...^^^this really was not a surprise...the A's are 11 game out of 1st place and so they save some money, and pick up 2 very young prospects...Beane has been doing this sort of thing for years...he does not have the payroll like some big market teams so he's pretty much forced to take this sort of approach, which is to get as much as you can for a player when his value is highest and currently 2.38 is the lowest ERA of Kasmir's career.
I always like Kazmir back when he came up with the Devil Rays....... IMO, Beane gets the better of the deal, with 2- Top Prospects, without big contracts, and the Stro's have more than their share of Top Prospects and Draft Picks.....and Kazmir could walk, as a FA after this year. The Stro's are pushing a bit to soon, as well. Kazmir won't make the difference b/t the Team taking back the AL West. Houston needs to find a suitable replacement for Springer, there ace RF'er, who went on the DL a week or so ago.......no depth on the Roster yet...! Houston's farm system is busting at the seams, yet are still a bit green, for calling up. The deepest Farm System, yet not quit ripe.....! While those Prospects continue to get refined enough for a call up for good, and have depth on the bench, (which they are lacking, probably their #1 glaring weakness).....
...just to once again play my broken record, if Beane is conceding the season by dealing away one of his best pitchers, I have to assume that Zobrist is also possibly on the move before long.
I'm still trying to figure out why you get rid of a player like Donaldson. And yeah I'd be shocked if Zobrist isn't dealt.
^^^ good read on this subject; http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a...ade-of-all-star-donaldson-to-blue-jays-112814
...^^^ very good article Ron...... With the budget Beane gets, lower than 90% of other Teams, Billy still gets more bang for his buck...$$$ It's hard to see when the A's are having a "fire sale" vs simply growing the talents of his Minor Lg Teams with "Top Prospect" players, who will bloom soon......In other words, Oakland doesn't have a big enough payroll to have a "fire sale".....nothing like the Marlin's 2 times Fire Sales...... As much as I dislike Theo Epstein, I have to give him credit for what he's done; and often wonder what would a MLB Team be like, with Epstein and Beane working as co-GM's...? Something I don't recall any team doing......only Question is will one or the others ego get in the way, if so, I'd say it would be Theo's ego, just greaseballing with Vitalis on top of butchwax........ I don't blame Beane for trading Donaldson, (ntm-imo, the Sky Dome); is where average players can become good; Good Players become great....! I don't think there's a park left (seattle's old Kingdome), where balls fly out faster and further, than in Toronto, too a degree tho'; (with the roof closed)... I think even Stephen Drew could hit 30 HR's in the Sky Dome, but still have a .180 B'Avg...... Looks to me like Beane is strengthening his A's by loading up His Minor Lg. Talent(s), which soon will be playing in Oakland. That's one nice thing to see with the A's, is how Beane gives Minor Lg players a chance in the Majors; long prior to most Teams.......that can be good and it can be bad. Either way, the gamble is worthy in the long run, and IMO; with some luck perhaps the A's might just, come back to life, but not this year, with their 44-52 record, I don't foresee.....!
On 6/6/06 I went to see the Tampa Bay Devil Rays play the Los Angeles Angels at Tropicana. Kaznir vs Santana, did a walk up purchase, paid 21.00 dollars, plenty of seats. One thing that surprised me at the time was the number fans wearing Angel Jerseys later finding out that Chone Figgins was a local boy. Good game though, Vlad got some timely hits, Crawford could run then, when he got to Boston his wallet got to heavy. Angels won the game. That same night I was keeping tabs on the Yankees by scoreboard watching and they beat Boston 1-0. Tampa got rid od Kazmir at the right time credit to him though the man made a nice comeback. Kazmir was not good as an Angel so it will be interesting to see him pitch as a Stro against his former team. I've seen Kazmir and Zobrist trades on the radar for quite some time now, nothing Beane does is a surprise, love to see him in New York, prices down, player quality up.
Woke up this morn, got a doc's appt, and will miss the MLB.Tv show, which is supposed to be discussing, Zobrist, as a trade chip.....
