The A's let go of half of their coaching staff Friday, including Ron Romanick, who had fared well in his first season as the team's pitching coach.
It's likely Oakland will ask for permission to speak to Reds pitching coach Bryan Price,
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1ZpW2gq2B
Is this a done deal? Why would a team jettison its pitching coach who the article states 'fared well in his first season'?
Hey if Price goes I advocate promoting up Ted Power from AAA
i beg the A's to also want wonderful Jacoby as well..:P
Pls...good riddance
I'll trade them Dusty and Price, if they'll take Arroyo & Rolen off our hands.
The good for Price:
1.Cueto development into a groundball pitcher. Never thought Cueto had the kind of power stuff to be a good 8.0-9.0 k pitcher, he needed something different. The little "twist"(no pun attended) worked well, even if he regresses in spots next year.
2.Mike Leake's improvement. Last year, Mike struggled to miss bats. This year he became respectable.
3.Homer Bailey's slider. Before Price, it was a "hopefully" pitch. Last season it became a power pitch for him.
The bad for Price:
1.Homer Bailey's mechanics. In 2009 it appeared Bailey had found a "comprise" of his drop in drive past with a more compacted delivery. His velocity returned as he gained confidence. This year his fastball was garbage. People whine about him spotting up fastballs, but that is what power pitchers do. He was a power pitcher without a power fastball(just not velocity wise, but arm speed wise as well). Bailey's biggest strengths are his long legs and arms. It was what drove him high in the 2004 draft. Then we have the injuries, possibly due to dirty arm action from being off balance. His leg lands all over the place in bad starts. Do not get me wrong, the Reds want Homer to be that power pitcher, Dan Haren mechanically, he ain't.
2.Travis Wood. Literally, if I could have found Travis's confidence last season, I would have let him know. Really fell apart mentally this year. Major leaguers got better wind of him and slapped him around some early in the year. Not that Price is totally to blame for a confidence withdrawel. Travis is still a young guy, with little major league experience. Oh yeah, he is left handed. I would like to see his breaking pitch develope into a usable pitch and a more steady stride without opening up so quick when releasing the ball. Watching him in September was brutal however, it was like listening to jazz solo.
3.Volquez: well, maybe not.
I read somewhere that smaller market teams that have to rely heavily on their minor leagues for future players on the major league teams prefer to have their best coaches and instructors in the minor leagues to establish better habits for the younger guys. Once they are in the Majors, they are pretty much set on several habits. (I can guarantee that the coaches that Tampa Bay holds in highest regard are in the Minors.)
That being said, if Price leaves, then chances are, They won't call Power up (depending on how much they value him).
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40
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