If/when Kendall goes to Oakland...

[Tavish]

What I am worried about is that his SB% went down the toilet last year. So does Oakland let him run? As for checking we could do that if we knew who batted 1-2 for Oakland the last 6 years. I'm not sure where to find old lineups but maybe someone could help out there.

11/19 is not much different from 8/15 and 15/23 the previous two years. I definitely think he gets his 10-15 if he gets 550 AB's.

Though I like the expression down the toilet, it doesnt really apply here. To paraphrase a wise Mets man, "your argument went down the toilet."

I don't think there is any way he gets to 10-15 in Oakland. While the Pirates aren't exactly a gungho running team, Oakland makes them look like the mid-80's Cardinals. If an Oakland player can't get at or above 70% they simply don't get the chance to steal (even when they can reach that percentage the chances are very limited). Kendall has been awful at stealing bases since the injury (less than 60% success rate) and unless there has been a breakthrough I wouldn't expect more than 5 SB at the most.

Oakland doesn't need him to steal bases, they needed a strong offensive player to fill the hole at catcher and the loss of Dye. Kendall does both excellently. I could still envision Beane going out and spending more money as this may be best window of oppurtunity the A's will see for awhile with the pending contracts of the Big Three looming.

[LBJackal]

If the likes of Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada can get double digits or close to it in Oakland, I don't think double digits for Kendall is out of the question.

Chavez's career high is 8 SB's, and he steals at a better rate than Kendall - 73% success rate over the past 4 years. Tejada's career high was 11 and he stole at 83% over his last 4 years in Oakland. I don't see Kendall at 58% over the past 5 years getting more than a couple SB's. Anything can happen though, who knows. But I wouldn't bank on it.

[Pedantic]

If the likes of Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada can get double digits or close to it in Oakland, I don't think double digits for Kendall is out of the question.

Chavez's career high is 8 SB's, and he steals at a better rate than Kendall - 73% success rate over the past 4 years. Tejada's career high was 11 and he stole at 83% over his last 4 years in Oakland. I don't see Kendall at 58% over the past 5 years getting more than a couple SB's. Anything can happen though, who knows. But I wouldn't bank on it.

My point was more that Kendall's foot speed is probably at least slightly better than those two. In Pittsburgh, he "had" to steal to "manufacture" runs, since he couldn't exactly count on the rest of the lineup to even move him over. In Oakland, I think the mentality is more situational base stealing--that is, stealing is optional--however, I think that knowing that he doesn't always have to be looking to steal is more conducive to the runner actually making it when he does go. Hmm...hopefully that made some sense.

[LBJackal]

Yeah I get what you're saying. I still don't think he'll get more than 5 though. It's not like he was stealing so much that people were expecting it.

[Tavish]

In Pittsburgh, he "had" to steal to "manufacture" runs, since he couldn't exactly count on the rest of the lineup to even move him over.

He didn't "have" to steal in Pittsburgh. In 04 and 03 he was on base nearly 250 times each season and never attempted to steal more than 19 times. His steals in Pitt were situational and he wasn't real successful then. Oakland has an even tighter leash.