T-minus four days until Oakland A's pitchers report for spring training. Five days after that, the rest of the squad officially opens camp in Phoenix, Arizona. Baseball is upon us.
The 2014 Oakland A's will look familiar.
Four-fifths of the rotation is the same. There are no new faces in the starting lineup. The bullpen and bench saw the most turnover.
Spring training is always entertaining.
It's a time when we as fans and writers see how well guys have rebounded from offseason surgeries and lingering injuries. Prospects have a chance to shine. Others hope to earn a spot on the 25-man roster. And ...
With the kind of salary cap space the Oakland Raiders will have available this offseason, they should have no trouble re-signing the players they want, as well as competing for other free agents on the open market.
Much of the attention will go to which players they are in the market for from other teams, but an important focus will be on re-signing their own key players beforehand.
With some mutual interest between the team and the majority of their own free-agent players, again, there shouldn’t be many issues in doing so.
The odds are far less favorable when it comes to spending ...
The Oakland Raiders 2014 NFL draft has the potential to define this franchise for the foreseeable future.
With needs at quarterback, wide receiver and just about everywhere on the defensive side of the football, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie will have some serious decisions to make when it comes to shaping this football team.
McKenzie's task won't be an easy one. Thanks to a record-setting amount of underclassmen who have declared for the draft, this year's class is extraordinarily deep.
In order to turn this prestigious program around, the reality of the situation is that McKenzie needs to find guys who can come in and contribute from Day 1.
Understanding ...
The Oakland Raiders are entering the third year of their rebuild with general manager Reggie McKenzie calling the shots. The first two years have been rocky, making this a pivotal year of the entire process.
With over $60 million in salary-cap space in 2014, according to Spotrac.com, the Raiders are now in a great position. The Raiders not only have the most salary-cap space in 2014, but also the most since the salary cap came into existence 20 years ago. McKenzie effectively hit the reset button—the Raiders have neither a lot of talent nor many long-term commitments to players.
What you may not ...
The Oakland Raiders have a lot of work to do this offseason. With a projected $63.6 million in salary cap space according to Spotrac and a talent-deficient roster, general manager Reggie McKenzie finally has the flexibility to improve the roster in free agency and a full deck of draft picks.
Defensive end Lamarr Houston and left tackle Jared Veldheer will also be free agents when the new league year starts March 11, and they can start talking to other teams on March 8. Veldheer is arguably the Raiders' best player on offense, and Houston their best player on defense, so McKenzie also ...
The Oakland Raiders have a major need at quarterback heading into the offseason. They also have the most salary-cap room in the NFL and the fifth pick in the draft.
Can Oakland find a franchise quarterback in free agency? Will one of the top QB prospects be available for them in the draft?
Watch as Adam Lefkoe and San Francisco Chronicle's Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) discuss the Raiders' quarterback situation in the video above. Let us know whom you think they should go after in the comments section below.Read more Oakland Raiders news on BleacherReport.com
For the Oakland Raiders, the 2014 offseason is a chance to address some of the team's biggest areas of need.
Unlike year's past, this time around general manager Reggie McKenzie will finally have an opportunity to land some marquee names via free agency and the draft.
Thanks to an estimated $61.8 million in cap space, McKenzie will have a surfeit amount of loot to help shore up Oakland's roster.
For the Silver and Black's current regime, the excuses are over. At the end of the day, this team has to show signs of improvement in 2014. Anything less would be a disservice to ...
The 2014 offseason will be the most important rebuilding phase for general manager Reggie McKenzie, head coach Dennis Allen and the Oakland Raiders franchise.
With past financial obstacles essentially off the books, and an increased value now placed on holding on to draft selections, the staff will have plenty of ways to add talent to this team if done properly.
The 2012 and 2013 seasons under this regime were far from ideal in the win-loss column, but given the situation, not much more could have been expected.
The slates are now clean, the management and coaching foundations are in place, and it is time ...
All eyes will be focused on Addison Russell when the Oakland A's begin spring camp. While he's certainly worth your interest, a few other prospects have intriguing angles surrounding them too.
Russell is the clear-cut No. 1 prospect in the system. He'll automatically be invited back to big league camp. Beyond him, Billy McKinney is a top name but may not get the star treatment Russell receives just yet. Billy Burns is another name to be aware of.
But the guys on this list are a bit different.
They're either solid prospects who don't get nearly as much attention, dark-horse candidates to impress ...
The 2014 NFL Draft will be a big weekend in Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen’s rebuilding process for the Oakland Raiders franchise.
With so many needs throughout the roster, they will look to add as much instant-impact talent as possible, establishing a solid foundation to build around moving forward.
The biggest debate will surround which direction the Raiders should lean with their first-round selection at fifth overall, be it a potential franchise quarterback or a dominant pass-rusher.
With far more options in free agency for pass-rushers than for quarterbacks, targeting a signal-caller in the first round could make much more sense value-wise.
Either way, ...