Baseball Toaster Catfish Stew
Help
STOP CASTING POROSITY! An Oakland Athletics blog.
Frozen Toast
Search
Google Search
Web
Toaster
Catfish Stew
Archives

2009
02  01 

2008
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2007
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2006
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  02  01 

2005
12  11  10  09  08  07 
06  05  04  03  01 

2004
12  09  08  01 

2003
12  11  10  09  08 
Email Us

Ken: catfish AT zombia d.o.t. com
Ryan: rarmbrust AT gmail d.o.t. com
Philip: kingchimp AT alamedanet d.o.t net

Ken's Greatest Hits
28 Aug 2003
12 Jan 2004
31 May 2005
11 May 2005
29 Jun 2005
8 Jun 2005
19 Jul 2005
11 Aug 2005
7 Sep 2005
20 Sep 2005
22 Sep 2005
26 Sep 2005
28 Sep 2005
29 Sep 2005
18 Oct 2005
9 Nov 2005
15 Nov 2005
20 Nov 2005

13 Dec 2005
19 Jan 2006
28 Jan 2006
21 Feb 2006
10 Apr 2006
16 Apr 2006
22 Apr 2006
7 May 2006
25 May 2006
31 May 2006
18 Jun 2006
22 Jun 2006
6 Jul 2006
17 Jul 2006
13 Aug 2006
15 Aug 2006
16 Aug 2006
20 Aug 2006
11 Oct 2006
31 Oct 2006
29 Dec 2006
4 Jan 2006
12 Jan 2006
27 Jan 2007
17 Feb 2007
30 Apr 2007
27 Aug 2007
5 Sep 2007
19 Oct 2007
23 Nov 2007
5 Jan 2008
16 Jan 2008
4 Feb 2008
7 May 2008
20 Jun 2008
4 Feb 2008
A's Trade Cruz for Halsey
2006-03-26 12:36
by Ken Arneson

The A's traded Juan Cruz to Arizona for Brad Halsey today. At first glance, it's a bit of a head-scratcher. Does this really improve the A's?

You look at Juan Cruz, with his impressive stuff, and his dominant numbers in AAA, and you think he should be a star. You hate to give up on him. But with the exception of one good year in Atlanta, it hasn't happened. He's been hit pretty hard in the majors. He's 27 now, and there isn't room for him on the A's roster. His trade value probably isn't going to get any higher than it is right now.

So the A's get Brad Halsey, who has some advantages over Cruz:

  1. He's two years younger than Cruz.
  2. He has more options remaining than Cruz.
  3. He's cheaper than Cruz.
  4. The A's will control his rights longer than Cruz.
  5. He might be a better pitcher than Cruz.
  6. He's more left-handed than Cruz.

If the A's do have an opening on their 25-man roster, it's for a left-handed relief specialist. Halsey has been a starter, but he does has some pretty nifty career numbers against left-handed batters: a .245 batting average against, and a 1.14 WHIP. If they decide not to use him as a reliever, he provides pitching depth at Sacramento, and another option to replace Barry Zito when he departs to free agency next year.

PECOTA projects Halsey to be worth about four more wins over the next five years than Cruz. Here's a comparison of their projected Wins Above Replacement Player:

Year    Cruz    Halsey
2006    1.5     2.9
2007    1.7     2.7
2008    1.5     1.9
2009    1.2     1.8
2010    0.9     1.7
Total   6.9    11.0

Halsey's not a great talent, but he is a useful role player. With this trade, the A's get a better, younger, cheaper player who can potentially fill more roster holes for the A's than the player they lose. Unless Cruz suddenly matures into the player people thought he could become but never did, what's not to like?

* * *

Just as I type this, Frank Thomas hits a monster home run in his second Cactus League AB. What's not to like?

Comments
2006-03-26 13:29:52
1.   Jason Wojciechowski
I think I'd like better numbers against lefties from my lefty specialist. Those are fine, but if you're going to waste (in my opinion) a spot on a guy who's only going to face on kind of hitter, then that guy better be really good at his job.
2006-03-26 14:29:18
2.   Ken Arneson
It's a pretty small sample size, only about 40 IP, so I don't know what Halsey's true talent level is against left-handed batters. Is there anywhere you can get minor league splits?
2006-03-26 15:53:45
3.   brockdc
Yankee fan here. I really liked Halsey, but, naturally, he never got a real shot in pinstripes. He seems to have solid #3 or #4 starter stuff, he's a lefty, he's young, and he's pretty much unflappable out there on the mound in tough spots. IMO, solid move by Beane.
2006-03-26 16:02:32
4.   Adams
I like the trade, but it only just begins to make up for the highway robbery that was the Hudson deal. Has there been any sign of life from Meyer this spring?
2006-03-26 16:48:51
5.   Ken Arneson
Meyer has indeed been better this spring. Better velocity, better command, better results. He'll spend the summer in Sacramento and see if the shoulder has fully healed, and if he can regain his old top prospect status.
2006-03-26 18:55:55
6.   Jason Wojciechowski
I've yet to stumble across minor league splits freely available anywhere. It's a huge gap in our available knowledge, IMO.

But you're right that ~120 lefty batters faced isn't much of a sample.

At the Baseball Cube, by the way, I discovered that Halsey pitched for UTexas in 2002, along with Huston Street.

2006-03-26 19:48:10
7.   Eric Enders
A's draftees Omar Quintanilla and Dustin Majewski were also on that team.
2006-03-26 20:17:57
8.   das411
Was Jeremy Brown on that team too?
2006-03-26 23:23:08
9.   Ken Arneson
Jeremy Brown went to Alabama.
2006-03-29 19:53:34
10.   AgRyan04
I played ball with Brad in HS....and wrote about it when he got the call with the Yanks....

http://tamu-and-baseball.com/archives/arch20040620.html#halsey2

a quasi-look at him beyond the numbers

2006-03-29 19:56:19
11.   AgRyan04
oh, and Brad didn't pitch in the CWS for texas, although he started a good portion of their Friday night games because he was hurt....I can't remember his injury but it wasn't anything that has bothered him since
2006-03-30 14:04:09
12.   Inside Baseball
Fantasy question to A's fans from a Dodger fan:

Is Dan Johnson platooning and what kind of numbers do you predict for him this year?

Thanks a lot in advance!

2006-03-31 12:26:15
13.   Ken Arneson
Sorta, kinda platooning, yeah. I imagine he'll end up playing five days out of six.

I think the standard projections (PECOTA, ZiPS, Marcel) for Johnson will be pretty accurate in his case. .270-.280 BA, .340-.350 OBP, .450-ish SLG, 15-20 homers.

2006-04-01 01:51:20
14.   Inside Baseball
Thanks for that Ken. I'd be thrilled if he played 5 of 6. I took him very late but am thin at the corners, I'm going to have to start him. His numbers in the minor leagues impressed me. Anyway, I really appreciate your response.

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.