Future date night at the Sullivan home... Moneyball

Seriously, it is the PERFECT date film for me.
I get to watch baseball... my wife gets to watch Brad Pitt.

What more could we want?

It's a good preview. It looks like The Social Network for baseball.

Now of course I thought the movie would go something like this:

Billy Beane drafts Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito... has a bunch of guys on steroids in the lineup and wins the Division a few times but makes it out of the Division Series once.

But that's not as good of a story.

Movie looks good.
I'll buy some Milk Duds for my wife.

Hunter and Prey

Right now there are several teams that need a hitter for the lineup with July approaching...

One of those teams is the New York Mets, whose GM has a less than stellar reputation when it comes to making deals.

And a team with a hitter to deal is the Oakland A's with Matt Holliday. And their GM, while still without a pennant, is a shrewd enough dealer that Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt want to make a movie about him.

Now the A's are... um... not quite as good as I predicted. And Holliday isn't tearing up the AL, but he IS just a few years from an MVP type season.

And the Mets need a bat... and so do the Cubs... and so do the Giants... and even the Yankees could use a corner outfielder.

I have a feeling Beane will be reminding Minaya that on an hourly basis. 

And a division that is quite winnable is just sitting there (especially with Santana throwing another good game today.)

But the Marlins are right behind them... the Giants are looking stronger... and the Mets could miss the playoffs for the fourth year out of five under his leadership.

Can he afford that? Can he afford ANOTHER near miss? Can he NOT pull the trigger?

Oooo those Ghosts of 2006 are still there.

Beane has nothing to worry about.

He could deal with the Cubs or Giants if things don't work out with the Mets.

The Tigers could use another stick. So could the Angels.

And if there is no deal to work out, Beane will sit back, let Holliday walk and collect the two draft picks.

But he knows there is a wounded animal out there... and he's waiting for the right moment to pounce.

It will probably happen after a bad loss where they needed a big hit but Fernando Tatis couldn't deliver.

BEANE: Hey Omar... tough loss. Looks like you could use another bat.

MINAYA: I know what you are doing Beane. I'm not going to make a big deal just to appease the fans now.

BEANE: Yeah I know... I was just calling you to tell you I think the Giants are probably interested in Holliday. 

MINAYA: The Giants?

BEANE: Yeah. They want to pad their Wild Card lead. And who knows... the Cubs seemed eager.

MINAYA: The Cubs?

BEANE: Yeah. Their management needs to show their fans they mean business. And in Wrigley he'll find his stroke again.

MINAYA: I've got a plan.

BEANE: Oh yeah I saw it. Inexperienced kids or imports whose average age is older than the Supreme Court. Hey! It almost worked in 2007 and 2008. Maybe 3rd time is the charm! Hold on, I have a call coming in. I think it is Cashman.

MINAYA: What do you want?

BEANE: Let's start with Fernando Martinez.

MINAYA: No way! He's the future.

BEANE: The future! That reminds me. When the season ends, do you want to join me and the missus the first week of October? We "Non playoff teams" need to stick together.

MINAYA: OK... fine. Martinez. But no other big prospects. I have a long term plan for a home grown Mets team.

BEANE: Hold on. The Phillies are calling.

MINAYA: I'll give you Fernando Martinez, Wilmer Flores, Bobby Parnell and a player to be named later!

BEANE: I'll name the player NOW? Mike Pelfrey.

MINAYA: NO WAY!

BEANE: Wait hold on... Ruben Amaro just stopped by my office.

MINAYA: Take Pelfrey.

BEANE: It was a pleasure doing business with you.

And that my friends will be a full lion.

Sinking ship

On Thursday May 28th, I said the A's HAD to fire Bob Geren... if for no other reason than to shake the team up.

They are 1-4 since.

Only a 9th inning homer by Adam Kennedy on Sunday (after the A's blew a 4-0 lead) prevented a 4 game sweep in Texas.

Now they are only better than the Nationals.
They are on pace for 99 losses.

Meanwhile the Rangers are in first place with Ron Washington at the helm.

That being former A's third base coach Ron Washington.

That being former A's third base coach Ron Washington who was a candidate for the A's managing job in 2007 that instead went to Bob Geren.

It is now fascinating to think how bad the A's can fall...
And how TERRIBLE my prediction can wind up!

Well that was pathetic, Oakland

A few days ago I called out the A's and demanded they sack Bob Geren.

They had a big 4 game series coming up (I mistakenly called it a 3 game set) and any hope for the A's to crawl back into it was resting on showing up for this set.

They had 8 games to make up... could they cut it down?

They got swept in a Day/Night Doubleheader (which is almost impossible) and today really showed a lot of heart in a 14-1 massacre.

It's not even June and the A's... the team I picked to win the World Series... are done.

Cooked.

They are 11 games out.

They are the worst team in the American League.

Only the Nationals are worse in all of Major League Baseball.

The only question is should they deal Matt Holliday or have him play out the season and pick up the draft picks?

As for Bob Geren... keep him. He's supposedly great buddies with Billy Beane.

It's going to be really lonely in Oakland, especially in September where I am predicting there will be several sub 1,000 crowds at the Coliseum. 

Billy is going to need a friend or two.