6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

News

• Kevin Appier apparently asked for his release from the Mariners last week with the intention of retiring; he shook the hand of Tacoma Rainiers' manager Dave Brundage as Brundage came to pull him off the mound following a (literal and figurative) beating at the hands of the Bees, an unusual sight in baseball. We'll always have 2002, Ape.
• Statistical Trends Don't Happen Outside Of Oakland Dep't: Here's a good Rani Jazayerli article on statistical trends in the draft, and in particular, whether there's an advantage in signing prep players versus college players. He concludes that there's actually an advantage now to signing prepsters, but here's the comment that grinds my gears:

  Last year, the Oakland Athletics surprised casual observers by snapping up three high school pitchers in a row--Craig Italiano, Jared Lansford (Carney's son), and Vincent Mazzaro--after selecting college hitters with their first two picks. Some people speculated that this was a repudiation of their Moneyball philosophy, an acknowledgment that their earlier methods were not working.

  But Moneyball was never about a specific philosophy of valuing production over potential, or statistics over scouts. It was a philosophy of identifying inefficiencies in the market--whatever they are--and exploiting them. As the inefficiencies change, so do the tactics. The sudden change in the A's drafting tactics doesn't invalidate their philosophy; it simply proves that they were doing their homework, and noticed the trends in other teams' draft strategies. When everyone else was zigging, they were zagging. Now that everyone else is zagging...

  Brandon Wood, anyone? Nick Adenhart? No love for the Angels? How about Scott Elbert, Blake DeWitt, and Chad Billingsley for the Dodgers? Is a trend only a trend when the A's find themselves chasing the other guys' tail lights two freaking years after other teams have identified this alleged inefficiency?
• Kevin Goldstein has comments about two players germane to this blog:

  Howie Kendrick, 2b, Triple-A Salt Lake (Angels)

  It's hard to imagine Kendrick actually getting better, but he's done just that, going 7-for-12 with a double and three home runs over the weekend. He's batting .395 since getting sent down from the big leagues, and .391/.429/.656 overall. I realize he's making the 10-pack nearly every week, but with performances like this, what am I supposed to do?

  Andy LaRoche, 3b, Double-A Jacksonville (Dodgers)

  Laroche got off to [a] slow start this year, batting .226 in June with two home runs. He's since batting .344 with 27 RBI in 33 games and has more walks (38) than strikeouts (30) on the season. His power (seven home runs in 209 at-bats) is still nowhere near last year's levels, but with those kinds of on-base skills, even average power will be more than enough for LaRoche to be a star.

• The Texas League All-Star roster has been announced; Brandon Wood will appear as a DH for the North Division, while Rockies prospect (and former Dirtbag) Troy Tulowitzki will occupy his defensive position at shortstop. Eric Rodland will join Wood and Tulowitzki as a starter, playing second base. Travs manager Ty Boykin will also manage the North team. The Texas League All-Star game will be on Tuesday, June 20, at Ray Winder Field.
• Howie Kendrick was the PCL Offensive Player of the Week for his four-homer, 14 RBI, 15-29 (.517) performance over the last week.
• No Angel or Dodger prospect made Pitcher of the Week for any of their respective leagues.
• Finally, with the draft coming up, this guy asked me to provide some answers for his questions about what the Angels and Dodgers needed, who they were likely to pick, and that kind of stuff. If it's poorly informed speculation you're after, follow the link.

Scores

// posted by Rob @ 11:47 PM link  //  2 comments