A's Trade for Halsey

[MaineSoxFan]

Interesting move by Oakland:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2385056

[MattUNC2003]

That is interesting. I wonder if they're gonna start Halsey or move him to the BP, because isn't their (A's) starting rotation pretty much set?

[flymick24]

probably just insurance... in case harden goes down again

[JeffWeaverFan]

Good insurance move. I always liked the Admiral as a pitcher. Not the best stuff but he's got guts and gets the job done.

[Davios]

I think this is a really good move for the Diamondbacks actually. Cruz never really had a major opportunity last season with the A's. In my opinion the guy is simply a starter not a reliever.

[Rich]

He would have been a good fit here.

[SI Baseballman]

Ok Billy, time to trade Zito to the Mets

[GimeMoMuny]

The A's defense will dramatically improve Halsey's numbers.

[bobbymagee]

Ok Billy, time to trade Zito to the Mets

Wrong NY team. Yanks

[38Special]

He would have been a good fit here.

He's a bad pitcher. Why would he have been a good fit here?

[gdn]

They gave up Cruz for Halsey? Wow.

[gold23]

I don't like that deal AT ALL from the A's standpoint. Brad Halsey is what he is- most likely going to be a serviceable lefty pitcher in the majors. Cruz might never be anything....but he has the talent to be a star.

[MaineSoxFan]

I don't like that deal AT ALL from the A's standpoint. Brad Halsey is what he is- most likely going to be a serviceable lefty pitcher in the majors. Cruz might never be anything....but he has the talent to be a star.

And the A's really have no need at all for an extra serviceable starting pitcher.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

He's a bad pitcher. Why would he have been a good fit here?

Well, the yanks do seem to like stockpiling bad pitchers.

[BronxByTheBay]

Good insurance move. I always liked the Admiral as a pitcher. Not the best stuff but he's got guts and gets the job done.

Thank God for intangibles.

[38Special]

Thank God for intangibles.

Are you trying to tell me that a .300+ opposing batting average in the NL West isnt impressive?

[jimmykey2]

Are you trying to tell me that a .300+ opposing batting average in the NL West isnt impressive?

All I know is when he pitched for the Yanks, he showed enough to deserve getting a shot at some starts. I'd like to have him on the team right now, as opposed to worrying about when Carl Pavano is going to come back. Also remember the BOB (I don't know what they call it now, but that's what I'm calling it) is the 2nd highest park in the Majors and is known as a hitters' park.

Juan Cruz wasn't making the A's roster anyway and even if he did, is this the year he finally puts turns that "great stuff" into actual performance? I doubt it. Halsey makes no money, has options, and isn't eligible for arbitration for 2 years. How is this a bad deal for the A's?

[HouseThatRingsBuild]

Ok Billy, time to trade Zito to the Mets

Why trade for Zito when he will be free agent next year?

[Arod for President]

Man I miss Halsey.

[38Special]

All I know is when he pitched for the Yanks, he showed enough to deserve getting a shot at some starts. I'd like to have him on the team right now, as opposed to worrying about when Carl Pavano is going to come back. Also remember the BOB (I don't know what they call it now, but that's what I'm calling it) is the 2nd highest park in the Majors and is known as a hitters' park.

Juan Cruz wasn't making the A's roster anyway and even if he did, is this the year he finally puts turns that "great stuff" into actual performance? I doubt it. Halsey makes no money, has options, and isn't eligible for arbitration for 2 years. How is this a bad deal for the A's?

Halsey had an ERA over 5 with the Yankees

Cruz had an excellent year with the Braves in 04

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

All I know is when he pitched for the Yanks, he showed enough to deserve getting a shot at some starts.

Hunh?

[boo_427]

Halsey had an ERA over 5 with the Yankees

Cruz had an excellent year with the Braves in 04

That Hudson deal looks a lot better now. Charles Thomas has done nothing and Cruz has been moved.

Is Dan Meyer projected to start for the A's?

[Snatch Catch]

Why trade for Zito when he will be free agent next year?

Because your initials are O. M.

[Jace]

Also remember the BOB (I don't know what they call it now, but that's what I'm calling it) is the 2nd highest park in the Majors and is known as a hitters' park.

He also got to pitch in LA and San Diego in away games (extreme pitchers parks), and pitched all the time in the worst hitting division in the majors.

[jimmykey2]

Halsey was terrible the last 2 months of the 2005 season, which is somewhat understandable for a guy pitching the first full year of his career. Heading into August, Halsey's ERA was 3.81. His overall ERA was .19 higher than Javier Vasquez. Also, consider that the D' Backs had only one starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.

With the Yanks (this is off the top of my head), he had 5 starts... 2 of which were very good in tough spots (@ LA and BOS), 2 were bad (DET and another team), and 1 (Mets) which he was sabotaged by bad defense.

Considering what the Yanks got from Sean Henn, Darrell May, Tim Redding, Kevin Brown, and even Carl Pavano in 2005, you could've done a lot worse than Brad Halsey.

BTW... Juan Cruz had a career season in ATL, have we heard that before?

[gold23]

Halsey was terrible the last 2 months of the 2005 season, which is somewhat understandable for a guy pitching the first full year of his career. Heading into August, Halsey's ERA was 3.81. His overall ERA was .19 higher than Javier Vasquez. Also, consider that the D' Backs had only one starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.

