Astros acquire LHP Scott Kazmir from Oakland

[tomsred]

Billy Beane is the worst GM other than Ruben Amaro. The guy isn't as clever as he thinks.

 

But he invented moneyball, and is an expert saber guy, and he meddles in the clubhouse.  He likes to get emotional with the players, and he hires smart college kids, and turns them into experts.  And he tells managers who to play, and what the lineup should be.  He's perfect, good looking, and they made a movie about him.  He has an ownership share so he can hire or fire himself, and he's been there forever, and always will be.

 

This is his season, his team is at or near the top in almost all statistical categories - whoops, but they are in last place.

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by tomsred

[floplag]

19th and 22nd rated prospects for a rental pitcher....  i like that priceline.  every other GM looking to sell is cursing Beane right now

[fan_since79]

the thing i like most about this is that it sets the baseline price for rentals pretty low.

as for Kaz in Hou, they already had pretty darned good pitching so this is nt that big a deal to me as their starters era was still in the top half of the league and 6th in the AL.   Better, yes, but not largely so

 

With Kazmir, their top four starters' ERA is 2.84.

 

Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers, and Kazmir. Hernandez and Feldman share the fifth spot.

[Guest]

But he invented moneyball, and is an expert saber guy, and he meddles in the clubhouse. He likes to get emotional with the players, and he hires smart college kids, and turns them into experts. And he tells managers who to play, and what the lineup should be. He's perfect, good looking, and they made a movie about him. He has an ownership share so he can hire or fire himself, and he's been there forever, and always will be.

This is his season, his team is at or near the top in almost all statistical categories - whoops, but they are in last place.

Spot on. His hubris is getting in the way of rational decision making.

I couldn't imagine being an A's fan.

[floplag]

With Kazmir, their top four starters' ERA is 2.84.

 

Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers, and Kazmir. Hernandez and Feldman share the fifth spot.

 

you realize his road splits were closer to 4 though, right?

as i said, better, not not like omg better

[eligrba]

Not sure why AO shouldn't complain about Upton.  If she wants to engage with AO, she should be more considerate of his working conditions.

[fan_since79]

Kazmir had 50 starts with the A's and pitched exactly 300 innings.

 

Workhorse.

[tdawg87]

Kazmir to the stros > Hamels, Cueto, Price to the stros.

For us.

[fan_since79]

you realize his road splits were closer to 4 though, right?

as i said, better, not not like omg better

 

Houston has two more series in Oakland this year, where Kazmir has a 1.36 ERA.  He'll get another start or two there if the rotation lines up right.

[Angel Oracle]

Kazmir in Minute Maid Park could be an adventure.

[ScottT]

Kazmir in Oakland this season - 1.36 ERA, 0 HR

Kazmir on the road - 3.92 ERA, 7 HR

 

Obviously, Houston will get the 3.92 ERA Kazmir on the road.  Since Houston is a hitter's park, and he is really a 3.92 ERA pitcher, his home ERA will skyrocketed to near 5. 

 

Home/Road splits are fun.  

[Guest]

But he invented moneyball, and is an expert saber guy, and he meddles in the clubhouse.  He likes to get emotional with the players, and he hires smart college kids, and turns them into experts.  And he tells managers who to play, and what the lineup should be.  He's perfect, good looking, and they made a movie about him.  He has an ownership share so he can hire or fire himself, and he's been there forever, and always will be.

 

This is his season, his team is at or near the top in almost all statistical categories - whoops, but they are in last place.

 

I admit this is nitpicking but technically Seattle is in last place, and Boston has the worst record in the league. They are all within one game of each other, though. If you also consider the situation over in San Diego the moral of the story is the approach of massively turning over the roster and making a ton of high profile moves doesn't seem to be working out. 

 

Jerry Dipoto > Billy Beane

[Hollyw00d]

Decent haul for Oakland, they got a couple guys with good talent

[stormngt]

Is it me or does this not feel like it should worry us? We always light up Kazmir and he definitely not the type of player that makes you the division favorite.

didn't light him up last time we played against him

[stormngt]

 

This is a post by an A's fan from another message board that he just posted.  It was in discussion on this trade but more about Beane in general.

 

Beane is off his rocker - I'm surrounded by A's fans who are 'on-strike' against

going to A's games because of what Billy Beane has done in the last 12 months:

- For two years (June 2012 to June 2014), the A's had the best record in the baseball. 

- As of July 3, 2014 (when Beane's first major trade occurred), the A's had the best record in MLB by FIVE games and were on pace for the best run-differential in baseball in almost 25 years.

- Every major contributor was under contract through at least the end of 2015, except for SS Jed Lowrie, but it just so happened that the A's had one of the Top 5 prospects in all of baseball (Addison Russel) waiting to replace Lowrie.

