MVN - Most Valuable Network

Five Questions with A’s Exec Farhan Zaidi

We take a break from checking in with A’s prospects during their off-season to catch up with A’s Baseball Operations Analyst Farhan Zaidi (who is definitely in-season).

Mr. Zaidi was kind of enough to tell MVN about his work with the A’s, the newest members of the organization and how far the minor league system has come. This should be a treat, as it offers the perspective of an A’s executive, something the average fan does not often get to see.

Here’s Mr. Zaidi from behind the curtain…

1. First, could you explain your position with the A’s as “Baseball Operations Analyst”? For example, how are you involved in the organization and what is your part in transaction discussions?

I assist Billy Beane and Assistant GM David Forst in all aspects of Baseball Operations.  My main focus is evaluating players in the amateur draft and the minor- and major-league free agent markets, as well as those that come up in trade discussions.  Given my quantitative background, statistical analysis plays a large part in my evaluations, but I have learned the importance of incorporating scouting information as well.  People often assume our decisions are driven by stats, but we have an excellent, hard-working scouting department led by Eric Kubota and Chris Pittaro that we rely on very heavily.

2. Of the nine prospects arriving as a result of the departures of Dan Haren and Nick Swisher, who are you most excited to see develop? Is there one or two among them which attract your interest?

While it was difficult to trade young, accomplished, affordable players like Haren and Swisher, the benefit is that you can name your price and only ask for players you are really excited about.  That was definitely the case in these two trades.  Because of that, I would hate to pinpoint one or two guys from the group, so I’ll just quickly run down my thoughts on all 9, in order of closeness to the big leagues.

Ryan Sweeney and Carlos Gonzalez will both be in big league camp, and with some open playing time in the OF after the trades of Swisher and Mark Kotsay, both will get a long look.  Sweeney has had 2 full seasons in AAA and two cups of coffee in the big leagues, so we think he is ready to challenge for an everyday job.  It’s easy to forget that just a year ago this guy was ranked as the White Sox’ top prospect and as one of the top prospects in all of baseball.  His numbers went backwards this year, but he was fighting through wrist issues for a good part of the season.  The knock on him is his power, but he played last year at just 22 and still has time to mature as a hitter.  On top of that, he has actually shown good power vs. right-handed pitching — .294/.361/.481 with 22 HR in 572 AB over the last 2 years in AAA.  He is not unlike many young left-handed hitters who shorten their strokes and lose some power when facing left-handed pitching.  As he gains more confidence hitting lefties, his overall numbers will improve.  While he doesn’t steal a lot of bases, he has good speed and is an excellent baserunner.  His speed also translates in the field, where he is a solid CF and a frontline defender in the corners.

Carlos Gonzalez is one of the top OF prospects in all of baseball, and his acquisition made it easier for us to consider moving Swisher if the right opportunity came along.  He’s a 5-tool talent who got off to a slow start in AA last year, but hit over .350 after the All-Star Break and had a strong showing in AAA to end the season.  He would probably benefit from some at-bats in AAA, but if he has an outstanding camp and forces the issue (as Travis Buck did last year), we’re not going to stand in his way.  Like Sweeney, he can play a good CF and be a standout in a corner.

Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, and Gio Gonzalez will all be in big league camp and have a shot at making the rotation.  Eveland, being on the roster and having big-league experience, probably has the clearest path.  He’s a guy we have always liked and have tried to trade for in the past – his minor league track record stacks up well against the best pitching prospects in the game.  He had a bit of a lost season with a finger tendon injury, but we had a strong scouting presence in the Mexican Winter League and were really impressed with his performance down there.  There are not many left-handed starting pitchers with plus velocity and a strong secondary pitch mix who get strikeouts and groundballs at Eveland’s rates.  He has struggled in his past big league callups but as long as he throws strikes and trusts his stuff, we think he can be a successful big league starter as soon as this year.  He does have one option left but we are certainly going to give him every chance to break camp in the rotation.

Greg Smith is a guy whose stuff and numbers don’t jump out at you, but he knows how to pitch.  Statistically, he looks a lot like Micah Owings did after 2006, and from a scouting perspective there are similarities as well – both guys have average stuff but pitch above it with their moxie and willingness to go right after hitters.  We think he has a future as a big league starter and from what we saw last summer and in the Arizona Fall League, he isn’t that far off.

Gio Gonzalez is on the short list of best left-handed starting pitching prospects in baseball.  He has good stuff – a lively fastball, a plus-plus curveball, and an average changeup – and is a real competitor.  He could probably use some time in AAA but we are all looking forward to seeing him in big league camp, and like Carlos Gonzalez, he could force the issue.

Aaron Cunningham will also be in camp as a reward for his outstanding season.  His big league future is bright but realistically he’s not a candidate for the Opening Day roster.  There are some in the industry who view him as a 4 ^th-outfielder, but we believe his upside is significantly greater than that.  As a 21-year old in High-A and AA, he hit over .300 with 16 HR and 28 SB.  We think he can stay in CF and has a chance to develop into an Aaron-Rowand-type player.  He’s got a ways to go and that is high praise but that is how much we like him.

Fautino De Los Santos and Brett Anderson are likely to start the season in the Stockton rotation.  De Los Santos has one of the highest upsides of any pitching prospect in the minors.  We saw him in the Sally League, at the Futures Game, and in instructional league, and in each case he was extremely impressive.  He’s got a mid-90s FB, a plus breaking ball, and the makings of an average changeup.  Unlike a lot of hard-throwing prospects, Fautino does it real easy, which bodes well for his chances of sticking as a starter.

