Liking the Shannon Steward Trade a Bit More Now
 

Kielty Traded

Personally, I'm curious as to who the other player is and how much cash was involved, but if, and I know it's a big IF, we can keep Escobar, I'm going to be quite enthusiastic about our starting rotation next season.

Now if we could just get a closer (or if we'd taken the Gagne offer instead of insisting on Prokopec...)

Kielty's my boy. I hope he does well in Oakland.

Oakland could have an interesting new look in the OF if they do end uo with both Kielty and Kotsay. If they deal Ramon Hernandez, though, they will have to come up with an option at catcher - and I don't think it's Scott Hatteberg.

They've almost doubled their OBP in the outfield, dumping Guillen and Long and picking up Kotsay and Kielty. Nice moves, but they definitely need a catcher.

The A's have a catching prospect who is supposedly a monster with the bat. Another one of those guys Beane draft out of college who scouts didn't like because he was short and chunky. Beane's reaction was something along the line of, "We don't draft them to sell jeans."

Jays' rotation looks good for next year-- Halladay, Lily, Hentgen, Escobar (hopefully), and Towers who pitched well at the end of last year... look out Boston, we're going to make it CLOSE before finishing in third this year!

Are you talking about 'Moneyball' star Jeremy Brown?

Don't forget Pat Hentgen ;)

In FOF terms he was a mentor to the Twins pitching staff for the 2nd half of the season. :)

If that's the good hitting catcher that slipped through the draft because his build was "squat", then yeah. From Alabama, I think?

As an aside, a friend of mine who's an A's fan think the next in line to start is Adam Melhuse with a veteran backing him up. How is Melhuse? Any good?

Melhuse is pretty unproven, but the most ready guy they have in store. Jeremy Brown, I think, made it up to AA last year, but is not in the picture for the bigs quite yet, I don't think (though he looks like a fairly legit prospect).

I reckon they will secure a veteran of some sort, and do okay there. But probably not the upside they had with Hernandez.