Even after all the fat had been trimmed, even after Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen threw everything and the kitchen sink out to restart in Oakland, it would appear the Raiders are almost out of cap room again.This isn't that bad considering at one point they had to clear well over $10 million from their salary cap and still managed to get some solid free agents. However, it will test the mettle of McKenzie and Allen in the draft, as it means they must rely on it to help fill out the ranks on the roster.In an article from CSNBayArea.com, ...
With Michael Bush signing with the Chicago Bears, the Raiders have a big hole at running back. They are lacking a running back that can power through defenders with force. Darren McFadden is certainly capable of doing so, just ask Eric Weddle. But it's not something he looks to do on a regular basis.This free agency period has featured many running backs that can be classified as power backs, but none were worth the money.BenJarvis Green-Ellis and Michael Bush were looking for more money. Marion Barber and Brandon Jacobs were running on empty last season—Jacobs recently signed a cheap deal ...
Each year, an MLB team comes out of left field (not literally) to make a run, competing for a place in October baseball—here are some clubs to watch to do just that.Amid an attempt by owner Lew Wolff to move the team to San Jose, the Oakland A's don't have a chance at playing late into the year, right?Not so fast.The A's have surprised people before (see 1999) and could do it again. With a shipment of young talent like Collin Cowgill and Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland could utilize the new second wild card. Both the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta ...
Yoenis Cespedes made his highly anticipated major league debut on Wednesday morning, as the Oakland A’s dropped the first game of their two-game series against the Seattle Mariners in Japan. Cespedes, who I wrote about yesterday, finished his first big league game 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of strikeouts and was also hit by a pitch. Starting in center field for the A’s, the Cuban defector wasn’t particularly challenged over the course of the game, though he did record two put-outs as well as an assist (thanks to a timely cut by first baseman Adam Rosales). In Cespedes’ ...
The Major League Baseball season opener is upon us: Opening Day came and went, in Tokyo, Japan. Yes, the Oakland Athletics squared off against the Seattle Mariners last night (this morning). As we squeeze out the final minutes of the MLB preseason, it leaves baseball managers with little time to finalize their rosters, lineups and pitching staffs. Oh, and it also leaves fantasy baseball owners with no time to figure out their drafts. But for those of you who are staying up late to determine their draft picks, have studied the numbers and perused all the mock drafts on the ...
The Oakland Athletics have officially opened the 2012 season, but just how talented is this club? Spring training is already a memory, and decisions regarding the roster have been made. Some players earn high marks. Others already fail. Here's a look at the A's depth chart, complete with grades. It's a long season, so luckily there's plenty of time to improve.Begin Slideshow
Inconvenient as the schedule might be, the Athletics began the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season "hosting" the Seattle Mariners in the Tokyo Dome. While they may have been designated the home team, the crowd was clearly behind the Mariners, in no small part due to the return of Ichiro Suzuki. In spite of a very good start from Brandon McCarthy and an RBI double from Kurt Suzuki, they fell 3-1 to Seattle in 11 innings. A theme from last year, the A's struggled with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-14 and squandering multiple chances in the seventh and eighth ...
The Oakland Raiders' biggest problem heading into the 2012 NFL Draft is a lack of depth. Reggie McKenzie said he believes the Raiders are an outside linebacker away from having a starter at every position, but injuries happen and players don't always perform. McKenzie is well aware that if he is still looking for starters, his team has depth issues.The depth issues leave the Raiders in a perilous situation just one or two injuries from the NFL basement.Perhaps no team knows better what one or two injuries can do to a season than the Raiders. In 2011, the Raiders lost Jason ...
The 2012 Major League Baseball season is set to kick off at the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning as the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics take part in a two-game series in Japan. While the feel-good story of the inconvenient season opener surrounds Ichiro Suzuki’s return home, the story I’m most interested in is that of outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who has already been named the A’s Opening Day centerfielder. After defecting from Cuba to the Dominican Republic in January, Cespedes and the Oakland Athletics agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract nearly a month later. His blinding bat speed ...
The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics will kick off the 2012 MLB regular season in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 28th at 6:10 AM EST.The AL West division rivals have spent the last few days in Japan, hosting baseball clinics, visiting tsunami relief sites and playing exhibition matches against Japanese ball clubs.The international tours for the M's and A's will culminate in a two-game series that will mark the beginning of the regular season. The A's are listed as the home team, though there obviously isn't any home-field advantage for either club.While these two teams aren't the best that the MLB ...