Hindsights: The Giants in Your Backyard, etc.
Mike HindmanPitching in for a burned-out Joey this morning. I didn't get his request to cobble together some content until 5:15 a.m., so forgive the brevity. This is what has been on Mike's mind lately ...
While Rangers fans wait with bated breath to learn whether their rent-an-ace will return to front the rotation in 2011, their foe from the San Francisco Bay sits chilly knowing that their rotation is in the bag and it's the best in baseball.
As you know, it's a rotation that includes four homegrown kids followed by an former ace quality overpriced free agent whose performance in 2010 was, by far, the worst among the club's regular starters.
Tim Lincecum (26), Matt Cain (26), Jonathan Sanchez (27) and Madison Bumgarner (21) followed by Barry Zito, right?
Nope. Not the Giants (3.54 ERA). Their starters posted the third-best ERA in baseball.
It was their neighbors across the bay who were the best rotation in baseball by starters ERA (3.47). They were also the best rotation in baseball by DIPS 2.0.
Trevor Cahill (22), Gio Gonzalez (25), Dallas Braden (27) and Brett Anderson (22), followed by Ben Sheets.
Yes: The Athletics' rotation is younger, cheaper and statistically better than the Giants'. Watch out.
While you worry about who the Angels will moneywhip this winter in an attempt to close the gap on the Rangers, it's the Athletics -- following the Giants' blueprint -- who are truly poised to overtake your 2010 AL West champs.
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Quick: Name a marquee free agent other than Ken Griffey, Jr. / Cincinnati who actually signed somewhere because of where he wanted to live.
Good luck. Mike Hampton doesn't count.
Enough of these stories about how Cliffly loves Texas and wants to live close to Benton. Might as well write a story about how his dog is telling him to sign with Texas. It would be more meaningful.
Reader Comments (26)
Ruff Ruff (sign with Texas) Ruff Ruff!
I find it very, very interesting that with all the pitchers the Rangers have signed both the Giants and the Athletics have better home grown rotations.
Why Mike?
An inquiring mind wants to know....................
and Thanks!
You notice that one of the Giants starters and two for the As are 22 or younger? Texas needs to bring a few of their top talents up faster.
I'm not saying put a high school boy on the mound like Clyde, but two years through A and AA should be enough to know if a guy's got what it takes and then get him to the show.
Both the A's and Angels deserve respect as 2011 opponents but the A's scare me more over the next several years. The Angels have a very good rotation and money to spend. The A's have a great rotation and could do very well with a little more offense and better injury luck.
While we are at it, let's not pretend that we have any of our homegrown players a minute past their 6 year indentured servitude based on them wanting to live in Texas. Let's face it, despite Elvis Andrus' happy nature and winning smile, if he improves as a player, expect his agent Scott Boras to put him with the Yankees as soon as his clock rings Free Agent.
The window for building a homegrown rotation is fairly short. If you don't have a wall of talent hitting at the same time, like Zito/Mulder/Hudson, most likely you will be losing homegrown talent as soon as the next wave comes up.
Whether MJH likes FA or not, the Rangers have a window right now to win, and they are better off helping their chances by going hard after FAs, then waiting a couple years to see which of CJ WIlson, Colby Lewis, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz go free agent.
I agree with the above, they scare me too. and I wonder about ours???
but the Lee thing is on my mind.... somehow I feel like it is the money that will lure him....
I just hope he can get a view of the final expences of NY vs Texas....
The A's made a really good move in trading for DeJesus... and they are supposedly in on another slugger or two (Dunn?). If they get a little more offensive help, they could give Texas fits.
I don't understand why all the "experts" say that the Angels need offense. Before the "celebration injury" didn't the Angels have one of the best lineups in baseball? It seems like everyone in their lineup hit hit .300+...
if anything they need a couple of bullpen arms.
I know the Rangers won the AL pennant... but they need to upgrade a few spots on the roster... but JD will certainly be creative and not put this team in a hole financially. He's just too smart to do that...
I was telling people that the Giants scared me more than the Phillies because the Giants were a better (hitting wise) version of the A's, who gave the Rangers fits all year. I think that the Rangers can keep their younger players, but they will not be able to keep all of them.
I believe a generation ago that Pudge walked in to Tom Schieffer's office without an agent and signed a new contract. Not sure that's who you're referencing, but that's a guess.
I really respect the A's rotation, and it does sit in the back of my mind as the biggest AL West threat in the near future. That said, I'll take the Giant's rotation any day over the A's. I think the foul territory in a great boost for the A's staff. I might say that I think the A's and Giants are fairly evenly matched throughout the season, but I'm a bigger fan of Cain and Lincecum than Anderson and Cahill. I also prefer the Bum's ceiling to Gio's. I might call Sanchez vs Braden a coin flip; both can be incredible or get shelled on any given night. Basically, I just don't believe that Cahill is as good as his 2010 numbers would suggest.
