Fullabull
05-22-2002, 06:05 PM
THE MEETING that caused the A's to turn over 12 percent of their roster Monday lasted four hours. General manager Billy Beane was there, and so were his adjutant Paul DePodesta, manager Art Howe and all the other little wizards who combined their talents to promote the team to the top of the alphabet.
But by all accounts, the decisions on how best to implement the organization's rage were straightforward and swiftly made. Three A's out, three new ones in, and start the music again there, Herb.
And yes, the message was in the number, not in the names. Jeff Tam, Frank Menechino and Carlos Pena hadn't built much of a rebuttal for their banishment to Sacramento, let alone their replacement by Esteban German, Larry Sutton and Adam Piatt.
Still, the fact that Run TMP shared a ride back to River City was designed specifically to impress upon the remaining 22 that the time to stop emitting those noxious fumes had finally come.
"The message is sent," outfielder David Justice said. "The guys with options left have got to be thinking about (being demoted) now. I would if I was them."
And on the flip side: "If we start winning now, we might not see those guys until September call-ups."
Well, as long as all the contingencies are covered.
There is no way yet to determine if administrative measures alone can Stooge-slap the Elephants back to life. Beane might be excited about German's speed and potential as a leadoff man, but he also was excited about Pena's obvious upside, and that produced a .218 hitter with 38 strikeouts in 140 plate appearances.
We can, however, be gratified by the moves and the reprehensible start that made them necessary because they show us that revisionist history is always the least reliable history of all.
The first 44 games, in fact, showed that a team willing to replace its best offensive player, best defensive player, leadoff hitter and closer is a team just asking for something like this to happen.
Even one with World Series pretensions.
It surely shows that teams with $40 million payrolls cannot afford to have a player start poorly, or a personnel decision go bad. Teams playing this close to the fault line can never, ever, ever make a mistake, because the cost of such errors are retail, plus.
Mostly, though, it shows that these A's were not prepared to cope fully and completely with the deliberate losses of Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, and haven't yet found a way to justify the trade for Billy Koch.
The A's don't see it that way, of course. They can't. Having made the initial mistake of undervaluing Giambi two years ago when they could have re- signed him, and Damon, during the season, they are in no position to come clean on it now.
But because they talked all that talk about Giambi's leadership being overrated, and Terrence Long being ready to take over center field, and Jermaine Dye ready to hit the ground running in right field after breaking his leg in October, and the rest of the pieces in place to resume their systematic terror of the American League . . . well, they need to be reminded that talk is cheap when you're six games under .500 and 10 games out.
Pena was sent down because he couldn't replace even the devalued ghost of Giambi, and Menechino was sent down because the A's needed a leadoff hitter, and Tam was sent down because they can't find anyone to take Mike Holtz and his $1.7 million left arm off their hands.
That, and because he hasn't gotten anyone out this year.
Conversely, German was called up because he is the A's best alternative to Jeremy Giambi in the leadoff spot, Piatt was called up to spell Dye and his still hinky leg, and Sutton to fill in at first and the outfield.
This is not to claim that the A's are doomed to pay forever for their penury viz. Giambi and Damon. Nothing is forever, save perhaps groin pulls that never fully heal.
This is, however, to claim that the A's didn't fully understand what they were losing when they gave it away, nor that they realize how difficult it is to replace.
Even now, Beane dismisses the idea of leadership with a giddy, "I don't think the lack of leadership is a problem. It's not leadership that pitches a shutout, or hits a home run. It's having a team ERA of eight and a .200 batting average over the last two weeks that's put us where we are. Winston Churchill couldn't overcome that."
True enough. Then again, the A's didn't win 102 games last year with a 122- year-old cigar-smoking British statesman who's been dead for almost 40 years at first base.
Leadership isn't being glib in the clubhouse, or giving flowery speeches about beating either the Mariners or the Germans. Leadership is hitting .330, with 45 homers and 120 RBIs and putting a face on a franchise, and leadership in that context is very hard to find. Leadership is being one of the game's best leadoff hitters, and catching everything hit within a $6 cab ride to either side of you.
