I wrote most of this post because someone commented about how much they admire the Dodgers, who happened to hit a bunch of homers on a night our offense was limp (albeit against a pitcher who had a 2.78 ERA, so he was’t chopped liver, he was pretty good).
ogc thoughts
Zaidi Haters better get used to him: Zaidi does not look like he’s going anywhere. He is likely here for another year plus, at minimum, and his strategy is clearly to build up a powerfully effective pitching staff, and to build a defensive lineup that can also hit enough to win with great pitching. He’s not there yet, and that’s why they gave him another three seasons to progress his plan, and to see how the plan develops. I expect him to get to at least to lame duck status in 2026.
And I believe he will be successful with this strategy, which would net him another 2-year extension, which brings us to 2028. There are just so many interesting prospects. Sabean never had so many all at once, he had his few but he hit on basically all of them.
Zaidi does not have the same, as someone pointed out to me, but neither did Sabean when it all began. Nobody knew they would be as good as they ended up. Similarly for Zaidi now.
It’s never exactly the same, but there are similarities. Webb is like the Cain of this era. Bailey the Posey. I’m hoping Harrison can be the Lincecum, but maybe Webb is the Lincecum (Cy Young caliber) and Harrison the Cain (who rarely got any CY votes).
There are a ton of good pitchers on the on deck circle. Roupp, Black, Winn, Whisenhunt, Birdsong, Crawford, now Hjelle. Sure, lack of innings plus injuries, but that often push them to relief roles. The pitching staff overall should be stacked, plus Hicks and Walker, and probably Tyler, submariners tend to have long careers.
The leftovers can be traded to fill gaps in the lineup, as well as free agency.
But the lineup has some definite possibilities. Luciano likely will end up at 1B because then he can concentrate on his hitting. Whatever the case, Wade is currently great there. Thairo has been good at 2B. Schmitt is already very good defensively at 3B, and he’s essentially league average hitter so far, though SSS. Until he does, Chapman likely is here. The OF looks like it will be nice for a long while with Matos, Lee, Ramos.
Then there’s Eldridge. I get hesitation with prospects down so low. But newly drafted prospects don’t make Top 100 lists unless he’s so gifted that analysts feel they have to add him. He is also pounding the ball in A ball even though he’s a couple years younger than the league. And if he’s the future 1B, then Luciano can be the future DH.
Then there’s interesting bench players in Fitzgerald, Wisely, Sabol, and Meckler.
SS is the biggest question mark. They drafted a few in the last draft in Walker Martin, Cole Foster, and Maui Ahuna. But maybe they sign the Padres Kim, best bud of Jung Hoo Lee, and be set there as well next season. Or trade pitching surplus to get one.
There’s still a lot that could go wrong. And that will get Zaidi fired. But I see a lot of probability in the pitching happening because so many (Harrison, Winn, Roupp, Whisenhunt, Black, and likely Birdsong and Crawford now) project to be above average MLB pitchers. And the hitting could still go either way.
That’s why I’m on the fence with Zaidi. He hasn’t proven himself yet, but not enough time has passed to definitively say he has failed. But he’s also done a lot of good with the farm system as well, having good drafts, his second draft already yielded a Gold Glove caliber catcher and a pitcher in Harrison who has a great out pitch that he needs to figure out how to consistently get hitters out.
Someone here called Harrison a back of rotation pitcher, but right now his ERA is average, which is a middle rotation pitcher, in his first full MLB season at only age 22! You know who else did that in their first full MLB season? Cain and Lincecum. Players who are good enough to be major leaguers at 22-23, they have a growth ramp from there to their physical prime in their mid to late 20’s.
Again, I understand hesitation about Harrison being great. It’s rare and we’ve been burned before. But he has done everything an ace is supposed to be doing and is now doing it in the majors, controlling his walks (Cain and Lincecum had issues doing that) but having problems with giving up the long ball. So I don’t get not being excited about his potential to be an ace for our staff.
And at some point, when is Friedman, Beane, Cashman accountable for not winning many championships? Between the three of them, one full season World Series championships among the three of them in the past 23 seasons. That’s not even randomness, they should be at 2 or 3 altogether. Homers are lovely but as A’s fans rubbed our noses in it for decades, where are the championships?
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