Christmas comes in June for the Oakland Athletics front office.Since the release of Michael Lewis' best seller, Moneyball, it has been well documented how the A's value draft picks. Billy Beane and his most trusted assistants spend countless hours on statistical analysis to evaluate which picks they feel have the best chance of making an eventual impact.Obviously there is no exact science to selecting top high school and college players. There are always some early round busts and some late-round surprises.Some Oakland first-rounders of note: Eric Chavez (1996), Mark Mulder (1998), Barry Zito (1999), Bobby Crosby (2001), Jeremy Bonderman (2001 ...
This is a follow up to another article. If you haven't read it, check it out here before you continue.Now that you've read that, let's get down to business.The topic here is whether or not current Raiders left tackle Jared Veldheer should switch positions on the offensive line or not.My job here is to give the readers all the info on the situation. I will not come up with a conclusion myself; just merely show facts so you yourself can draw a conclusion.Let's get started.Begin Slideshow
They say that pitching wins championships, and as the hometown Giants proved last year, that’s true more often that not. But the real truth is that pitching is a necessary, but not sufficient, key to bringing home a World Series title. Everyone knows the A’s have a talented stable of young guns. That’s the reason some pundits had picked them to win the AL West this year. And while those same people freely admit that Oakland lacks a threatening offense, the A’s supporters point to the 2010 Giants as proof you don’t need a great offense to win it all. ...
The Oakland Athletics promoted second base prospect Jemile Weeks from Triple-A on Monday.The younger brother of Rickie Weeks (and the A’s No. 5 prospect according to Baseball America) is expected to fill in for the injured Mark Ellis. The recently acquired Scott Sizemore will likely move to third base. Weeks was the A’s first-round pick in 2008, but just like his brother, injuries have limited his production. Hip and leg injuries have prevented him from playing a full season. In three-plus seasons in the minor leagues, Weeks has compiled only 873 at-bats. When he’s healthy, he’s a toolsy player that displays ...
.211/.243/.289 Those aren’t three different batting averages above. That is the combined batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage for the Oakland A’s starting second basemen this season. The Minnesota Twins had the distinction of owning baseball’s worst second basemen last week, but the A’s aren’t too far behind. The bottom line is Mark Ellis and Andy LaRoche haven’t gotten the job done. And now with Ellis potentially landing on the DL with a hamstring injury, it’s the perfect time to call up Jemile Weeks from Triple-A. And according to Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com, that’s what the A’s ...
It seems like all I'm hearing these days is how the Oakland Raiders need a veteran, playmaking receiver. I don't believe that to be the case because there is plenty of receiver talent currently on the roster ready to go. One of them is this little guy named Jacoby Ford who exploded onto the scene in the second half of the 2010 season. Barring injury, Ford is sure to break out in 2011. Turn the page to see why.Begin Slideshow
This isn't quite the "Great Roster Shakeup" of 2002, but the Oakland A's roster has a much different look to it today than it did before the current road trip began. As always seems to be the case with the A's, the disabled list played a major part in the recent set of moves.When all was said and done though, the A's have a new third baseman, a new utility infielder, a new second baseman (at least temporarily) and are most likely going to see a different starting pitcher inserted into the rotation.It's hard to keep track of just how many ...
Every year there are a couple of teams in the NFL that surprise everyone with their success. In 2010, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs made the world take notice.The Chiefs won the AFC West last year, after going 4-12 in 2009. The Buccaneers won 10 games in 2010, after going 3-13 the previous year. There are five teams that are ready to surprise the world in 2011. Let's take a look at these teams and see why they are ready for the big stage this season.Oakland Raiders:The Oakland Raiders made positive strides in 2010. They finished 8-8, ...
One week ago today, the A's were riding high—well, at least higher than they are today.They had just come off a 5-2 week, and looked to build momentum in the upcoming series against the Yankees and Red Sox.Fast forward to today, where the A's are in serious trouble. Six straight losses to the Yanks and Sox have plunged the A's into last place—seven games behind the surging Texas Rangers.It appears as if the starting pitching, which has kept the A's afloat so long, has finally begun to regress to the mean. All of the starters have struggled over the past ...
Pep Talk—Show Love and Respect Let's just say that I want the Oakland Raiders to rise up, again, in the NFL because too many people think that they have the power of expression and media to huff, puff and blow the house down. So many articles are written that are critical of Al Davis. Someone even said that he was 90 years old. He was born in 1929 and if you do the arithmetic, he is not there yet. I know a number of people who are octogenarians and who are as sharp as a tack. Some folks ridicule his ...