With the Yanks (this is off the top of my head), he had 5 starts... 2 of which were very good in tough spots (@ LA and BOS), 2 were bad (DET and another team), and 1 (Mets) which he was sabotaged by bad defense.

Considering what the Yanks got from Sean Henn, Darrell May, Tim Redding, Kevin Brown, and even Carl Pavano in 2005, you could've done a lot worse than Brad Halsey.

BTW... Juan Cruz had a career season in ATL, have we heard that before?

Cruz has absolutely explosive stuff. Halsey is a touch pitcher, and he's never really been that good at that. He's had flashes, but he'll never be that good of a pitcher- he simply lacks any of the requirements. He doesn't have a single above average major league pitch, he doesn't have pinpoint control, and he doesn't have a ton of movement off of his fastball.

Cruz has shown flashes of dominance to go along with inconsistency. Now, if Beane was knowingly getting about $.70 on the dollar here (and I think that is exactly what he did), fine. But without taking into account the current factors and makeup of the two teams, Cruz is considerably more valuable long term than a run of the mill pitcher.

[jimmykey2]

Cruz has absolutely explosive stuff. Halsey is a touch pitcher, and he's never really been that good at that. He's had flashes, but he'll never be that good of a pitcher- he simply lacks any of the requirements. He doesn't have a single above average major league pitch, he doesn't have pinpoint control, and he doesn't have a ton of movement off of his fastball.

Cruz has shown flashes of dominance to go along with inconsistency. Now, if Beane was knowingly getting about $.70 on the dollar here (and I think that is exactly what he did), fine. But without taking into account the current factors and makeup of the two teams, Cruz is considerably more valuable long term than a run of the mill pitcher.

Considering how much Halsey costs and the fact he still has options would make him more valuable to the Yanks than Cruz who has great stuff that hasn't been harnessed anywhere without Leo Mazzone.

[38Special]

Considering how much Halsey costs and the fact he still has options would make him more valuable to the Yanks than Cruz who has great stuff that hasn't been harnessed anywhere without Leo Mazzone.

But Halsey had a below average numbers in the NL West. Putting him in the AL over a full season isnt likely to be better than any AAA guy you throw out there (especially when you consider his stuff)

[Jaeho]

Brad Halsey is the Bubba Crosby of pitchers.

[gold23]

Considering how much Halsey costs and the fact he still has options would make him more valuable to the Yanks than Cruz who has great stuff that hasn't been harnessed anywhere without Leo Mazzone.

I would thinkl Cruz would be much more valuable to the Yanks than Halsey. I'd prefer Cruz over Small and Wright, and probably Sturtze as well.

[kan_t]

Brad Halsey is the Bubba Crosby of pitchers.

You underestimate Halsey. He can turn out to be a solid 6 inning bullpen guy or LOOGY in Yankees, while Crosby should be the 7th OF in the team. Cruz being better than Halsey doesn't mean that Halsey belongs to Crosby's level.

[27IsNext]

Wrong NY team. Yanks

Considering what it'd cost to net Zito in a trade, or how much money and years in free agency, I'd rather the Mets have him.

Not to mention, since we own Zito, it'd be nice for the Mets to start him vs. us the next subway series in New York.

[SoCal Pinstriper]

The Admiral won't be getting much run support unless the A's staff gets a little more detail oriented.

Tucson -- Mike Thalblum, the A's visiting clubhouse manager, was dozing on the team bus to Tucson when he got a call from Billy Beane.

"Hey, Mikey, I'm just wondering if you forgot anything,'' the A's GM said.

"I said, 'No, Billy, I didn't forget anything,' '' Thalblum recounted before Oakland 8-2 loss to Arizona. "I was thinking, 'I want to go back to sleep. ... are you done?' Then I saw I'd missed a call from Cliffy (Claven, the clubhouse assistant) and I was like, 'Uh oh, what DID I forget?' ''

After spending the morning concentrating on packing the team's truck back to the Bay Area, Thalblum had jumped onto the bus for Tucson without loading a fairly important bit of equipment: the bats.

So the A's arrived at Tucson Electric Park for batting practice with just nine bats, a motley assortment of lesser models and castoffs. Bobby Kielty was one of the few with his own bat on hand - until Dan Johnson borrowed it and broke it.

Assistant general manager David Forst and baseball operations analyst Farhan Zaidi arrived less than an hour before game time with a full supply of bats. Until then, the team was good humored about it.

"I figure this is the same group that (was no-hit into the 10th inning) at Mesa the other day,'' manager Ken Macha said. "So we don't need any bats here.''

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...PGTLHUV0D1.DTL

[DontHateOnNumber2]

Halsey will be long relief.....until Zito is traded.

[The FUTURE]

The A's are collecting some nice spot starters.


If we have health problems in our starting rotation i wouldnt mind us going out and getting Halsey or Saarloos, both are great spot starters and could do an average/above average job if somebody went down.




I say, Lets just wait until the offseason to get Zito, unless we need a really big push to get in the playoffs or something, we shouldnt throw our prospects away when we can just wait to the end of the year and get zito for $$$$.

[Snatch Catch]

Halsey may actually start against the Yanks in Oakland if this rain doesn't let up...

[The FUTURE]

Halsey may actually start against the Yanks in Oakland if this rain doesn't let up...

I can see Arod smacking one of Halseys fastballs over the fense now.