The A's since the Cespedes trade.

[disarcina]

Cespedes hit another HR today for Boston...........

[floplag]

Cespedes has a .255 OBP in the month of August. That trade has nothing to do with the A's offense struggling this month. 

 

Only having 3 above average hitters this month is the reason why they haven't hit. 

 

and losing their biggest protection is perhaps why they are so average

 

[Lou]

The A's traded for 3 SP's(2"aces")to bolster their rotation.

They have made a combined 18 starts thus far and are 10-8 in those games.

10-9

[Lou]

7-7 and team batting average has dipped quite a bit. This will be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the season.

http://beta.sportingnews.com/article/4602294-how-has-oaklands-offense-fared-in-its-first-two-weeks-without-cespedes?modid=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

7-8

Angels since the Street Trade 12-12.  Fire D'poto.

13-12

In games that Street has appeared:

 

8-2.

9-2

[Mark68]

Correlation does not equal causation.

 

Really, the A's were bound to go thru a slump at some point, and they went to KC to face a very hot (and underrated) Royals team and lost 3 of 4 there, so now they're struggling for pretty much the first time all year. It was bound to happen at some point.

 

I don't think the Cespedes trade had much, if anything, to do with their current struggles.

 

SoCALkid mentioned that Oakland's batting average has gone down since Cespedes left, yet Cespedes is only hitting .254 (with a .299 OBP), so it's not like he was contributing to them in that category.

[Lou]

If his BA is higher than the team's, it would indeed benefit them.

[Mark68]

If his BA is higher than the team's, it would indeed benefit them

A's are hitting .251 now, so there is much more going on than just the loss of Cespedes.

 

In the month of August, the A's are hitting .229 and the Angels .231 without any significant changes in the roster..

 

Cespedes is hitting .239 in August.

 

Trading him is not the reason the A's are in a funk.

[Lou]

He was hitting better than his replacement, Fuld, is hitting now. Do you really believe a player's only influence on his teammates is his BA?

Also, since you brought up equal causation, Cespeses' avg in Boston has no correlation to what he would have done if he were still playing for Oakland. He has faced different pitchers and defenses, and has done so in different ballparks

Edited August 16, 2014 by Lou

[gurn67]

Okay, removing the clean up hitter from one of the best offenses in baseball doesn't impact the rest of the offense. Removing a guy who for a few years has pulled late inning clutch hit after clutch hit out of his ass from a team that was, until the trade, the best come from behind late inning team I've ever seen, doesn't impact the rest of the offense. As an Angels' fan, I loved the trade and still do and the series against the Red Sox reminded me why. Who in their right mind trades their clean up hitter, and a guy who thrives in the clutch, from an offense that has performed way above expectations for four months? Trying to say this trade hasn't negatively impacted the rest of the offense is about as credible as that Baghdad Bob dude who kept coming on Iraqi TV every night saying everything's fine.

[arch stanton]

I just wonder how everyone on the team feels when having the best record in baseball and a monster run differential isn't enough to keep Beane from breaking you into pieces and ensuring the only name that will matter if they win it all is his.

[RePLAY]

Damn..I'm a genius.

[Glen]

I hope your shoulder is OK, looks like you might have wrenched it out trying to pat yourself on the back.

[Glen]

A few months ago, thanks to Godfrey I made facebook friends (I know) with (name withheld).  She's a huge As fan and does some national writing for them, and she liked one of my blogs for AW.com.  Before the trade and even up to a week or so ago, I was getting tired of seeing her rah-rah crap every time the As did something good, which was often.  As of the last week or so, all that stuff is evaporating.  It's nice.  I'm petty enough to enjoy that.

[Spirit]

A few months ago, thanks to Godfrey I made facebook friends (I know) with (name withheld).  She's a huge As fan and does some national writing for them, and she liked one of my blogs for AW.com.  Before the trade and even up to a week or so ago, I was getting tired of seeing her rah-rah crap every time the As did something good, which was often.  As of the last week or so, all that stuff is evaporating.  It's nice.  I'm petty enough to enjoy that.

 

 

Is this the same writer who suggest "the Angels got lucky" when they signed Trout to the long term deal?

[Lou]

Damn..I'm a genius.

When did we get the division lead?

