disarcina

NO. Not another long term (10 year) contract -- we have enough long term deals in place now.

Kazmir is an All Star again........ Halos really gave him a chance.........don't know what happened -- but Butcher has nothing to do with his resurgence. Kazmir was a head case. My theory is that he couldn't pitch well once he got a decent contract. now that he's hungry again, he's pitching fairly well -- if this leads to another big contract (and if it does, it won't be with the A's), expect him to pitch more like he did in that last season with the Halos.... the Halos gave Kazmir every shot -- he couldn't get anyone out at the end of his time in Anaheim..........starter, set up guy, .long relief -- he was ineffective in every role the Halos put him in.

Jeter has had some good games.......what they should do is what the Cubs did with Ernie Banks, fairly early in Banks' stellar career --move Jeter to 1B or 3B and platoon him with the DH spot. Banks was a great SS -- when it became apparent that he was losing range, the Cubs moved him to 1B where he played for about half of his career.....there was no DH back then and never in the NL anyway. Jeter lost range at SS about five seasons ago -- the change should have been made then.........Jeter is not Omar Vizquel who played a stellar top end D SS right to the end -- even then, he played a fair amount of 2B with his final teams, SF, Chisox and Texas........

good news for us......MLB won't be happy -- and the TV network folks won't be happy. I agree with Trout's decision here.

well, that's interesting -- Bruce Chen was one of the KC pitchers warming up in the pen to replace Downs in in Downs' KC debut today. not a lot of former Expos around but two in the same bullpen now.

Yankees still in the race for playoff spot despite the way they've played for most of the season......... want to make the playoffs for Jeter's swan song season........

Macier Izturis? where is he these days? More Expos out there than we thought......... Was Downs out for a bit and these other guys as well? I've got a feeling that at some point after Vlad retired, there was a period where there were no ACTIVE MLB players who played on the Montreal Expos........could be wrong.....but some of these other guys may have been on the DL or in the minor leagues -- I know that Bartolo spent some time out of baseball before signing on (several times now) with teams that seemed like his LAST MLB team.........he seems to be catching on as a reclamation project, oldie but goodie with little left in the tank and then goes on to almost become the ace of the statf..........(A's, Yankees, Mets.........).

not a bad deal IMO -- change of scenery trade is right. McCarthy has been effective in the past, Nuno less so -- Nuno's success always seemed pegged to being on a good team, the Yankees (at the time of his most effectiveness). McCarthy has pitched well and, yes, a fly ball type pitcher at times, but I think McCarthy will give the Yankees some innings and win a few starts down the stretch. Nuno? D-Backs are playing out the string already for 2014.......

yeah, that's right -- Downs played there in '03 and '04.......and, of course, Bartolo Colon spent time there as well. wonder why Montreal has not become the home of a AAA or AA team? Seems like Toronto or some East Coast team could use a minor league affiliate close to them to stash 4-A players.

former Halo (as well as a few other teams) just came on in relief for KC making his Royals debut after being released by ChiSox this week. KC announcer (Steve Stewart -- wasn't Phyz's inning) said Downs has been in MLB so long, he pitched for the Montreal Expos -- that can't be right, can it? I didn't think there were any players left who actually played for the Expos in Montreal -- Vlad may have been one of the last ones.......

I think it's all tied together......... The Oakland City Council may have actually done the A's a favor by acting like it was going to REJECT the 10 year lease deal the A's struck with the Coliseum Board -- because even though the City was messing with the terms and back-tracking on already negotiated deal (that two of their own councii members knew all about and approved), the City's conduct got Bud Selig off his duff to FINALLY make a decision (to allow the A's to move) which Selig having made it, cannot easily take it back -- so it should give the A's the green light to move to San Jose........heck, Moffett Field is just sitting there with plenty of space to build a baseball only park and then there are other venues....... A's and Billy Beane are going for it NOW -- realizing that it was a Giants playoff appearance (against the A's back when) that really got the new ballpark built for the Giants at China Basin...... The Giants went from playing in cold, windy Candlestick drawing about 14,000 a game to Pac Bell (now AT&T) Park where they either have constant sold out games or at least average close to 40,000 a game........I was just there for two games this week (Cardinals-Giants) -- AT&T has to be among the best, if not the best, ballpark/ venue in MLB......... Not sure if the A's can duplicate that success -- but going from that geez awful Davis Mountain football stadium to a baseball only park in San Jose can only be a major upgrade.

