More EWSL

Baseball Crank published the 2008 AL West EWSL Report on Tuesday and the 2008 AL East EWSL Report today. Lots of interesting stuff in both of those.

Just to pull out a few nuggets, Crank is more realistic about the A's chances than I am, and his data suggests the Rays will have a really tough time living up to the Baseball Prospectus projections that have them winning 88-89 games.

It's EWSL Time

BaseballCrank has been publishing his EWSL series for each of the last few years, and he unveiled his first division projection of 2008 this week - AL Central.

There's a lot of good thought in the method and great analysis surrounding the output. I'm officially excited for the 2008 season, regardless of the A's bleak outlook - which I'm sure the Crank will document in excrutiating detail over the coming weeks.

My First Interview

I was recently interviewed by the Modesto Bee about finding a job. You can read the full article here: Landing a job is hard in tough economic times, but persistence is the key

Stay focused on your area of expertise and the geographic area where you want to live, advised Andrew Koch, co-founder of TheLadders.com, a job search site that specializes in high-paying positions.

"If you start applying for jobs that are not a fit, you will get less response and that can be frustrating," Koch said.

Use industry "buzzwords" in your résumé so it pops up in résumé database searches online, he said, and choose a slightly different, but professional, font on a printed résumé so it stands out from the others.

Looking for a job should be treated as a job, he said.

"The people who are consistent and are actively looking for jobs each week and each month, or however long it takes, those are the people who get jobs," Koch said.

I'll admit that the grammar in that last quote is questionable, but I'm certainly happy about my newfound "celebrity".

Reason for Optimism?

In his post, Adjusting PECOTA to Make the A's Win, Catfish Stew's Ken Arneson provides "a little balloon of hope to lift you through spring training, before reality comes along to stick a pin in it."

It's a smart analysis of the A's chances (not good) and what has to happen for them to catch the Angels (lots of stuff). It's worth a read, and it does provide a sparkle of hope for A's fans expecting an unbearable 2008 season. But that's all there is - a sparkle of hope.

Martz to the Niners

Niners hire Martz to turn offense around - Yahoo! News

"Mike Martz claims he can put together a fantastic offense with mostly the same San Francisco 49ers who made up the NFL's worst unit in 2007."

I've never been a big Mike Martz fan, but this is both encouraging and discouraging news for the Niners. They desperately need some offense next year, and Martz should be able to help. The bad news is that their new coach may be delusional. I have a hard time picturing Alex Smith leading a "fantastic" offense next season. Maybe Martz just has a more generous definition of "fantastic" than I do.

Seeing with Your Tongue

The Seeing Tongue: Science News Online

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin­, Madison are developing this tongue-stimulating system, which translates images detected by a camera into a pattern of electric pulses that trigger touch receptors. The scientists say that volunteers testing the prototype soon lose awareness of on-the-tongue sensations. They then perceive the stimulation as shapes and features in space. Their tongue becomes a surrogate eye.

That is extremely cool. (hat tip to Freakonomics)

Farewell Dan Haren

The Oakland A's traded Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks last night. (Story on SFGate)

Now that we know the A's are rebuilding, what other moves make sense? Should they deal Blanton too? Probably. But what about Harden, Street, Swisher, Ellis, Crosby and Chavez. If we're going to rebuild, let's not mess around with a half-assed effort. As GM Billy Beane said, "We finally know where we're going and we're going to go full bore." It will be tough to watch the A's struggle through their 2008 season, but I am excited about rebuilding. Bring on the changes.

As for Haren, he gave the A's 660 innings with an ERA of 3.64 over three years. That's pretty darn good pitching, especially when you consider the alternative. Since the Haren-Mulder trade, Mark Mulder pitched 300 innings with a 5.00 ERA. Beane definitely got the better end of that deal (even before you factor in Daric Barton), and I'm optmistic about this latest trade as well.

So, what did the A's get for Haren?

The prospects coming to Oakland are left-handed pitchers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith, infielder Chris Carter, and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. -A's Official Site

David PInto over at Baseball Musings has some thoughts on five of the newest Athletics:

All five players sent to the Athletics are prospects. Brett Anderson will be 20 in 2008 and had an outstanding season at A ball. Dana Eveland hasn't translated his low minor league walk numbers to the majors yet. Greg Smith also posts good walk and strikeout numbers in the minors. Aaron Cunningham is developing power as he rises through the minors. Carlos Gonzalez is the least impressive one of the group, but he's only 21 and already at AAA. Basically, the Athletics restocked their system with five good players.

Well, I don't own an Athletics Nation t-shirt with "In Billy We Trust" on the back for nothing...