[Stradling]

Okay, removing the clean up hitter from one of the best offenses in baseball doesn't impact the rest of the offense. Removing a guy who for a few years has pulled late inning clutch hit after clutch hit out of his ass from a team that was, until the trade, the best come from behind late inning team I've ever seen, doesn't impact the rest of the offense. As an Angels' fan, I loved the trade and still do and the series against the Red Sox reminded me why. Who in their right mind trades their clean up hitter, and a guy who thrives in the clutch, from an offense that has performed way above expectations for four months? Trying to say this trade hasn't negatively impacted the rest of the offense is about as credible as that Baghdad Bob dude who kept coming on Iraqi TV every night saying everything's fine.

You know it could just be a slump or coincidence. I have no idea if it is or not, but it could be. The Angels didn't trade any of their offense away at the deadline and our offense went to sleep. I say we give it a couple weeks and see if continues. Meanwhile lets when the division.

[floplag]

Im sorry but sometimes i wonder if some of you ever actually played the game at more than a little league level.

There are things that do not exist on a scorecard.  Things like protection in the order, presense in the lineup, other things like this that mean nothing on stats sheets, nothing in WAR, nothing in anything other than the reality of playing the game.

Guys will pitch around Cespedes, they are very much aware of where he is in the lineup, when he is coming to bat, and what they need to do to not let him have impactful swings...  He makes other around him better whether he is performing or not.

 

i guarantee you, noone is thinking that way about Fuld...

 

I dont mean to be a jerk but seriously, come on,, is it the position of some of you that all things things are mythical, really ?

Edited August 16, 2014 by floplag

[tdawg87]

A few months ago, thanks to Godfrey I made facebook friends (I know) with (name withheld).  She's a huge As fan and does some national writing for them, and she liked one of my blogs for AW.com.  Before the trade and even up to a week or so ago, I was getting tired of seeing her rah-rah crap every time the As did something good, which was often.  As of the last week or so, all that stuff is evaporating.  It's nice.  I'm petty enough to enjoy that.

 

I thought that said you were "pretty enough to enjoy that" and I was like

 

[Stradling]

I have played the game, I understand the parts of the game that don't show up in a box score. My post above was simply to say the Angels went into a longer offensive slump than the A's and it had nothing to do with trading an offensive player. Slumps happen and the A's performance could just as easily be explained that way. I agree with you that no one looks at Fuld and thinks he's a threat. If he was a threat then Beane wouldn't have released him back in April.

[floplag]

My post wasn't directed specifically at you Stradling.. its just that since the trade many of us have been saying these things and how it would hurt the A's, and all were getting is either ignored or more stats in our faces as though these things dont exist.

The one thing that is the most telling to me is the WAR stat if you want to go down that road though... they both have the same WAR last i checked, about 3.3, now, what is more valuable, a 3.3 everyday, or a 3,3 every 5th day?

Unless it buys them a World Series, which i don't think it will, they lose this trade for giving up that presence for a guy that will be back in a Bos uniform in ST.

[Stradling]

So if the two main parts of the trade Lester and Cespedes have the same WAR, then judge the trade on who Lester replaced compared to the WAR of Gomes and Fuld.

[Troutstanding]

The one thing that is the most telling to me is the WAR stat if you want to go down that road though... they both have the same WAR last i checked, about 3.3, now, what is more valuable, a 3.3 everyday, or a 3,3 every 5th day?

Really, the question should be, "What's more valuable, 0.66 everyday, or 3.3 every fifth day?" (5 / 3.3 = .66)

[tdawg87]

The one thing that is the most telling to me is the WAR stat if you want to go down that road though... they both have the same WAR last i checked, about 3.3, now, what is more valuable, a 3.3 everyday, or a 3,3 every 5th day?

 

I don't think you understand how WAR works.

 

And a pitcher has arguably just as much impact on one start than an everyday player has in 5 games. Considering they are a part of every single play while they are on the mound, while an everyday player is only a part of random plays and 3-4 at bats.

[Docwaukee]

trying to isolate any of these individual events as overly indicative of what is happening to a team as a whole is pretty much impossible.  

 

I do agree with the sentiment that there is an emotional component to this.  Even though a platoon of two guys might give you similar production in replacing once person, there is still a difference between the two.  Even if you got similar production out of a cron/navarro platoon, it's not the same as having an Albert Pujols in your lineup and on your team even in his current form. 

[floplag]

I don't think you understand how WAR works.

 

And a pitcher has arguably just as much impact on one start than an everyday player has in 5 games. Considering they are a part of every single play while they are on the mound, while an everyday player is only a part of random plays and 3-4 at bats.

as usual, the you dont understand card is played... 

IF that were as gospel as you think it is, the braves should have won 5 WS in the 90s, and the As should have won the last like 4

but by all means please, keep touting the holy grail