By Thom Henninger The Oakland Athletics turned their rotation over to a promising batch of youngsters a year ago, including a pair of 21-year-old prospects, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill. Neither of them looked ready in April, as both were 0-2 with ERAs higher than 5.00 in the opening month of the season. When the [...]
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Brett Anderson
By Bill Begley By mid-May, Oakland’s Brett Anderson was a real “down”-er … so to speak. By that time, the big 21-year-old was 0-4 and his ERA was a hefty 6.03 after a 14-1 loss to Detroit. In his first six starts, he allowed 50 baserunners in 31-plus innings of work, and it appeared his [...]
By James Bailey Blue Jays lefthander Ricky Romero has been one of the biggest surprises in the American League. The team’s 2005 first-round pick posted nearly a 5.00 ERA in 21 Double-A starts last year and wasn’t expected to contribute at the major league level this season. However, Toronto’s starting rotation has been gutted by [...]
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By Thom Henninger It didn’t take long for Toronto rookie Travis Snider to step up as the early favorite for AL Rookie of the Year honors. The talented outfielder, who turned 21 in February, doubled and homered in a 12-5 victory over Detroit on Opening Day. A week later, he drilled two home runs against [...]
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By Thom Henninger The Oakland Athletics are 21-30 through 51 games, which isn’t all that surprising. Growing pains were to be expected with the A’s rotation built around four young pitchers with just 28 big league starts between them going into the season. Oakland’s rookie hurlers have already started 30 games in 2009, easily the [...]
By Bill Begley Knowing the rules in baseball is important. Ask Manny Ramirez. Or, if you want the straight poop and not some innocuous excuse, ask Joe Maddon. Maddon, Tampa Bay’s manager, made an honest mistake while filling out his lineup card Sunday, and so the Rays took on the Indians without a DH. Maddon’s [...]
By James Bailey Most of the discussion regarding American League Rookie of the Year candidates this spring centered on Orioles catcher Matt Wieters and Rays lefthander David Price, widely regarded as the two best prospects in baseball. Both were shipped to Triple-A following strong spring trainings and, despite not having played in the majors yet, [...]
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By James Bailey Brett Anderson vs CC Sabathia Oakland A’s at New York Yankees April 22, 2009 Here’s a matchup of two teams with contrasting approaches–and payrolls. The A’s traded off ace Dan Haren two years ago to stock the farm system with prospects like Anderson. The Yankees broke the bank this winter for players [...]
By Thom Henninger Hardball Cooperative’s look at the top rookies by division closes with the AL West. The Oakland Athletics will call on at least three promising rookie starters this season, so to make room for at least two of them, four AL West prospects are featured in this final installment.
