It has been reported by Bill Williamson of ESPN that the Oakland Raiders and fifth-round pick Juron Criner are at odds over the bonus on the rookie's contract. The Raiders, according to NFL contract guidelines, are offering exactly what a compensatory fifth-round pick is slated to earn. Criner and his agent are demanding around $158,000, which is just slightly less than what the 32nd pick of the fifth round received. In my opinion, Juron Criner should either fire his agent or just sign and get in camp. This is a bad start to his NFL career. He needs to get ...
Not since the days when Barry Zito and Eric Chavez donned the green and gold have the Oakland Athletics been looking to buy at the trade deadline. But after a torrid July that has seen the A’s win 17 of 20 games, Oakland finds itself nine games over .500, currently tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the first wild card spot and only five games back of the AL West leading Texas Rangers. With the deadline on Tuesday, the A’s might be looking to bolster a lineup that—while it has been better of late—continues to be near the bottom ...
When the Raiders lost Darren McFadden for the season, it derailed an offense and a team that was hoping to pair him with Carson Palmer for a playoff run.The run fell short, Hue Jackson was fired and we all know the story from there.Despite losing McFadden, the offense was still potent, albeit less than it would have been with McFadden in the backfield. In contrast, the defense never recovered from losing Matt Shaughnessy for the season in Week 3.Shaughnessy was a trendy preseason pick to be a breakout player after making a lot of noise during training camp last year. ...
Just another boring game for the Oakland A's. Oakland's normally fabulous pitching staff could not hold two leads in Baltimore as the Orioles rallied from five runs down to take a 9-8 lead headed to the ninth.But in the opener of a crucial three-game series, the A's rallied again, scoring six runs off of Baltimore's closer Jim Johnson to rally to a 14-9 victory. Ryan Cook's recent struggles continued as he allowed the tying and go-ahead run to score in the bottom of the eighth inning. But in this crazy game, it did not result in a loss.The A's seemed ...
As of this writing, the A's have not made any major (or even minor) moves to boost what has been a very surprising 2012 team that currently contends for an American League wild-card spot. For a team that many had losing a minimum of 90 games and upwards of 100, being 53-45 as July winds down is a minor miracle.Consider this is being done without ever getting a game from Manny Ramirez, the injury woes of Brandon McCarthy and Yoenis Cespedes, and zero innings pitched thus far from Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden.With the news that Oakland was very much ...
New coaches, new system, new expectations. The Oakland Raiders enter the 2012 season with a lot of unknowns.How will they adapt to a new West Coast offense? Will the defense improve? Can they protect the ball in the air? With a competitive division and the potential for improvement, let's take a look at three key players that need to take that next step in 2012 to help this Raiders team succeed.Begin Slideshow
The Oakland Athletics are currently sitting at 53-45, and are 9-2 in their last 11 games. Not too shabby. But how? This team ranks in the basement in hitting. Sure, they have a few young stud pitchers, but how has Oakland managed to come out of the break on fire like this? Let's break down their typical starting lineup and try to find out: 1. Coco Crisp—Crisp, a career journeyman outfielder, has always been as fast as lightning on the bases. But his problem has always been getting on base...if he manages to ...
Training camps are starting. Rookies are signing. The excitement of free agency has slowed down.NFL's offseason is coming to a close and rosters are beginning to take shape.After an offseason that saw plenty of change in the AFC West, it's time to see how these teams match up against each other going into training camp.I will be releasing AFC West positional rankings over the coming days.Let's start with my quarterback rankings: Begin Slideshow
Note: According to the Sacramento Bee, Oakland Raiders assistant offensive line coach Steve Wisniewski has resigned because of personal reasons. With training camp slated to begin in less than 48 hours, there is optimism with many in Raider Nation, as new coach Dennis Allen is set to embark on what is truly a new era in Oakland Raider football. For the first time since 1963, Al Davis will not be the overseer of the team, and with general manager Reggie McKenzie having true authority over personnel, it will be interesting to see just how the Raiders begin the 2012 campaign.That all ...
Toronto's Travis Snyder executed a perfect bunt single and combined with Tom Milone's throwing error, the Blue Jays took a sixth inning lead and never looked back, snapping Oakland's seven-game win streak with a 10-4 win at the Rogers Centre.Milone took the loss, falling to 9-7 on the year as he went seven innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven. Oakland took an early 3-0 lead and looked like they might be headed for a sweep of Toronto along with their eighth-straight win.Josh Reddick got the scoring started with his 22nd home run, a first-inning ...