Anderson is one of the most polished young pitching prospects around, but because of his polish, people tend to underestimate his upside.  He has an outstanding feel for pitching, and already has a solid average FB with plus secondary stuff.  He’s a big guy, and we actually saw him pitch at 90-94 in instructs.  If he continues to show that improved velocity, he could really exceed expectations.

Chris Carter will probably also start the season in Stockton.  There just aren’t many right-handed hitting prospects out there with potentially game-changing power, so we are really thrilled to have one in the fold.  He has tremendous raw strength and has shown great aptitude in his young pro career.  He is a guy we plan on being patient with, but right-handed power has been a persistent need on our big-league club, and we’re excited about Carter’s chances of filling that need down the road.

I should add we’re also pretty excited about Joey Devine, who we got from Atlanta in the Mark Kotsay trade.  Devine is a guy we had really high on our draft board in 2005, and as David Forst mentioned on our conference call with reporters on the day of the trade, we may have taken him over Travis Buck if he was still available at that pick.  He’s a classic case of a guy who was rushed and probably needed a change of scenery.  His 2007 performance seemed to get him back on track, and we think he can be an important part of our bullpen going forward.  He does have an option left (because of how quickly he made the big leagues, he is a “4-option guy”), but he’ll be in camp and have a shot to make the big-league bullpen.

3. G.M. Billy Beane has said he’s prepared to go “full bore” in building another sustained run of winning. Can you talk about the importance for the A’s needing to start building depth in the system by way of the draft and free agency, and not just trades?

Obviously organic player development is critical, and that’s a refrain you are hearing from an increasing number of organizations.  I’ve heard criticism from certain parts that, over the past few years, we should have devoted more money to the draft and to international scouting than to major league free agents.  There’s a certain validity to that, but at the same time, this is an organization that has the 3 ^rd most wins in baseball while spending the 8^thleast money on major league payroll over the last 9 years.  For an extended period of time, we were fielding a playoff-caliber team, and often times one or two major league signings were potentially the difference between making the playoffs or not.  We can look at all the studies showing the higher return on investment from amateur spending than major league free agents, but when you are in a position where one major league free agent signing can be pivotal in making the playoffs, those calculations have to be evaluated in a different context.  Hindsight is 20/20, but after getting to the ALCS in 2006, it was reasonable to believe that the additions of Piazza, Stewart, and Embree would keep us in the hunt in 2007.  Truth be told, there are parts of our fan base that would have preferred we went out there this off-season and tried to add one or two more major league pieces, with an eye towards going for it again in 2008.  But as Billy has often said, if you wait to rebuild until everyone thinks you should, then you’ve waited too long.  I think it makes all the sense in the world for us to focus on building up the farm system at this point for another sustained run.

Now that we’re in this position, we have the freedom to approach building up the farm system from all angles – being more aggressive in the draft, spending more money and resources internationally, and even creating more opportunities for waiver claims and minor-league free agents.  It’s fun to be part of that process, and if I were a fan, I would be really excited about the future.  Ultimately, the decision-makers in this organization aren’t satisfied with mediocrity, and are willing to take risks to get us to the point of achieving great things.  As a fan, that is exactly the type of ownership and management I would want running my team.

4. Where do you see the A’s in rebuilding its farm system? Have the two trades made so far offered a large or small transformation?

I think our trades (including acquiring Devine and Jamie Richmond for Kotsay) have gone a long way towards moving us from having one of the leanest to one of the deepest farm systems in baseball.  It’s pretty exciting to look at our minor league depth charts and seeing bona-fide prospects in so many different slots.  We obviously have a lot of work still to do, particularly since there’s a limit to how much you can replenish the system through trades.  We’ve got a high pick in the upcoming draft and potentially one or two supplemental picks, which will help, and we’re also hoping to continue with our recent push in the international market.  We don’t want this to just be a one-time boost to our farm system – we want to develop a system to keep our organizational talent at a high level, even when we move our best young players onto the major league team.

5. How often do A’s execs, such as yourself, pay attention to prospect rankings, rumors, and other media products? Do you think some people throughout the league too often count on the outside “expert’s” take when making personnel decisions?

We certainly pay attention to the media, and prospect rankings such as those put together by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and John Sickels.  I have tremendous respect for the baseball media – they work incredibly hard and gather their information from a wide range of industry sources.  At the same time, you can’t be afraid to trust your own evaluation of players over industry perception.  Two recent examples of this are Aaron Cunningham and Greg Smith.  We definitely see them as better prospects than that industry does as a whole.  There is a certain “Wisdom of Crowds” element to published prospect rankings, so there is certainly information in them, and they can’t be disregarded.  But there are times when our statistical and scouting evaluation of players like Smith and Cunningham exceeds the industry’s, and when that happens, we have to go with what we believe.

Bonus: Tell the A’s MiLB junkies out there about one player in the system who, for whatever reason, has gone under the radar, but should garner plenty attention when the season gets underway.

The easy choice here is Arnold Leon, who we recently signed out of Mexico.  In the Mexican League this summer, he posted a sub-2 ERA as an 18-year old, an incredible feat at any age given the extreme hitter-friendly environment in that league.  He continued to pitch well in Winter Ball, where our scouts saw him up to 94 and had high praise for his command and feel for pitching.  He will probably start out the year in Stockton, but given his success in the Mexican League (which is generally viewed as being equivalent to a AA/AAA level), he could move quickly.

That might not exactly be an “off-the-radar” name for “junkies” so let me throw out a few more names  – Alex Valdez, Jason Fernandez, and Scott Hodson.  Those are all guys that might not be viewed as frontline prospects, but could take a step forward this year.

MVN thanks Mr. Zaidi again for taking the time to answer these questions with care and in a thorough manner; Hopefully, it lets the A’s follower peek into the window of one of the best front offices in baseball.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Prospects, Front Office, Interviews, Trades. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.