The two biggest acquisitions by the Oakland A's this past offseason have not hesitated to show the Oakland A's what they are capable of.In the first four games of the 2013 season, the A's saw just how important Jed Lowrie (acquired via trade from Houston) and Chris Young (acquired via trade with Arizona) are to the success of the A's as they defend the division title.After losing the first two games to the Seattle Mariners, Manager Bob Melvin inserted Young into the lineup. The A's are 2-0 when Lowrie and Young start together.Lowrie, in 13 at-bats, has four doubles, a home run and three ...
The 2013 NFL draft is just around the corner, and for the first time in what seems like far too long, the Oakland Raiders actually have a first-round selection at their disposal. As many analysts and fans alike would certainly attest to, the Raiders’ best-case scenario would be to find a trade-down partner, and even multiple at that. At this point, given the uncertainty with not only this year’s top ten but the entire first round as well, that idea seems quite unlikely. As such, pre-draft projections and predictions must operate under the assumption that the Raiders will indeed stay ...
This time last year I boldly predicted the Oakland A's would win the AL West. This year, it's not bold enough to call for a repeat (or is it?), so let's individualize a prediction for each player on the active roster. The pitching staff must be dominant. The Los Angeles Angels added Josh Hamilton to their already stacked lineup of Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo. The Seattle Mariners bolstered their offense with power bats such as Michael Morse, Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez. The Texas Rangers still have Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre at the top ...
It may seem opportunistic to see this article just hours after the Oakland A's' 6-2 win over Seattle for their first victory of 2013. Tom Milone goes seven strong innings, shrugs off a shaky first inning and basically shuts the Mariners down the rest of his start. Easy to cherry-pick right?Not exactly. I pegged Milone to have a great year back in my projections for the A's rotation in January. The reason is simple: Tom Milone is the best pitcher on the A's staff. Listen to what I said closely. He does not have the best arm, the filthiest pitches ...
April 3, 2013, is a day that Nate Freiman will never forget. Freiman made his MLB debut after spending four years in the minors. He was claimed off waivers by the Oakland A's and cracked the Opening Day roster.Maybe it was a case of rookie's luck, or maybe Freiman is just that good. Either way, he had a debut for the Oakland A's worth writing about against the Seattle Mariners.In his first major league at-bat, Freiman got the A's their second run of the season (behind a solo home run by Yoenis Cespedes the night before) with an RBI single ...
The Oakland Raiders have been busy in the 2013 NFL offseason. Whether they have been losing players, signing players or trading draft picks and players, Reggie McKenzie and his front office have made a lot of moves so far in 2013.The Raiders added to their list of free-agent acquisitions with the signing of cornerback Tracy Porter. Porter has a history with coach Dennis Allen from when the two worked together in New Orleans, where they won a Super Bowl.Porter addresses a serious need for the Raiders. The Raiders' best CB prior to Porter signing with them was Phillip Adams. Porter brings a much-needed veteran ...
The Carson Palmer experiment in Oakland has officially ended (via CBS Sports) with the Raiders sending Palmer plus a draft pick to the Arizona Cardinals for two draft picks.It doesn't seem so long ago that the Oakland Raiders were a team that was almost a shoe-in to make the playoffs after acquiring Palmer in a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals. This occurred in the middle of the 2011 season. The Raiders were at one point a 7-4 team in sole possession of the AFC West. Then the Raiders lost four of their last five games while Tim Tebow had his one-hit wonder ...
Through five NFL seasons, cornerback Tracy Porter has never played a full 16-game regular season slate.Maybe the 2013 season with the Oakland Raiders will be his first.The Raiders and Porter agreed to terms on a contract on Tuesday, as reported by ESPN's Josina Anderson. His deal is reportedly worth $2.5 million and should provide Oakland with a veteran presence capable of making a big impact in the secondary each week.At a closer glance, this deal is about more than just filling a void for a defense that finished 18th in the NFL last season.Porter said it best himself in a ...
The Oakland Raiders traded for Matt Flynn on Monday and shipped Carson Palmer to the desert on Tuesday, basically exchanging a veteran starter for an unproven player with two career starts. The trades were necessary from a monetary perspective, but they also have very real on-field consequences. Bringing in Flynn to go along with Terrelle Pryor may indicate that the Raiders intend to have a real quarterback competition in 2013. However, bringing in Flynn could just as easily mean that the team doesn’t believe Pryor can be a starter. It’s entirely possible the Raiders made it harder for Pryor to ...
The 2013 NFL draft is now just a few weeks away, and the Oakland Raiders have some significant questions surrounding the team heading in. With countless holes on the roster, both in starting positions and further down the depth chart, the Raiders have plenty of areas that they need to address with very few picks to do so. In this draft, we will start to get a sense of how GM Reggie McKenzie is looking to build this team moving forward and if he can bring with him the draft success that he was a part of during his time ...