2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Can someone get Moddy's column to composing, posthaste?

 

I can, as soon as I find my pastepot.

 

Let me grab my proportion wheel so I can give you the proper size for his thumb.

 

If there's ever a season where there should be a co-manager of the year, this may be it. Really hard to parse between the two.

The Orioles won with a lineup that at different points of the season had Nate McLouth, Endy Chavez, Steven Pearce, Lew Ford, Robert Andino and Wilson Betemit playing key roles. There's a good young nucleus there for the future in Markakis (maybe not so young any more), Wieters, Jones and Machado. Buck coaxed a career year out of Chris Davis, who was a total bust despite given opportunity after opportunity in Texas. And yes, he had a great bullpen, but it was filled with unproven guys who all had breakout years at the same time: O'Day, Strop, Johnson. He (and Rick Adair) got both Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta to buy into being bullpen guys after they both failed as starters. They found a way to make Chris Tillman not only a useable pitcher, but a dominant one at times. Considering the parts he was given, it's a miracle Buck won 81 games, much less 93.

I didn't watch nearly as many Oakland games, but I can appreciate what Melvin had to work with. He kept losing starting pitchers. He had an extremely young lineup. And he had to make up 13 games on a Texas team that looked like a juggernaut for a good part of the season.

If I had a vote, I don't know who the hell I'd give it to. Both are extremely deserving.

 

Somebody grab a string, so we can measure Moddy's column and pay him his stringer's fee.

 

Game broadcast just noted that only two teams in MLB history -- 2007 D-backs and 2012 A's -- have made the postseason with a starting lineup made up entirely of players who have never been an All-Star. Both teams were managed by Bob Melvin.

 

I think you're just saying that to appear less of a fanboi.

Billy Beane pulls good, young pitchers out of his ass. In 1997, the year before Beane started as A's GM, Oakland's five main starters were Steve Karsay, Ariel Prieto, Mike Oquist, Dave Telgheder and Brad Rigby. All five had ERAs over 4.80.

By 2000, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito were up. Hudson, who was not regarded as an elite prospect, entered the organization in 1997, but Mulder and Zito were Beane draft picks. The pitcher-producing machine has rolled for 14 years in Oakland, from Hudson through Jarrod Parker. It shouldn't surprise people that Beane managed to find eight starting pitchers to throw more than five starts with ERAs below 4.00. (Only Tyson Ross failed to meet that mark.)

Meanwhile, he built the bullpen up with strong, young pitchers and a veteran who has come into his own in the past five seasons, after his 30th birthday. Ryan Cook, Jerry Blevins, Jordan Noberto, Sean Doolittle and Evan Scribner say more about, again, the system and its ability to identify and develop pitching than those at the major league level. Cook, Noberto and Scribner were high-strikeout guys whom Beane targeted in trades. Doolittle was a weak-hitting corner infielder/outfielder whom they switched to reliever in the offseason and who immediately dominated every level. And Blevins, he's just a guy they kept their patience with and used in moderation, mostly as a specialist, until he became reliable enough for full innings this year.

The lineup fell into place. Offense was never Beane's strength, even as it seems to define the "Moneyball" principle. He gets credit for a nice gamble on Yoenis Cespedes, a great trade for Josh Reddick and a smart pickup in Jonny Gomes. And Chris Carter is a player straight out of Moneyball. But Brandon Moss is an anomaly and his cultivated middle infield of Jemile Weeks and Cliff Pennington tanked. Then again, he reacted to that by adding Stephen Drew.

The A's have a lot more talent to work with than the Orioles. Of course, a lot of this comes from my belief that managers deal with in-game strategy and clubhouse chemistry, not player development. They're "managers," after all. Most of the players on the A's had worked out their issues in the minors. Meanwhile, on the Orioles, Buck Showalter was dealing with a roster that, for much of the season, featured one consistent hitter in Adam Jones. Nick Markakis got super-hot and became the team's best player, then went down for the season right at the key point. He stuck with Chris Davis and Mark Reynolds through slumps, though part of that was because his bench was awful. This was textbook managing, a team short on talent and consistency and experience that grinded out one-run and extra-inning wins at unbelievable paces.

Billy Beane deserves executive of the year. Buck Showalter deserves manager of the year. Bob Melvin deserves a raise.

 

That's a 5-48-1.

And you're an SE. Sigh. ;D

 

Call the copy boy.

 

Tommy: Concerning the Rangers.....RonWash has made some incredibly stupid moves or non-moves, be it as it may, in crunch time games. Game 6, ALCS, he sends Feliz out for the 10th, the Rangers are merely dethroned world champions. How many times did he start Profar for an error-prone Kinsler in this skid ? He pinch hits Profar for Kinsler and he first-pitch singles to load the bases in the ninth on Friday. Their fat cats had no hunger. Hamilton should have been yanked when he California-strolled after that dropped fly. I'd sure as hell have pinch hit for him in the ninth on Friday. I hope Hamilton finds someone stupid enough to give him Cabrera-worth bucks. Then I hope the Rangers put Profar at second and package Kinsler and perhaps a so so lefty, Holland, for a quality top starter...because Yu can't carry that team by himself, at least not until Lewis and Feliz return.

Oh, and I really don't think RonWash has done much managing other than to keep the clubhouse in check, for whatever that's worth.