After 41 games, the Oakland Athletics are succeeding in three areas of the game, but they're also in danger of failing in three other facets. Above-average hitting and below-average pitching meet in the middle, and you know what they produce? A 20-21 record. That's exactly what the A's have one-quarter of the way through the 2013 season. Perfection is difficult, so no one is expecting all A's (no pun intended) for the coaching staff, bench, defense, bullpen, rotation and offense. Still, if Oakland hopes to finish at the top of the AL West class, it'll need to hit it hard ...
Any further veteran free-agent signings aside, Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen have, for the most part, constructed the Oakland Raiders’ roster for the 2013 season. With such a young and relatively unproven group, any success that this team has will hinge upon some impressive performances at the most key positions. Also of importance will be the potential for breakout seasons from some relatively under-the-radar players. These can include either veterans or younger players, but in any case, they will be those most likely to see their roles significantly increased this year. Here are five Oakland Raiders players poised for a ...
For months, veteran cornerback and Oakland Raider great Charles Woodson waited for his phone to ring.In the months since the season ended, Woodson had received just one call: from the San Francisco 49ers—something that seemed odd given the veteran's incredible career.Of course, some believe the 36-year-old could be at the end of his rope, but to think that he couldn't help anyone seemed crazy.For Raider fans, the prospect of adding the former No. 4 pick seemed like a dream scenario—both in that it would be magical and unlikely.Things would only get worse, however, as rumors surfaced this morning that the ...
After their first 40 games, the Oakland A's are 20-20 in the 2013 season.Remember 2012? The A's started 20-20 as well. In 2006, The A's—led by Frank Thomas—rode a five-game winning streak to get to 21-19 after 40 games. Historically, the A's have tended to be a slow-starting team. Under manager Bob Geren, the club never started better than 23-17 through 40 games (2008) and started as slowly as 15-25 (2009) while opening 20-20 three times. Go back to the Moneyball era when the A's opened 21-19 (2000), 18-22 (2001) and 19-21 (2002) after 40 games. Oakland went on to win 91, 102, and ...
The 2013 class of rookies showed up to the Oakland Raiders’ headquarters in Alameda for a brief minicamp over the weekend. Many of the players will have to go back to college until they graduate, and others will be able to stick around for the start of organized team activities. Coverage of rookie minicamps has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and naturally we try to glean something from them. The coaches are learning about the players, the players are starting to learn the playbook and we try to interpret how these performances might impact the ...
This past weekend, the Oakland Raiders’ newest draft selections and undrafted free agents got their first dose of the NFL in the team’s rookie mini camp. While too much is often made of rookie camp impressions, this is the first on-field activity fans have to go on in quite some time. Nonetheless, there are undoubtedly key takeaways. Unfortunately, Saturday’s practice was the only one open to the media, but the Raiders’ local beat writers made plenty of valuable observations. Here are the five biggest takeaways from the Oakland Raiders’ rookie mini camp.Begin Slideshow
For the Oakland Raiders, the roster is slowly starting to crystallize with early free-agency netted players like Pat Sims, Tracy Porter, Nick Roach and Mike Jenkins, among others. The draft brought in 10 players with at least half being realistic bets to make the opening game roster. There was even a pair of trades who essentially swapped the starting quarterback: Carson Palmer was sent to Arizona and Matt Flynn was traded from Seattle. Currently, there are four spots remaining (86 of 90) on the offseason roster.Looking at the Raiders currently, there are still plenty of spots that could use not just ...
Since the team moved from Kansas City to Oakland 45 years ago, the A's have largely been a team built on great pitching. Whether it was Charley Finley's Mustache Gang, the 1981 "Billyball" club, the Walter Haas owned/Tony LaRussa run team from 1988 to 1992 or Billy Beane's Moneyball teams, Oakland has always won with great pitching.As such, there have been great pitching performances—some in the regular season, others in the playoffs or even the World Series. Finding the 10 best is a matter of circumstance and history. It is also highly subjective. Having followed this franchise since 1985, I ...
When we look at the 2013 Oakland Raiders roster, one thing we can't say about general manager Reggie McKenzie is that he didn't try.With a salary cap situation as bad as anywhere around the league, McKenzie has done an admirable job at finding "value-level" talent to fill out the roster for the upcoming season.Add that onto the successful draft, and the Raiders of 2013 look far more competitive than many people would have ever expected.Now, obviously, this isn't a team that will be competing for a Super Bowl this year, but they've done a great job of preparing themselves for ...
What an incredibly difficult stretch the Oakland Athletics find themselves in. After taking two of three in a hard-fought road series with the New York Yankees, the A’s hobbled their way to Cleveland to face an equally feisty Indians squad.The bad news is the Athletics got swept out of town in four games. The worse news: They left more physically damaged than psychologically—which is saying something considering the "Railinggate" blown home run call during Wednesday’s loss. To be sure, Oakland is not immune to injury. The A’s are used to players getting hurt and the team is equipped to have ...