Oakland Athletics

Everidge strikes out a fair amount and walks, although not at the levels you may be assuming, and his ISO is usually in the .180+ range. Truth be told, he lacks prospect status. His age, less than spectacular bat, and lack of a true position leave him in a bit of a limbo in terms of where he fits on a team; especially a team with Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jack Cust, and even the disabled Daric Barton floating around. Everidge is a right-handed platoon mate with defensive limitations that leave him stuck between first base and DH. T Or otherwise the player type that is about the easiest to find, right behind left-handed reliever. Everidge makes for a nice local story and probably nothing else. At least he’ll always be able to tell his kids and grandkids about his double off Papelbon though.

FanGraphs Baseball

No Brett Wallace. Oh well.

Daric Barton said his left hamstring strain feels even worse today, and manager Bob Geren said he's a definite possibility for the DL. Who gets called up if that happens? Here's a vote for Tommy Everidge, the Sonoma kid (well, he's 26) who is tearing it up at Triple-A Sacramento, hitting .377. If Sean Doolittle were healthy, he might get a look, but he's missed most of the season with injuries, most recently a knee problem.

Or the team could opt to bring Travis Buck back, though there probably won't be much playing time for him if the team decides to stick with the current outfield alignment. I asked Geren if the spot would have to go to a first baseman or could potentially go to someone at another position and he said that right now, they're discussing all options.

Brett Wallace is unlikely, though; the team has suggested that they'd like to keep him off the 40-man roster for the time being.

The Drumbeat

At least one person on the A's immediately benefited from the Matt Holliday trade. Eric Patterson was called up from Triple-A Sacramento to replace the slugger and was in the lineup on Friday, batting ninth and playing center field. Geren also said before the game that Ryan Sweeney and Scott Hairston will be two of his primary outfielders moving forward without Holliday.

oaklandathletics.com

Anderson no match for hot Yankees

If the A's made a trade like this two years ago, I would have organized a parade to celebrate Billy Beane's great wisdom.

Today? I just can't do it. Instead of seeing three prospects obtained for a song, I wonder why the A's would want a "pear-shaped" third baseman who doesn't have much power and is widely thought to be a future first baseman, and I think about what a disaster Oakland's last first-baseman-of-the-future (Daric Barton) has been. Instead of applauding Beane for adding to the organization's pitching depth, I wonder what the A's -- who already have eight starting pitchers 25 or younger -- could possibly do with another young starter. And I wonder how Peterson's going to succeed where Ryan Sweeney and Travis Buck and Aaron Cunningham haven't.

Before I can regain my faith in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics, they're going to need to find a real third baseman, and perhaps a young shortstop who can hit, and they're going to need to actually develop a young hitter. Before I can regain my faith in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics, they're going to need to start winning baseball games again.

ESPN

I noticed Brett Anderson was on the waiver wire in a few of my leagues. He probably won't be by tomorrow, but it would behoove you to at least check your leagues. You could do worse.

Nine days after Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter on the other side of the bay, Brett Anderson tried to match the feat at the Coliseum. The A's rookie left-hander had a perfect game through 62/3 innings, and then Angels outfielder Bobby Abreu singled to left center, just to the right of shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who was playing toward the middle.

"Obviously, you're aware of it a little bit," Anderson said of having a perfect game in the late going. "But in a game like today, you just don't want them to score at that point. It's in the back of your head, but I'm just trying to pitch a scoreless inning." Anderson departed after eight innings, having allowed two hits. Even with his dominating performance, the A's lost the game. They fell 1-0 when Abreu knocked a home run to right off closer Andrew Bailey in the 10th inning.

sfchron

great read.

Henderson's career is far livelier and more entertaining when told through the voices of his colleagues - the former teammates, opponents and managers who had front-row seats for the Rickey Show. It was an incomparable production, moving from coast to coast and including ample doses of talent, flamboyance, contractual discontent, nagging injuries, loud poker games and creative aliases. Henderson's path from his childhood in Oakland to his impending induction in Cooperstown left a long trail of memories:

Dennis Eckersley, former A's pitcher: "In day games when he first came up, he'd get a walk and look at his shadow, kind of admiring it, on his way to first base. I didn't know what he was doing at first, but then I figured it out - and I screamed at him. A lot of guys hooted on Rickey, but he didn't care. He had thick skin. It wasn't a hot-dog thing, that was just Rickey's style. After I was teammates with him for a while, I understood."

sf chron

The A's did get one interruption to their usual programming. Matt Holliday hit his first home run since June 5, a blast to center that ended a string of 33 games and 121 at-bats without one. Teams interested in acquiring him before the deadline will note that he's batting .310 over his past 16 games.

Angels starter Ervin Santana continued his domination of the A's, despite his 1-5 record and 7.81 ERA coming into the night. He allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, and he's 10-1 with a 1.35 ERA against Oakland lifetime. A's manager Bob Geren noted Santana's recent struggles and the fact that his velocity was down, and he said he'd thought his club would do better against Santana than usual.

sfchron

more report cards.

TEAM MVP: Kurt Suzuki. In his second full season, Suzuki has been among Oakland's most consistent hitters, batting a team-high .293, and he has done a terrific job shepherding the many young pitchers.
BIGGEST SURPRISE: Andrew Bailey. He lost his job in Double-A Midland's rotation last summer; now he's an All-Star. Runner-up: Adam Kennedy. Who'd have thought he'd be playing third for the A's?
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Matt Holliday. While Jason Giambi's inability to get on track has many wondering about his career, Holliday's subpar numbers are startling because he is in his prime. His trade value, expected to be sky high, has dropped.

Five keys to the second half ...

sfgate.com

Did Towers just rip off the Beane?

The player to be named in the Scott Hairston deal with the Padres will be right-hander Sean Gallagher, two sources confirmed to The Chronicle. Gallagher (knee) is on the disabled list at Triple-A Sacramento and is not eligible to be sent to San Diego until he comes off the DL.

Gallagher, obtained last July in the Rich Harden trade with the Cubs, is 3-5 with a 6.34 ERA in 17 games, 13 starts, with Oakland. He had a 1.74 ERA in five starts (202/3innings) with the River Cats this year.

SF Chron

Tell us something we didn't know ...

Matt Holliday has been one of the names thrown out, and I was listening to 860, the A's radio station, where they were extolling how good he was previously, and thus teams would ignore what he has done this season, and remember how good he was before joining the A's, how being in a good lineup would cure his ills, plus maybe returning to the NL. Not Really

I am going to dispell that specious logic and hopefully discourage people from overpaying for Holliday now. His numbers in 2009, whether road or home, look like they are within range of what he has produced during his career on the road. Here is his career home (and that includes that bit above in Oakland): .348/.417/.624/1.042, with 88 HR in 1494 AB, 17 AB/HR

Which only goes to show how strong the Coors Stadium effect is on hitters (and negatively so on pitchers). Holliday is a very average hitter who is probably going to earn $15-20M per season with the contract Boras will get him but should only be getting $10-12M per season.

obsessivegiantscompulsive