2007-03-10 18:07:17 · 12 answers · asked by hballman 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
I think it will hurt them a little bit. Milton Bradley will now start in CF and that's a huge defensive drop. Shannon Stewart and Dan Johnson will now be starting players for the A's and that's not a good thing for them.
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2007-03-10 18:18:13 · answer #1 · answered by Bill B 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Milton Bradley has played center field before and he probably is better suited there but was in right last year do to Kotsay. There defense is about the same in center I give Bradley the edge on speed though so you won't see a significant drop off in defense offensively Bradley has more power then Kotsay. So I don't think the A's will need to worry too much. Swisher is moving to Right field this year and Kielty will be playing left but more then likely if Shannon Stewart starts the year off strong he'll be playing in left.
2007-03-10 19:18:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
so far bradley is showing in spring training that he can handle the outfield. kielty is out as well had surgery a week ago as well. so we are going to have to really rely on stewart and swisher to pick up the outfield for the time being and hope that either johnson or eek, durazo can handle first base pretty well.
i am more concerned about pitching at this point. Harden is cy young caliber, but is oft injured. Can street stop with the blown saves, and have shut down 9th innings with 2 outs? Can Chavez start out the season faster than in years past? He should be healthy now. We have a lot of injuries to over come frankly.
The a's will scrap something together, but it is going to be interesting.
2007-03-11 18:13:28 · answer #3 · answered by Lisa H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well is never good to have a player on the DL who is our #2 hitter and a great OF but fortunately we have Bradley that could replace Kotsay for the 3-4 months he would be out. So i think it wouldnt affect us that much. Hopefully that surgery would help Kotsay wih his ongoing back problems
2007-03-11 08:33:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
not much at all. Kotsay was good to complete the team, but he's average at best. Knowing how the A's perform, they're gonna pull up some good kid or trade for someone else and get some W's, or they will leave it to Bobby Kielty, pick up a pitcher, and rely on their pitchers (which will also work.)
2007-03-11 03:17:52 · answer #5 · answered by J P 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not that much. The success and health of their rotation is what will decide Oaklands fate this season. Rich Harden has to stay healthy. Estaban Loaisa-which Loaisa shows up this season? Hopefully one that pitches like a legit #3 starter. Blanton fell off from his '05 performance last season. Will he improve or regress? The two biggest wildcards here, though, are Harden and Loaiza.
2007-03-10 18:15:53 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not much at all. Bradley is a good defensive CF. And they picked up Stewart for this kind of emergency. Kielty will play RF against lefties, Dan Johnson will start at 1B against righties, and Swisher will play both RF and 1B. They'll be just fine without him, even for the whole season.
Beane is a genius.
2007-03-10 18:21:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It will at the beginning, because he is a good table-setter in their lineup and plays good centerfield. He should be back sometime in June, though, so I don't think the A's will be missing him for too long.
2007-03-10 18:14:19 · answer #8 · answered by jt_kling 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There better with him, but he's been in and out of the lineup for a couple years now so it won't be to bad.
2007-03-10 23:05:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not much because they have bradley playing cf
2007-03-11 04:20:04 · answer #10 · answered by Canes & Bruins 09-10 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