Link Dump: Gallardo, Straily, and Strasburg
By Jason Burke
The A’s haven’t been the only ones making moves the past couple of weeks. Here is a quick look into what the competition in the A.L. West has been up to recently.
The Astros stole the headlines on Monday, trading Dexter Fowler for former Athletic Dan Straily and veteran third baseman Luis Valbuena. Eric Huysman over at Climbing Tal’s Hill, takes a look at how this trade will I’m impact the Astros moving forward.
Astros fans were holding out hope that Max Scherzer would sign with them, but after he signed if the Washington Nationals, Jason took a look at what that could mean to Houston moving forward. Hint: the Astros have tons of prospects, and the Nats have available front-line pitching.
Larry also goes into detail about the number of catchers that Houston has on their roster and what they should do about it. And we thought that the A’s three last season was impressive. The Astros have 5!
Brian Helberg, editor over at Halo Hangout (Angels) looks into Matt Shoemaker‘s fantastic 2014 season and asks whether or not he will regress in 2015. Let’s hope so!
Brian also took a poll to find out who the best all-time Angels’ center fielder is. The options are Jim Edmonds, Torii Hunter and Mike Trout. If you have a say, follow the link and let your voice be heard!
Mike Greyshock, co-editor of Halo Hangout, looks into Jered Weaver and his declining fastball. That sounds like great news!
Staff writer at Nolan Writin’, Colin Holmes, looks at what the addition of Yovani Gallardo to the Rangers means for their rotation.
Colin also looks at the history of the Rangers and decides that Elvis Andrus should pack his bags. Undoubtedly he’ll pack for cold weather, as we’ve seen him wear ear warmers on a 70 degree night in Oakland.
Co-editor Lisa Weatehrall makes the big announcement on who is on the Rangers all-time team. Seems like everyone is doing one of those. Guess that’s what happens when your GM doesn’t make any moves.
Much like in Houston, Dan Hughes of Sodo Mojo (Mariners) is looking to make a trade with the Nationals now that Scherzer has signed with Washington.
Staff writer Josh takes a look at the Mariners’ offseason and wonders, “has Seattle done enough?”
Finally, the Mariners acquired Mike Kickham from the Cubs. You may recall Kickham as the kid from the Giants that made his major league debut on the road in Oakland a couple of years ago. He got kicked around that game, and in his second game–on the road against the Dodgers. What the heck was Sabean thinking having those be his first two starts? Dan Hughes has the scoop.
If you’re in the mood for some A’s news, check out this piece I wrote about the lineup projections for 2015, and how they compare to last year’s lineup.