Per CSN Bay Area's staff, Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane won his second Sporting News Major League Baseball Executive of the Year award for his job in molding the 2012 A's into the American League West champions. Beane won the award with 31 out of 50 possible votes to finish ahead of the Washington Nationals’ Mike Rizzo (13) and the Texas Rangers’ Jon Daniels (6). It is Beane's second time winning the award, the first being in 1999 when the A's won 87 games and had their first winning record since 1992.This was an award I personally said Beane should win ...
On October 25, Japanese pitching phenom Shohei Otani announced his intention to jump directly from high school to American baseball. Unlike Masanori Murakami, Hideo Nomo and Hideki Irabu before him, Otani's arrival would be different in that he would eschew the Nippon Professional Baseball league entirely before signing with a Major League ball club. In other words, Otani will become the first Japanese player ever to sign directly with an MLB club out of high school if he does so come April (when eligible).Almost on cue, some of the usual suspects cropped up as possible landing spots: The Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Los ...
The Oakland Athletics are re-signing Bartolo Colon to a $3 million contract. He was suspended for 50 games earlier this year after testing positive for testosterone. And all of that seems to be in the rearview mirror for Oakland management.According to the AP's Janie McCauley, Oakland general manager Billy Beane feels that Colon is "cost effective and good."Colon has been pitching in winter ball—and that was all Beane needed to know, as the A's need pitching depth to retain their American League West title.The team is bringing back Tommy Milone, Jarrod Parker, Travis Blackley, A.J. Griffin, Dan Straily and Brett ...
To the surprise of this writer, the Oakland A's announced the re-signing of suspended starting pitcher Bartolo Colon for a one year deal worth up to $3 million with performance bonuses. Don't get me wrong, Colon was solid with the A's in 2012 up until his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. His stat line was 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA in 24 starts. By all accounts, he had a very good season.However, what can the Oakland A's reasonably expect from a 39-year-old starting pitcher whose performance was almost certainly amplified by his use of PEDs? If nothing else, he becomes a stopgap ...
Now that the A's have acquired Chris Young, the question has become simple: How does he fit into the 2013 lineup? There seems to be a crowded outfield with the expected return of Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes and Gold Glove winner Josh Reddick.With Jonny Gomes expected to depart, there becomes a need for Oakland to have a power-hitting designated hitter. What this means is, the four outfielders in the mix may very well rotate based on matchups against the opposition's starters. For instance, against right-handed pitching, there is the potential to use Reddick, Crisp and Cespedes or Young (taking advantage of ...
The Oakland Athletics were one game away from knocking the American League champion Detroit Tigers out of playoffs. But they lacked hitting—something Nick Swisher could effectively add to the lineup...again. Swisher began his career in the A's organization and had a couple of solid years before he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. He eventually made his way to the New York Yankees, where he enjoyed several more successful years. In 2013, it's hard to imagine him returning to the Big Apple, though. So why should Oakland take a chance on a player it already had once? There are ...
Having accomplished so much during the regular season as a team, the Oakland A's received an individual accolade today as Josh Reddick was named a 2012 Rawlings Gold Glove award winner. Reddick's award capped a great season where the unheralded right fielder emerged as a legitimate power hitter and two-way player for the AL West champion A's.Reddick's win represents the first for an Oakland outfielder since Dwayne Murphy won for his defensive play in 1985. The last Oakland defender to be recognized at any position was former third baseman Eric Chavez after the 2006 season. In 2012, Reddick compiled 15 assists, the ...
The Oakland A's made a common-sense move today with reports coming out that Grant Balfour's 2013 contract option will be picked up by the A's.The option on the closer who some refer to as "The Mad-Aussie" will cost the A's only $4.5 million, and it will allow them to keep their best relief pitcher from 2012. He finished the season with only 24 saves though he shared time as closer with Ryan Cook, the only All-Star for the A's last year.Balfour was removed from the closer role after two blown saves in a row, but once he got the job ...
Oakland Atheltics General Manager Billy Beane got into the act of big trades before the World Series even got started. He stepped into the middle of the Miami Marlins trying to dump Heath Bell and walked away with Chris Young in exchange for virtually nothing.Re-energized by the Division Title and possibly by Moneyball being on BlueRay, Billy Beane is looking to make the defending American League West Champions even better in 2013.The Young trade has given the A's a surplus of talented outfielders. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Billy Beane has no intention of trading Josh Reddick, Coco ...
Former Oakland A's ace Brandon McCarthy is a free agent for the second time in two years, and although it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him on the roster, there's a case to be made that the A's don't necessarily need him. Let me stress, this isn't to say the A's shouldn't re-sign McCarthy. First, he's a quality pitcher. Second, after suffering a season-ending injury, the guy made it a point to stick around and be in the dugout as soon as possible to support the team in the postseason. He's had nothing but positive things to say about Oakland's ...