» Oakland

Well Carlos Delgado will have surgery and be out until around the All-Star break. Possible replacements that may possibly arrise via trade are Aubrey Huff/Orioles; Nick Johnson/Nationals; Victor Martinez/Indians; and maybe even Jorge Cantu/Florida if any of these guys are or become available. I can see all these teams saying they need 2 of the Mets top  prospects, and I honeslty don’t think any of them except Victor Martinez warrant them, however, I would be willing to trade both if we can also land a SP in the deal ala Cliff Lee or Fausto Carmona (even though he hasn’t been great) from Cleveland; and Jeremy Guthrie (even though he hasn’t been great) from Baltimore. I doubt the Indians are willing to trade Victor Martinez and or Cliff Lee/Fausto Carmona so soon, but if so I would be willing to trade Fernando Martinez(of), Jon Niese(sp), Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores(ss) for BOTH Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona or Aubrey Huff and Jeremy Guthrie, potentially. I think at catcher and 1b, Victor Martinez would be a dream fit, but Huff/Johnson would be less attractive becasue then what do we do when Delgado is back? I guess Huff could play LF again which moves Murphy to RF and then Church and Sheffield become unhappy or Murphy loses playing time which I would thoroughly disagree with. I guess Nick Johnson/Washington can come quite cheap since they also have Adam Dunn and a sundry of outfielders. I just strongly want to emphasize if we trade for a 1b then we should attempt to land a SP along with them if we rid of our top prospect(s). Agreed?

Some other random suggestions/potential candidates:

Russel Branyan/1b, Jose Lopez/2b, Erik Bedard/sp – Mariners… I think something could work here

Adrian Gonzalez/1b, Jake Peavy/sp – Padres… I wish something could work here

Jermaine Dye/of – White Sox (Move Murphy to 1b)…He’s solid but we really need a SP also

Matt Holliday/of – Athletics (Move Murphy to 1b)…May require way too much for thus far subpar performance

Helton/Atkins/1b – Rockies… Hmm, maybe Helton Could come cheap other than money cost?

All these guys are probably tradable minus Adrian Gonzalez, but they have a top notch 1b prospect.

How long has it been?

2 Months?

…ya. Sorry, I have no excuse at all other then I have been swamped with school and my golf team. But now the Golf is over, I can talk A’s baseball again! That’s right!

Well, since I have been away a lot of things have happened…

• Matt Holliday has been unproductive. A .234 average, 20 RBIs, 4 HRs, and .423 SLG. Yes that RBI stat is juicy, but that is because he has a little bit of a spark. But the A’s need him to do better with a division up for grabs and a chance for a big trade.
• Ok, its not just Holliday. The whole damn offense is bad. Only one player is batting over .300 (Kurt Suzuki, .324) the next player is at .287 then .261
• The Pitching has had a roller coaster of a ride with ERAs ranging from 2.40 to 7.60. But overall it will thin out and get better
• The Bullpen has been lights out, no problems there
• Finally, the A’s need to pounce on a weak division in the West. They are only 4 games back of the leader, they need to capatialize while they can with the Angles having so many injuries

So ya, there you go. An update for the A’s. Hopefull my posts will be more frequent as the summer rolls along (no more 2 month breaks). Go A’s!

The A’s will be playing the Jays tonight in Oakland (they are playing right now)

Gallagher vs. Tallet

The One man over .300

I noted in passing in Monday’s live-blog of the Opening Day game that as long as the M’s generate more than five runs a game, they will win 12 to 15 more games this season. Today’s 8-5 victory over Oakland demonstrates the rule that an increase in run-production is going to win more games, as the Mariners gained five runs in the eight and ninth innings to recover after falling behind 3-to-5 after the first five innings. Five runs. That’s the daily minimum to reach 80 wins.

With the win, the M’s take the first series of the year and set the stage for a potential sweep with Erik Bedard starting against rookie Tim Cahill on Sunday. Brandon Morrow’s shaky but effective outing today was reassuring, however it will be a month or more before this bullpen approaches a “solid” rating. I’m still expecting to see Chad Cordero, the former Nationals closer whom Seattle signed to a minor-league deal during Spring Training, in a Mariners uniform by June 15. David Aardsma and Chris Jakubauskas, who got his first win in relief Friday, are looking very solid.

Jakubauskas is still the favorite, in my opinion, to take the first starter role that opens; Carlos Silva has two more starts to show the new management he should be starting.

Ichiro is back Wednesday, the day after Seattle’s home opener, where he will appear but not play. His rehab is simply picking up where he left off in the WBC and Spring Training—expect full performance from Day One. Matt Tuiasosopo, alas, will head to Tacoma to make room for Ichiro. Look for Tui to get at least one at-bat or start at third base on Sunday, as Manager Don Wakamatsu has said everybody on the roster will play in the first week.

Unfortunately, Carlos Truinfel, Seattle’s hot AA shortstop prospect broke is fibula (the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg) sliding into second base in Friday’s game, the second of the Jaxx’s season. It will probably mean he doesn’t make the jump from AA Jacksonville to the Mariners this season, though we could still see him when rosters expand in September. Truinfel had a great Spring and was the hottest bat in the Arizona Fall League last year at just 18. He turned 19 February 27th.

This section of my writing you will see a lot, here are some random blurbs about the A’s:

Ziegler Named to Team USA for WBC:

Brad Zielger, as all A’s fans know, put up amazing relief numbers with a 1.06 ERA , and posted up a big league record with 39 inning scoreless streak. “I’ve wanted this opportunity for a long time,” Ziegler said Wednesday. “I campaigned to get on the Olympic team last year but then I was called up. To have the opportunity to wear the stars and stripes, and play with some of the elite names in baseball, is just incredible” (USA Today).

Oakland A’s New

Ziegler

stadium delayed

The Oakland Athletics are reportedly delaying and possibly halting a move to Fremont because of opposition from residents who live near the team’s proposed stadium site. I like this, the A’s just need to spruce up the Colosseum and make it nicer, or just find a place in Oakland to build a new stadium. I will rant about the A’s owner soon enough, don’t worry.

That is about it for our favorite team. Just so you know, I’m working on a couple articles about the idiotic A’s owner Lew Wolff, and a new feature about A’s prospects. See you guys later

-Harrison

Well, I’m here to post for the A’s in ‘09. I’m not an A’s fan, I respect the team, and follow them, but I’m not a fan. Let me get this off my chest and say: I’m a Die-Hard Giants fan. I would have been posting for the Giants but, a fellow poster has that spot taken. Kudos to you! But, I’m certainly happy to be covering the A’s.
Let me tell you a bit about myself
* I live in The Napa Valley, CA (the North Bay)
* I was born in Cupertino, but moved with my family to St. Helena when I was three
* Baseball is not the only sport I love. I’m also a huge Cal Bears, Kings, Sharks, and 49ers fan, I love them all.
* Yes, I may be a Giants fan, but the A’s are the only team I have seen live in the playoffs (’06 Division Series)

That is just a little bit about myself, no here is what I will be talking about
* I am here to bring you A’s baseball coverage, that includes:  The future of Matt Holiday, Billy Beane, daily news, My hatred of the A’s owner, and a break down of A’s prospects and players, and the need for a new Stadium.

* I’m not here to talk about Steroids

Well, that is all I have to talk about right now, but, either tonight, or tomorrow I will post what the trade for Matt Holiday means for the A’s.

P.S. My name is Harrison, Go A’s! Also, thanks Jeff for this job, it is awesome!

2006 ALDS