, especially a pitcher, who gets in more than a season or two of top-notch achievement, is the oddity...so the As really are going about their business by playing some very good odds...the likelihood that they come out on top of these trades is way better than 50-50

Answer 7

for 1 zito sucks and yes the A's are notorious for trading away good playes such as Giambi, Mark McGuire, Octavio Dotel, Nick Swisher, Scutaro, Jose conseco, Jermaine Dye. They got rid of a lot of players who where good players really.

Answer 8

they wanted more of a challenge, so now they are allowing the other teams to score more runs.

Or they are living the reality of being a smaller market team

Answer 9

maybe they want to go a different direction