The Oakland Athletics would be smart to sign Manny Ramirez to a one-year contract if and when the former major leaguer makes a return to the big leagues. It's a no-brainer. Oakland, reported to be heavily interested in signing Ramirez, is known for acquiring former sluggers like Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza and Hideki Matsui in their autumn playing days. The thing is, Ramirez has only produced positive results for performance-enhancing drugs twice. He retired days after the test results were made public. What’s the big deal if the Ramirez project fails? He goes away. Oakland has players that can fill the designated-hitter slot, ...
A couple of news items around the NFL in recent weeks have Oakland Raiders fans scratching their collective skull masks. Or in the very least, pacing back and forth in the Black Hole, with serious consternation. First, on January 14th, the St. Louis Rams announced that they hired Jeff Fisher as the team’s head coach, 12 days after the firing of Steve Spagnuolo. Then, on Saturday, it was reported that the Miami Dolphins chose former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Philbin to be their next head coach, after a three-week selection process, since season’s end. Meanwhile, the Raiders have ...
Oakland Athletics fans have grown accustomed to offseason fire sales in the past decade. They're used to seeing the "next big thing" on the roster get shipped to a big-market team or consistent contender. When Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey and Trevor Cahill were all shipped elsewhere in the past two months, it was nothing new, but it was depressing to fans witnessing yet another annual winter clearance.Also, Josh Willingham signed with the Minnesota Twins instead of re-signing with the A's. The man can't be blamed for wanting a real chance to reach the postseason.In exchange for them, once again, are prospects. The ...
The next episode of "Manny Being Manny" could take place where nobody will be watching.There's a report out from ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com on Friday that the Oakland Athletics are "very interested" in free-agent outfielder Manny Ramirez.The site reported last week that the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays have also kicked the tires on Manny, and they even went so far as to take a look at him at an indoor batting cage."The Orioles and Blue Jays saw Manny work and Baltimore liked what it saw, but Oakland has been the team that has expressed the most interest, even before having him ...
Now that Reggie McKenzie has become the Oakland Raiders GM and fired head coach Hue Jackson, we are all on notice. He is looking for his guy to hire as head coach, and we are now left to wonder who his players are.After being fired, Jackson told a CSN Bay Area reporter, "He's going to gut this place," according to NBC Sports. If that is indeed what McKenzie plans to do, I sure hope that it's the organizational side he's talking about. I know that new GMs like to put their stamp on a team, but the notion that McKenzie is rebuilding is ridiculous to me. This is a ...
There are two things you just never say when walking down the street in Oakland Raider territory. 1. “I’m a 49er fan this season!” 2. “What? You guys still haven’t gotten over the Tuck Rule?!” It might have been a decade ago that the New England Patriots beat the Raiders 16-13 in the 2002 Divisional Round battle, but the sting is as fresh as ever. And while coach Bill Belichick and the Patriot pack might look back on the so-called “Snow Bowl” with a smile, the Raiders and their fanbase still look back on that game and wince. Let’s face ...
The Oakland Raiders are look ahead to what they intend to be a bigger and brighter organization under the watchful eye of newly hired general manager Reggie McKenzie, hoping to create a brand-new administration, after over 40 years under the dictatorship of Al Davis, who passed away last October. To determine the team’s future, we must first take a look at the past—specifically Oakland’s recent 2011 season. In an effort to help evaluate the needs of the team going forward as they embark on a revamped regime, let’s dissect the performance of each facet of the last season’s Raiders team: ...
As many silver and black brethren know, new GM Reggie McKenzie is doing his best to replace fired head coach Hue Jackson. The problem, however, seems to be that McKenzie has absolutely zero idea as to who he will call upon to lead the team.After reading many articles, comments, blogs, etc, I realized this Hue Jackson firing has many people divided. Roughly half of Raider Nation accepts the decision, while the other half are left scratching their heads.Firing Hue Jackson was quite frankly a terrible decision in my personal opinion.Here is why:Begin Slideshow
The Oakland Raiders will interview former NFL head coaches Mike Tice and Marty Mornhinweg, and when combined with their interest in Dom Capers, their list of potential head coaching hires is beginning to read like a “who’s who” of failure at the NFL head coaching position. With the news that new GM Reggie McKenzie is interested in Tice and Mornhinweg, the honeymoon period between Raiders fans and the new GM is officially over, as the familiar “doom and gloom” has settled squarely over the Raider Nation. It’s similar to the later Al Davis years, when the likely hire was often ...
After trading their best (most attractive) talent this offseason, it's safe to say that the 2012 season is going to be a long one for Oakland A's fans. It's a fate GM Billy Beane seems comfortable with, but why shouldn't he be? He only did the same thing after the '04 season, and again in '08. The only difference being that this year there seems to be a bleak glimmer of hope that these trades will bring players who actually wear the green and gold for more than the usual five- to six-year stay—if they're any good, that is. No, this ...