February 24, 200521 yr Earl Weaver, back in his day, built a team around strong pitching, sluggers around the corners (C, 1B, 3B, LF, RF) and strong defense at the middle infield and centerfield positions.
February 24, 200521 yr Heck, maybe we can trade Willingham to Oakland for some solid pitching prospects... Jeremy Brown says otherwise. 694016[/snapback] Brown hasnt exactly lit the minors on fire, his OPS has gone down the past 5 years(which begins at his last year at Bama) in the Mulder deal the A's got Daric Barton anyway, another promising young catcher, who could eventually move to a new position but is a catcher right now Barton, 19, could prove to be the real prize in this deal. While January elbow surgery caused him to miss the first six weeks of the season, Barton was one of the top offensive forces in the low Class A Midwest League, batting .313/.445/.551 in 90 games. Baseball America ranked him the MWL's No. 2 prospect. The .445 on-base percentage led the league, and his 44-to-69 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 313 at-bats is attractive to Oakland, an organization that covets plate discipline like no other. Barton already has shown above-average game power and projects to hit 25-30 home runs annually down the road. A 2003 first-round pick (28th overall) out of Marina High in Huntington Beach, Calif., Barton has a career minor league batting record of .306/.436/.480 in 144 games, with 92 runs, 106 RBIs and 17 home runs in 483 at-bats. For all his offensive potential, Barton has no clear future big league position. He was drafted as a catcher, but his below-average arm and average receiving skills (as well as his polished bat) make a position change likely. He played six games at third base in 2003, and at a listed 6-feet tall, he's not a prototype first baseman. His lack of athleticism and the A's improved catching depth--they drafted top college catchers Landon Powell and Kurt Suzuki in 2004--should speed the move to first base or left field nonetheless. Barton is expected to team with one of them (most likely Powell) at Oakland's new high Class A Stockton affiliate in 2005. from ba.com
February 25, 200521 yr The A's have way too many catching prospects as it is. Anyhow the A's are trying to exploit the market inefficiencies of team defense now. I remember reading an article about the "new" moneyball and how their new focus is building around defense.Yeah, different teams can build up different ways even without money. Moneyball is just the most famous at the moment. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
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