I've talked about this multiple times with my friend down here in Houston that grew up an A's fan in California.
The thing that scares me most - a new stadium for the A's. If they can build a new stadium and actually use the revenue (not like the Marlins scheisters) then the A's scare me a lot more.
"Quick: name a marquee free agent other than Ken Griffey, Jr. / Cincinnati who actually signed somewhere because of where he wanted to live."
I'm assuming you meant took less money to do it (although was that the case with KGJ)? There are lots of examples of people getting paid where they also wanted to play.
Now who went where they wanted to play but for less money? I give you Andre Dawson.
Quit harshing my buzz, Hindman!!!
Great to see your posts as always, one data point for all us minor league fanatics and "why it matters". Early last season I went to see a Blake Beavan start in Bakersfield against San Jose. The opposing battery was Bumgarner and Posey.
Please move Feliz into the rotation already. Verlander's not closing for DET, is he? Seems like every other team has a young power pitcher with ace potential if he's not their ace already who K's a ton of people except us. Doesn't matter if he goes only 5-6 innings per outing his first season. He'll get up there eventually. Just re-sign FF or sign Rauch or Putz or Soriano so this can happen.
Would Randy Johnson qualify when he chose Arizona over Texas?
Seems like Edgar Martinez did it as well.
And one final one seems like Mo Rivera and Pettite do it every time they resign with NY, but that might be a stretch.
Mike Maddux eschewed Yankee money to pitch in Atlanta.
The A's have a ton of work to do build a respectable lineup. Their pitching keeps them close, I'll grant you that, but they might have to part with one of those starters to get some offense in that awful stadium. No big slugger wants to go to a place that's guaranteed to knock 25 points off his average.
Kirt Gibson returned to Detroit for less money than the Dodgers were offering
Pettite also went to Houston to go home.
The A's rotation, as always, is greatly overrated because they pitch in a ballpark that could double as an airport. Two to three free outs per game on pop fouls alone. I wouldn't get too worked up about them.
Hometown discount=Joe Mauer
For just once, I would like the Rangers to take the early initiative in 2011. I don't think its a year where you can wait until mid May to get going. Start strong and finish strong. There is not any reason this team can not win 95 games. Sign the best cased scenario free agents, and possibly 100 games is not out of the question.
It appears to me as well that the "A's" have another issue. The Moneyball appoach seems to keep them perenial fringe contenders but never a favorite. It is also really hard to keep that string of prospects to TORP going. They have done an amazing job of it but they are due a few misses.
John Stockton/Utah Jazz chose town and team over money
The author of this article is an idiot. Why ignore Hampton? He was offered more by the Mets and Cubs but chose the Rockies for what he thought was a better place to rasie his family. That deal might be instructive on Lee. Seems like the 2 guys have similar backgrounds and interests. Also, the examples that followed (Gibson, Pettite, Maddux et al) are real, too. You don't know enough about Cliff Lee to spew this crap. Get some real information and you will gain credibility.
I thought 2010 was going to be the A's year where they took the AL West with 90 wins for a lot of reasons...too bad BBeane couldn't put together the necessary offense.
If Carter becomes a stud and they sign the right free agent, trouble could be brewing for the Rangers on the other side od the Bay because that is a young team that is going to do nothing but get better.
Which free agent chose location over dollars? Guess the point is that very few do and in Clffly's case, the smart money should be on him winding up being a Skankee.
Does this sink the Rangers for 2011? Not by a long shot. The pitchers -- Colby Lewis, C.J. Wilson and to some degree Tommy Hunter -- that helped build and maintain the division lead last year are still here. Add to that the intriguing idea of possibly adding Ogando to the rotation and the Rangers are well suited to retain their Western title and quite possibly repeat as AL Champs.
What if Cliffly is with the Skanks and the Rangers meet them in the playoffs? The Giants proved he could be hit and hit hard. And if you recall, a couple of years ago in the season opener, the Rangers jumped all over him en route to a big win.
The A's definitely have good pitching, but they have so much work to do to improve their offense that they are still a few games behind Texas. The Angels are closer, but they are older than Texas. They no doubt will go after Carl Crawford, but so will a lot of other teams.
It would definitely be nice to have Cliffly signed and ready for 2011. But there's something very uncomfortable in giving a 32-year-old pitcher such a long contract.
Texas will no doubt make a concerted effort to address its catching situation, the DH and another quality arm for the rotation this offseason. And at the risk of sounding blasphemous, signing Cliffly shouldn't be an end-all. The Rangers should continue to add pieces from the farm and go to the free agent store when needed.