In short, the A's were the favorite for the W.S. in 2014 and were perfectly set-up for 2015.

Since July 3, 2014, the A's had the worst record in MLB through mid-May 2015 (they've been decent for the past 30 games). What happened in between:

- Billy Beane has traded away 7 all-stars (including Josh Donaldson, an annual MVP candidate) and each of the A's top-4 prospects 

- In return, the A's have received a decent young starting pitcher, an error prone third baseman, the most error prone short-stop in MLB, arguably the worst bullpen in baseball, Ben Zorbrist, and one top-tier prospect.

- This all appeared to be to cut-costs, but then Beane signed Billy Butler ($11 million per) and Ike Davis ($7 million per), giving the A's the same payroll that last year's best-team-in baseball had.

So Billy Beane inarguably made the team worse. The minor league system is worse. And the payroll is the same. So what was the point?

 

you mean Beane isn't a genius?

[Puget Sound Angel]

Hopefully it's the same Kazmir who pitched for us.

[Inside Pitch]

Whereas pitchers like Fernando Rodney openly blamed Butcher, young pitchers like Skaggs and Heaney have actually Butcher unprompted endorsements in the media. Now I'm not as sure which narrative to believe. 

 

When has Rodney complained about Butcher?  He bitched and moaned he was replaced by Walden, whined he didn't get the respect he deserved, but when did he openly blame Butcher?  

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/angels/post/_/id/3858/fernando-rodney-not-happy-in-role

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/14/fernando-rodney-unhappy-with-how-mike-scioscia-uses-him/

Edited July 23, 2015 by Inside Pitch

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Love this. And everyone complained that Kazmir couldn't get is to the postseason. He can now, pitching for Houston

[The Dude]

When has Rodney complained about Butcher?  He bitched and moaned he was replaced by Walden, whined he didn't get the respect he deserved, but when did he openly complain about Butcher?  

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/angels/post/_/id/3858/fernando-rodney-not-happy-in-role

Didnt he bitch about the coaching staff trying to change his mechanics? Or am I remembering it wrong?

[Inside Pitch]

Didnt he bitch about the coaching staff trying to change his mechanics? Or am I remembering it wrong?

 

 

He claimed while with TB that the Angels had tried to change how he set up to get him to throw more strikes and that TB had told him not to change anything.   Then there was a story written about how they had changed stuff in TB essentially contradicting everything he had said.  Bot almost all of his ire was aimed at how he wasn't used properly while a member of the Angels.   He was bitter he got replaced as closer after four games.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Inside Pitch

[Blarg]

Quite frankly AO can complain about anything he wants to complain about if he actually nailed Kate Upton. I'd be duly impressed and give him carte blanche to rage about anything he wanted to rage about.

AO has a better chance of getting a BJ off an Upton if it is a Melvin.

[Lou]

Whereas pitchers like Fernando Rodney openly blamed Butcher, young pitchers like Skaggs and Heaney have actually Butcher unprompted endorsements in the media. Now I'm not as sure which narrative to believe.

Santiago has credited Butcher as well.

And lol @ listening to anything Rodney has to say.

[Guest]

Rodney is a punk.

[Hollyw00d]

This is a post by an A's fan from another message board that he just posted.  It was in discussion on this trade but more about Beane in general.

 

Beane is off his rocker - I'm surrounded by A's fans who are 'on-strike' against

going to A's games because of what Billy Beane has done in the last 12 months:

- For two years (June 2012 to June 2014), the A's had the best record in the baseball. 

- As of July 3, 2014 (when Beane's first major trade occurred), the A's had the best record in MLB by FIVE games and were on pace for the best run-differential in baseball in almost 25 years.

- Every major contributor was under contract through at least the end of 2015, except for SS Jed Lowrie, but it just so happened that the A's had one of the Top 5 prospects in all of baseball (Addison Russel) waiting to replace Lowrie.

In short, the A's were the favorite for the W.S. in 2014 and were perfectly set-up for 2015.

Since July 3, 2014, the A's had the worst record in MLB through mid-May 2015 (they've been decent for the past 30 games). What happened in between:

- Billy Beane has traded away 7 all-stars (including Josh Donaldson, an annual MVP candidate) and each of the A's top-4 prospects 

- In return, the A's have received a decent young starting pitcher, an error prone third baseman, the most error prone short-stop in MLB, arguably the worst bullpen in baseball, Ben Zorbrist, and one top-tier prospect.

- This all appeared to be to cut-costs, but then Beane signed Billy Butler ($11 million per) and Ike Davis ($7 million per), giving the A's the same payroll that last year's best-team-in baseball had.

So Billy Beane inarguably made the team worse. The minor league system is worse. And the payroll is the same. So what was the point?

As proven this forum, fans are right a lot of the time

[Jay]

Astros want to win apparently