Thus, to let that kind of leadership go is a monumental decision the effects of which last far longer than a single spring training. The A's are still paying for giving up on Giambi and Damon, and the bill is not yet close to being settled.
by Ray Ratto
But by all accounts, the decisions on how best to implement the organization's rage were straightforward and swiftly made. Three A's out, three new ones in, and start the music again there, Herb.
And yes, the message was in the number, not in the names. Jeff Tam, Frank Menechino and Carlos Pena hadn't built much of a rebuttal for their banishment to Sacramento, let alone their replacement by Esteban German, Larry Sutton and Adam Piatt.
Still, the fact that Run TMP shared a ride back to River City was designed specifically to impress upon the remaining 22 that the time to stop emitting those noxious fumes had finally come.
"The message is sent," outfielder David Justice said. "The guys with options left have got to be thinking about (being demoted) now. I would if I was them."
And on the flip side: "If we start winning now, we might not see those guys until September call-ups."
Well, as long as all the contingencies are covered.
There is no way yet to determine if administrative measures alone can Stooge-slap the Elephants back to life. Beane might be excited about German's speed and potential as a leadoff man, but he also was excited about Pena's obvious upside, and that produced a .218 hitter with 38 strikeouts in 140 plate appearances.
We can, however, be gratified by the moves and the reprehensible start that made them necessary because they show us that revisionist history is always the least reliable history of all.
The first 44 games, in fact, showed that a team willing to replace its best offensive player, best defensive player, leadoff hitter and closer is a team just asking for something like this to happen.
Even one with World Series pretensions.
It surely shows that teams with $40 million payrolls cannot afford to have a player start poorly, or a personnel decision go bad. Teams playing this close to the fault line can never, ever, ever make a mistake, because the cost of such errors are retail, plus.
Mostly, though, it shows that these A's were not prepared to cope fully and completely with the deliberate losses of Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, and haven't yet found a way to justify the trade for Billy Koch.
The A's don't see it that way, of course. They can't. Having made the initial mistake of undervaluing Giambi two years ago when they could have re- signed him, and Damon, during the season, they are in no position to come clean on it now.
But because they talked all that talk about Giambi's leadership being overrated, and Terrence Long being ready to take over center field, and Jermaine Dye ready to hit the ground running in right field after breaking his leg in October, and the rest of the pieces in place to resume their systematic terror of the American League . . . well, they need to be reminded that talk is cheap when you're six games under .500 and 10 games out.
Pena was sent down because he couldn't replace even the devalued ghost of Giambi, and Menechino was sent down because the A's needed a leadoff hitter, and Tam was sent down because they can't find anyone to take Mike Holtz and his $1.7 million left arm off their hands.
That, and because he hasn't gotten anyone out this year.
Conversely, German was called up because he is the A's best alternative to Jeremy Giambi in the leadoff spot, Piatt was called up to spell Dye and his still hinky leg, and Sutton to fill in at first and the outfield.
This is not to claim that the A's are doomed to pay forever for their penury viz. Giambi and Damon. Nothing is forever, save perhaps groin pulls that never fully heal.
This is, however, to claim that the A's didn't fully understand what they were losing when they gave it away, nor that they realize how difficult it is to replace.
Even now, Beane dismisses the idea of leadership with a giddy, "I don't think the lack of leadership is a problem. It's not leadership that pitches a shutout, or hits a home run. It's having a team ERA of eight and a .200 batting average over the last two weeks that's put us where we are. Winston Churchill couldn't overcome that."
True enough. Then again, the A's didn't win 102 games last year with a 122- year-old cigar-smoking British statesman who's been dead for almost 40 years at first base.
Leadership isn't being glib in the clubhouse, or giving flowery speeches about beating either the Mariners or the Germans. Leadership is hitting .330, with 45 homers and 120 RBIs and putting a face on a franchise, and leadership in that context is very hard to find. Leadership is being one of the game's best leadoff hitters, and catching everything hit within a $6 cab ride to either side of you.
Thus, to let that kind of leadership go is a monumental decision the effects of which last far longer than a single spring training. The A's are still paying for giving up on Giambi and Damon, and the bill is not yet close to being settled.
by Ray Ratto