If you didn't know who Yoenis Cespedes was before the 2013 Home Run Derby, you should by now.
Cespedes may have entered baseball's most entertaining All-Star event as a relative unknown compared to his fellow competitors, but that won't be the case as he moves on from his epic performance Monday night.
The 27-year-old outfielder is one of the rare contestants in derby history to participate without being an actual All-Star. According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, he's the only non-All-Star to win the competition:
Cespedes really burst onto scene in his rookie season last year. The Cuban slugger made an immediate impact ...
It has been reported by John Breech of CBS Sports that the Oakland Raiders have proposed to the city of Oakland a new 50,000-seat stadium that would cost anywhere from $800 million to $1.2 billion. The new stadium would be located on or near the site of Overstock.com Coliseum.
Under the proposal, the Raiders would pay $300 million with the NFL throwing in $200 million. This would leave a need for at least $300 million in public funding, which sounds much more daunting than it appears for the cash-strapped city of Oakland.
The city of Oakland is still paying the tab ...
Despite winning their division and taking the Detroit Tigers to the limit in a five-game playoff series just last year, the Oakland A's were once again seen as underdogs in the eyes of many baseball experts going into the 2013 season.
The Los Angeles Angels were expected to win the division after they had their big free-agent spending spree highlighted by signing Josh Hamilton.
While the A's certainly haven't run away with the division themselves, they own a comfortable lead over those same Angels going into the All-Star break. In fact, Oakland owns an 11-game lead over the Angels after the ...
One of the less publicized events that takes place during the MLB All-Star break is the Futures Game. In it, various players at all levels of the minor leagues compete on two rosters: One represents American-born players and the other players from all other areas in the world.
In 2013, the Oakland A's will send two players to represent the franchise in the game: shortstop Addison Russell and pitcher Michael Ynoa.
Both players were projected to be phenoms with Russell still seen as more of a sure thing than Ynoa, who was signed out of the Dominican Republic at the age of ...
Best record in the National League? Yawn.
The Oakland Athletics rolled their collective eyes after they rolled over the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had entered the three-game series against the A’s tied for the NL’s top record with the St. Louis Cardinals. It was another impressive performance for the Athletics, who again conquered one of baseball’s best teams. Oakland took two of three from Pittsburgh after also taking two of three from St. Louis at the end of June.
It wasn’t easy, however, as the A’s were fortunate to eke out back-to-back 2-1 victories in the first two games of the series. Nonetheless, ...
With the non-waiver trade deadline three weeks away, the Oakland Athletics find themselves with plenty of options. They can stand pat, make a major splash or acquire minor pieces in hopes they go a long way.Just as they would for a draft, the A's have a plan in place, a blueprint they're holding close to their vest. No one but management knows what they'll end up doing, but below, you'll see a faux blueprint that covers the "woulda, shoulda" ("coulda" was answered above) of trade deadline moves.There has been a ton of chatter about starting pitching and second base so ...
Fans, fantasy footballers and Oakland’s front office are either frustrated or have already jumped off the Darren McFadden bandwagon without a life vest. The Raiders don’t have much choice but to let McFadden carry a talent-deprived roster across murky waters in 2013. Three unproven quarterbacks and a lack of a No.1 receiver virtually guarantees McFadden is the only hope of the Raiders have of staying afloat in the AFC West.Either McFadden will take the Raiders where they want to go or they will sink to the bottom of standings. Entering his contract year, McFadden has to prove that he can ...
Final: Athletics 2, Pirates 1Two of baseball's most unlikely aces squared off Monday as Oakland's Bartolo Colon bested Pittsburgh's Jeff Locke.Colon and Locke were each named All-Stars on Saturday, and proved their worth on Monday. Colon gave up just one run over seven innings and handed Locke his first loss since April 10.Coco Crisp made a game-saving catch in the seventh to rob Andrew McCutchen of extra bases. Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour each threw scoreless innings, allowing Balfour to break Dennis Eckersley's club record of 40 consecutive saves.Both teams are locked in tight divisional races. Texas is half a game behind the ...
Oakland Athletics versus Pittsburgh Pirates: World Series preview? After rolling your eyes, consider that this upcoming series starting Monday night pits the American League West leaders (52-37) against the top team in all of the National League (53-34, tied with the St. Louis Cardinals), for three games in the Steel City. This should be one of the more exciting interleague series in 2013, a matchup between two of MLB’s best teams this season. More intriguing is the fact that both these ball clubs are seemingly defying the odds: Oakland began the season with the 26th highest payroll in the majors ...
On a day in which the Oakland A's were disappointed to see just Bartolo Colon selected to the All-Star game with Josh Donaldson and Grant Balfour getting snubbed from the Midsummer Classic, the Oakland A's had breaking news around a possible future All-Star.
It was confirmed late Sunday night by Paul Gutierrez of CSN California that Grant Green has been called up to the MLB roster from Triple-A Sacramento. Green, 25, was Oakland's first-round draft pick (13th overall) in 2009.
Green was in the middle of his second season in Triple-A, and while his offensive ability was never in question, the organization ...