Hey, Billy Beane pulls the trigger on a deal that strengthens the A's rotation NOW -- the A's need to win NOW. I think this definitely strengthens them and Samardzija is signed through 2015 - chances are Hammel does not get signed by the A's for 2015 and is just a rental. A's gave up some good prospects but get rotation guys NOW and Beane is not done dealing -- he is now going to turn around and trade one or two of the A's current rotation guys for a second baseman...... I was up in the Bay area (SF) this week and the A's lease issue was all over the news -- the Oakland City Council does not like the deal that the separate Coliseum board approved.........MLB stepped in and Selig finally made a decision on this -- and informed the City that MLB would approve an immediate move (possibly on a temporary basis) if the City Council did not approve the lease terms reachd with the Oakland Coliseum board (like the LA Coliseum Board -- the Oakland Coliseum board is separate from the Oakland City council -- it has two Oakland city council members on it but is a regional board with other county and other city officials on it)........A's need to win NOW to be in the driver's seat up there - indications are Oakland City Council is still going to mess with the lease terms........

we win two and folks complain -- geez. A's lost. We gained a game and a half in the standings. But, YES. we could use some pen help.........not sure if we get Kohn back up or not (preferably NOT) but this Rich Hill guy seems to have won a spot in the SLC pen today.

good stuff......Goldman is a good guy -- can we still call him Pinetar? won't be there 7/4 (I will be at the Cardinals-Giants games Wednesday and Thursday at AT&T) but recommend those in and about the Big A and attending the game, stop by. I, like a lot of AW,com folks, have a signed copy of his prior book, 'Once they Were Angels' -- he signed it and sent it after one of the early Fan Fest sessions -- might have been one of the first ST deals at Hail Mary's in Tempe.

Williams (and Saunders, too) will probably ink a minor league deal with some team by mid-July and be back up as a September call up for some team that could use some long relief pen help/ depth. I thought the Halos letting Williams walk was the right move......he pitched fairly effectively for us -- at times -- was widely inconsistent but had some good starts and then settled into a long relief pen role that seemed to suit him well. I was one of those who felt we should have let him walk a year earlier than we did -- but he seemed to come around that final season with the Halos and pitched well (in streaks) for the Halos in his long relief pen role.

the cure of soccer fever and world cup distraction (from baseball) was USA's 2 to 1 loss today....... World Cup TV ratings likely to fall off sharply -- although, there will still be a fair amount of folks tuning in.......

Saunders gave up 4 homeruns in his start this week -- that's what led to his DFA. Saunders has always been a flyball pitcher who gives up HRs........I guess Texas thought 4 in one game (I think he pitched 5 or 6 innings) was a few too many......... meanwhile Jerome Williams gets DFA'd by the team with the worst record in MLB........ but I'm sure both of these guys will have signed, at least, a minor league contract by mid-July and may be candidates to be September call ups for a few teams that could use some long relief pen help. Heck, maybe we could use them at SLC.

Best Angelswin.com article /column of the past ten years??? Easy answer to that one. "Just Call Me, Jim" by David Saltzer A story about Dave Saltzer and his family members sitting next to a baseball scout named Jim Fregosi at the Big A. That story deserves to be on a link on the Angelswin.com home page. Reading this interview makes one understand how it came to be that Dave Saltzer wrote that excellent piece about Fregosi.

enjoyed the background information -- the chance to tell players about inspirational efforts, acts of kindness from years ago and a just plain baseball moment that lingers in the memory for years (sort of like a favorite song that brings back a moment in time) is just great.......the stories about Jim Abbott, Dick Schofield (the younger, not his father, Ducky) and Gary Pettis are just great. Saltzer adds a lot to Angelswin.com.......his contributions and good spirit are appreciated......... lot of good folks here -- and it all starts at the top......... 10 great years. Congrats all.

well, in his debut today, he pitched like a pitcher we paid $1 for...........

That Texas move yesterday was followed up today by Houston DFA'ing Jerome Williams......... former Halos Saunders and Williams DFA'd on consecutive days. Meanwhile a former Halo DFA (Kazmir) continues to have quality starts for Oakland........ I root for most ex-Halos -- but Kazmir's resurgence sort of ticks me off -- it seemed to me that he sort of lost the interest in pitching with the Halos -- I wasn't buying his 'dead' arm stuff. He seemed to be suffering more from Big Contractitis

120 pitches -- he had 9 K's -- that's part of the pitch count -- plus -- the Red Sox were fouling off a lot of pitches.........

solid base hit with two out in the 8th inning.......... manager takes him out right after the base hit.

his balance may come back in KC.......I wish Ibanez well -- I hope he rakes for KC the rest of the season and then retires after having had a good second half. Ibanez just didn't produce at the plate for the Halos but it doesn't lessen his reputation as a good guy and a good team mate. It was disappointing to think his career would end on a .147 note or whatever below the Mendoza line average he had when the Halos released him (and it was really the only move the Halos could make).

meant to say 'or a closer'