Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane is tired of his team being “one-and-done” in the playoffs.
The A’s have been to the postseason seven times during Beane’s 17-year tenure, but they reached the American League Championship Series just once. More recently, the A’s have won the American League West in each of the last two seasons only to lose to the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series.
This year, however, Oakland officially is “all-in.” And based on Beane's aggressive trades over the last month, he surely will be disappointed if the A’s season concludes with anything less than a World ...
The trade deadline is officially over, and Oakland A's fans can finally go take the shower they've been avoiding while hovering over Twitter.
In the last month, the A's have pulled off two major blockbusters, a minor move and three non-moves that lit social media up. Today, Oakland looks like a popular pick for this year's World Series title. After the first trade alone took place, it became clear general manager Billy Beane decided to go all in. Another league-shaking deal later, and he's clearly not bluffing about stacking his cards.
But while the moves are great for 2014, are they worth ...
The Oakland Athletics are not hedging their bets or looking forward to next season. By acquiring Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox in a blockbuster trade also featuring Yoenis Cespedes, Billy Beane and Co. are moving forward with a singular focus: the 2014 World Series.
Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports the full deal will see Lester, Jonny Gomes and cash considerations head west in exchange for Cespedes and a competitive balance draft pick. It was the first blockbuster on a very active day around Major League Baseball.
Lester is a true ace. The lefty sports a 2.52 ERA through 21 starts ...
MLB National Columnist Scott Miller breaks down what the Jon Lester-Yoenis Cespedes blockbuster trade, via ESPN, means for both the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox.
Read more Oakland Athletics news on BleacherReport.com
Usually, any time the Oakland Athletics face the Texas Rangers, the series is magnified a touch. Competitively, the two American League West rivals have matched one another win for win over the years; the A’s have won the last two division crowns, while the Rangers won the two prior.
This year was expected to be another wire-to-wire battle between these two divisional adversaries. However, the Rangers have experienced an incredibly disappointing 2014 season, the result of unpredictable performances and a rash of injuries. The team has never been at full strength and has limped short-handedly through the entire season.
It has been ...
At the trade deadline it is commonplace for contending teams to ship away prospects in return for established big league players.
The San Francisco Giants pulled the plug with two of their top pitching prospects to acquire Jake Peavy from the Boston Red Sox. The LA Angels parted with two hitting prospects and two pitching prospects to land closer Huston Street, who will provide an immediate fix to their bullpen. The Oakland A's also proved capable of parting with cherished prospects when they dealt shortstop-of-the-future Addison Russell and Billy McKinney for two years of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.
While the A's still have a ...
What do you get when you combine Derek Norris, John Jaso and Stephen Vogt? Up until recently, the answer was: three middling baseball players you probably haven't heard of.
Now, thanks to a dollop of unconventional thinking and a dash of Oakland A's magic, that trio has put up some of the best numbers in the American League from the catcher position—and it's possible they've even revolutionized the game.
The A's and their general manager, Billy Beane, are famous for innovation (maybe you saw the Brad Pitt movie?). Their "moneyball" formula—identifying undervalued players and signing them on the cheap—has led to an ...
And now, a comeback story with buzz:
Two summers ago, pitching for the independent league Sugar Land (Texas) Skeeters, Scott Kazmir’s pitching career was so far lost in the woods that he needed a case of Off! mosquito repellent more than a postgame ice bag.
Last week, without any club officials scheduled to travel, baseball’s best team entrusted him to chaperone the game’s largest contingent of All-Stars—seven—as the Swingin’ A’s Midsummer Classic traveling party headed to Minneapolis.
“How did I become the responsible one?” Kazmir asked, chuckling.
A few minutes earlier, his cellphone had buzzed in the American League All-Star clubhouse. Oakland manager Bob ...
After taking two of three against the Baltimore Orioles to open up the second half of the season, the Oakland Athletics host a three-game set against the Houston Astros, starting Tuesday. Houston visits the American League West leaders a mere 20.5 games back—however, the Astros proudly only sport the league’s second-worst record (41-58).
The A’s deserve some much-needed face time against the bottom-feeders, particularly after three consecutive series against teams (the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles) that would be headed to the playoffs, were the season to end today. Oakland has not played a team with a non-winning ...
When handicapping baseball, most bettors start the process with starting pitching.
A great starting pitcher can completely take over a game and leave opposing offenses stymied. While a pitcher can do his part on the mound to hold back the opposing team's offense, there isn't much that he can do to get his own team's offense going.
For this reason, bettors must factor run support into their decision-making process. There are plenty of great pitchers who don't make great bets because they consistently fail to get much run support.
In many cases, these pitchers play for teams that don't produce much offense for any ...