It was a crapshoot at best when the Oakland Athletics signed disgraced slugger Manny Ramirez last winter in hopes of channeling production from his glory days to the middle of the A’s bargain basement lineup.With the San Jose Mercury News reporting that the franchise has not set timetable for the aging star’s return to the bigs, it is possible that Ramirez might not even get a chance to make a comeback effort this season in Oakland. What was a competitive start for the A’s in the early stages of 2012 has quickly turned for the worse, with Oakland now dwelling ...
With Manny starting to pick it up in Triple-A Sacramento, his arrival in Oakland could come as soon as next week. When he does arrive, there will be varying expectations put upon him. Some will expect him to put up big numbers in the middle of the lineup, and others will expect nothing but another disappointing season like he had while in Chicago and Tampa Bay.There are reasons to expect Manny to have success in Oakland, however. Of course, success is open to interpretation, but I think it's fair to say that Manny's tenure in Oakland would be a success ...
Just another variation on a theme today as the A's fell 4-3 and were swept by Arizona in their three-game series. The first inning was a microcosm of the A's struggles in the last month: they could not get a timely hit and Arizona could. After a lead-off double by Jemile Weeks and a flare into right for a single by Colin Cowgill, the A's had men on first and third with no outs.They did not score a run. First Josh Reddick popped out to shortstop. Then Jonny Gomes flied out to shallow center. Then Brandon Inge flied out to ...
Two pitches spelled doom for Jarrod Parker. An RBI double by Justin Upton and a grand slam by Miguel Montero pushed the Diamondbacks to a 6-1 lead as they coasted to an 8-3 victory in the second game of a three-game series in Arizona. Parker's scoreless streak ended in the first inning and he could not manage to retire the side in order once throughout the game. In all, he surrendered six runs on eight hits, walked five batters and struck out four. Kurt Suzuki tied the score on an RBI double in the top of the second and Jonny Gomes ...
Tonight, the A's scored plenty of runs. They just did not get the last out in time. Using a six-run second inning off Arizona starter Daniel Hudson, the A's were able to take a 6-0 lead and lead the Diamondbacks 8-6 going into the bottom of the ninth.It was not enough as the Diamondbacks scored three times off Brian Fuentes in the bottom of the ninth to win 9-8. Tom Milone was not particularly sharp, but he was in line for the victory going five innings and allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks.The offense came in a ...
Manny Ramirez is struggling in Triple-A Sacramento for the Oakland Athletics, and although general manager Billy Beane is not ready to release him yet, the possibility definitely exists.Ramirez is coming off a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance and hoped to make it back to the bigs this season in Oakland.Instead, he's done nothing but perform well below expectations.Through 11 games, Ramirez is hitting just .243 with no extra-base hits, four RBI and 10 strikeouts. It's safe to say that the A's expected at least a little more from the 40-year-old slugger.Throw in the fact that he hasn't even ...
This time a month ago it was expected that Manny Ramirez would be manning the middle of the A's lineup. Well it's been over a week since Manny was eligible for reinstatement and the aging slugger still finds himself in Triple-A Sacramento, playing against teams like the Tacoma Rainiers. This is due in part to two factors that have held him out of recent contests, the first of which is his play. His current .243 average in Sacramento isn't convincing anyone that he's ready for the big leagues. The other issue holding him out of the lineup is tightness in ...
Scoring runs early, the A's gave ace Brandon McCarthy a cushion. As it turned out, he would not need much of it.Going seven strong innings, McCarthy won his fifth game of the year as the A's impressively won the matinee finale of this four-game series 7-1 over first-place Texas. McCarthy only allowed a single run on three hits while striking out five as he lowered his ERA to 2.79 on the year.The offense was sparked by Coco Crisp, who homered in the third inning to make it 2-0. After the Rangers cut the lead to 2-1 on an Adrian Beltre ...
The Oakland Athletics made some pretty interesting choices during the 2012 MLB draft. Whether it was their choosing of high school players in the first and compensation rounds or their selection of pitcher, the state of Green Collar baseball seems to be heading in the right direction—at least, we hope.Here is a look at the seven Oakland A's prospects we can be excited for.Begin Slideshow
For one start, Bartolo Colon flashed back to the way he began the season for the A's. Spotting his fastball beautifully all game, Colon used a key double play to settle in and three eight shutout innings as the A's took the third game of this four-game series 2-0 over Texas. Brian Fuentes pitched a clean ninth inning for his fifth save of the season.The offense was provided by Yoenis Cespedes, who went 3-3 with a single, a double, and a triple. The single made the game 2-0 and proved to be more than enough for Colon, who won his ...