After Wednesday night’s victory over the Cleveland Indians, Trevor Cahill improved his record to 14-5.
Cahill was named to the American League All-Star team this season and is having a season in which he is worthy of Cy Young consideration. Cahill currently has a 2.43 ERA, which is second among American league starting pitchers. He also has a WHIP just over one (1.005).
Although he may be worthy of a Cy Young, Cahill will have a hard time getting recognition because he plays in the small market of Oakland and is not on a contending team.
The A’s are currently 63-62 and 8.5 ...
Every season, we under or overvalue players in the offseason; it's the nature of the beast. Whether it is personnel changes around them, scheme changes, or injury concerns... something jumps out and makes us either love or hate a player before the season even begins. Last week, we looked at a few of the wide receivers who are undervalued and overvalued, based on their Average Draft Position (ADP). In this exciting conclusion of our series, we'll consider a few tight ends whose ADP doesn't quite match their value.(Note that just because I think someone is overrated, doesn't mean I don't ...
On the weekend of the NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders traded for Jason Campbell from the Redskins. Tom Cable would declare him the starter on opening day of training camp.
Later in the offseason, with Bruce Gradkowski injured, the Raiders signed free agent Kyle Boller.
At first, I felt that Boller was no more than a camp body who would be waived or released before the end of training camp, or preseason if he was lucky.
Boller didn't seem to have a fair chance. Campbell was named starter, Gradkowski had been impressive in 2009 with two big wins, and Charlie Frye was tendered as ...
An Interview, An Alert
One young man about 23 years old said, "The flesh is weak."
He sounded like a social worker or counselor to me. I asked him what he meant.
He explained that no matter how much my generation tries to teach and warn NFL rookies about some of the social woes that come along with the experiences of being a celebrity, the players may eventually meet with temptations that are too great to resist.
Sometimes those temptations arise during a young player's career with the Oakland Raiders. Sometimes they come during those transitional periods when the player is cut or traded.
I emphasized, "What ...
The Raiders shocked the world when they drafted Darrius Heyward-Bey over "better" players like Michael Crabtree, Percy Harvin and Jeremy Maclin. Nobody was surprised by Heyward-Bey's poor rookie season and many were quick to label him a bust after one season.
Nobody is more disappointed in DHB's rookie season than he is and he is looking to do big things in 2010.
I for one believe Heyward-Bey will have a breakout year in 2010 and here are five reason's why.Begin Slideshow
Rolando McClain of the Oakland Raiders is no ordinary rookie. McClain looks more like an experienced veteran based on his play at training camp. He is ready for action and has shown it in the first two preseason games at Dallas last week and in Chicago this past Saturday.
According to Coach Tom Cable, McClain is mature beyond his years in terms of being a great football player. McClain is comfortable at a level that would usually confuse rookies.
McClain is very good at analyzing whether the play coming from the offense is a run or a pass. He recognizes his responsibility ...
Sometimes things just happen and there is nothing you can do about it. Already during preseason, the headlines highlight the injuries and fatigue issues with some of the Oakland Raiders. Could the frequency of fatigue and injuries be minimized, possibly, by better strength and conditioning training?
Looking at the data for 2009, it is evident that the first part of the season had a higher incidence of injuries than the latter part.
Here is a chart for 2009. It seems that no injuries were reported during week nine and week 12.
Observations
1. In 2009 the peak level of injuries occurred near weeks seven ...
Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, and Chris Johnson will almost certainly be the front-runners to win the 2010 NFL Most Valuable Player award. However, there must be at least one player on every team that can compete for that honor.Okay, maybe not every team has the ability to carry a player to the MVP award, but I'm sure they all feel like there's at least one guy that has a shot—even if it's completely unrealistic.Who are those players? Again, we all know who the obvious choices are, but who are the "Dark Horses" that could pop up and surprise ...
The pre-season is only the pre-season, we all know that. Results don't matter that much, as for much of the game the second and third string players are on the field competing against each other.
In Art Shell's last tenure as head coach, Oakland went 4-0 in the pre-season, only to to go 2-14 in the games that mattered. So the fact that the Raiders are 2-0 o far doesn't mean that much on it's own. But individual performances mean a lot, and the overall look of the team with the starters on the field is also important.
Yes, the schemes that teams show is ...
Raider Nation has had an awesome offseason.
The preseason hasn't been bad either.
Aside from two mistakes, the defense has been a dominant unit. The offense showed signs of life last week in Chicago as the infusion of talent meshes together.
All the Raiders need to do is keep this going and take this momentum into the regular season.
But we have a problem now.
Chaz Shilens had his knee scoped out and will miss some time.
But the Raiders will be fine.
Turn the page to see why all is not lost in Raider Nation.Begin Slideshow