Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick is off to a solid start, chipping in a little in every category in the early going. He isn’t confusing anyone for Matt Kemp, but he’s been a solid fantasy outfielder. Reddick came over from Boston in the Andrew Bailey trade and has do a solid job batting third for the A’s. He got a little revenge on the Boston Red Sox in hitting a three-run home run off Clay Buchholz in the series opener. He is hitting .275 with 13 runs, four home runs, nine RBI and three stolen bases. Last year, he hit .280 for Boston ...
Brandon McCarthy was good and Ryan Cook was great in his relief.Cook struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning, and backed by McCarthy's 6.2 innings of one-run ball, the Oakland A's beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 to win their three-game series at Fenway Park.McCarthy allowed five hits and three walks while striking out four. His 113 pitches were a season high as he kept the potent Red Sox lineup at bay long enough for Cook to enter. The Clovis native retired the Sox in order in the eighth, and Brian Fuentes pitched the ...
Anyone can predict how the Oakland Athletics will do before they set foot on the field, but after one month of baseball, more realistic grades can be doled out. On March 28, I gave my initial grades for the A's. Since then, the team collectively has surprised me. Individually, though, many players have underwhelmed. Oakland stands tied for second place in the AL West. Their 12-13 record puts them five-and-a-half games behind the Texas Rangers. Here are updated grades for each position after April.Begin Slideshow
There is a fundamental problem with drafting the best player available. Drafting the best player available leaves open the possibility the team is deep at one position and thin at another. Thankfully for the Raiders, just about every position on the team needed depth and many of the players were drafted with a specific role in mind.Based on Reggie McKenzie's first draft as general manager, it wouldn't be hard to make the case that McKenzie was drafting more for need than the best player available.No matter what philosophy was used to draft players, the Raiders still have to figure out how ...
As expected, the Oakland Athletics went into the season with a few glaring holes, primarily at the corner infield positions. Unfortunately for the A's, these issues aren't any closer to being resolved as they were when the year began.They recently signed Brandon Inge to a contract, but he hasn't hit over .250 in a season since 2006. If anything, that looks to just be a stopgap until a better player or situation comes along. Unless they get very lucky with Inge and his production dramatically increases, the A's will probably keep all options open regarding third base.Come July, expect the ...
The Oakland A's put runs on the board early and Jarrod Parker made them stand up. But it took Jordan Norberto to bail out scuffling Grant Balfour as the A's defeated Boston 5-3 tonight at Fenway Park.Parker went a solid 6 2/3 innings. He allowed a single run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. The key was getting ahead in the count and Parker threw 59 strikes in 98 pitches.Up 5-1 in the ninth, Balfour could only record one out before allowing a two-run, bases-loaded single to Boston shortstop Mike Aviles. Norberto entered and struck out ...
According to a press release from the Oakland Raiders, the Raiders have signed former first-round pick and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart. Terms of the deal were not announced. The Santa Ana, Calif., native played the past two seasons with the Houston Texans, seeing action in two games with one start last year before suffering a season-ending injury. Prior to joining the Texans, he played in 29 games with 17 starts in four seasons with the Cardinals. In his rookie season, Leinart started 11 games and completed 214-of-377 passes for 2,547 yards and 11 touchdowns.He was cut by the Texans in ...
If the Oakland Raiders were to sign Cedric Benson and pair him with Darren McFadden to form their rushing attack, the Raiders would have one of the NFL's best ground games. According to ESPN's Jon Clayton, Benson and the Raiders are talking about a possible deal that would bring Benson to the Bay Area. "Benson is hoping to maybe land with the Oakland Raiders," Clayton said. "...There's an opening there and he's hoping to fill it." There's plenty of reasons why this couldn't be a better fit for both sides. Michael Bush's Departure Michael Bush made many fantasy football ...
Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie jokingly told the local media that the team had taken Carson Palmer with its first-round pick in last weekend’s draft. It was meant to be a moment of levity, but it serves as a reminder of the price paid to acquire Palmer to quarterback the Raiders.New head coach Dennis Allen has stated he wants an aggressive, uptempo offense. This sounds like a good idea, especially with the speed the Raiders have at wide receiver.However, if you look around the league, the teams that use uptempo offenses the most effectively, like the Patriots and Packers, ...
Late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis took plenty of criticism throughout the years over his first-round draft picks, but in hindsight, they haven't been all that bad. It was in Davis' later years that he came under heavy fire—questioned for his decisions. As he grew older, his signing and drafting of talent became more and more scrutinized. Each year, football fans across the nation eagerly waited in anticipation to see which player crazy old Al Davis would "waste" a first-round pick on. This year, the franchise participated in its first draft without Davis as general manager and/or owner in over 40 ...