The Oakland A's are beating all expectations this year. With role players like Jemile Weeks, Brandon Inge, and Cliff Pennington contributing stolen bases, grand slams and spectacular plays on the field -- the A's are deeper than most people thought.If you asked the people in the league who would be the top player for the A's one-third of the way into the season, Yoenis Cespedes would have been at the top of the list all by himself. Cespedes was the big bat that the A's spent money on and pinned all their hopes on him of having a ...
It’s almost the end of May, but voting for this year’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game is already under way. Yes, there are still five weeks left to determine each and every player who will be on the American and National League rosters, but it’s nice to take a look at some dark horse candidates who could be named to this season’s Midsummer Classic. As we all know, every one of the 32 major league teams must be represented by at least one player. For some of the bottom-feeding teams in baseball, it’s often difficult to identify who is worthy ...
Eight years after being traded to the Oakland Athletics, it's time for the franchise to give up on Daric Barton. In 2004, the A's shipped Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals for several young, talented prospects. Barton—a 19-year-old converted catcher—was the centerpiece of the deal. He was supposed to be the power hitting first baseman of the future. He's had nearly a decade, and fans are still waiting to see any resemblance of the production that was enticing enough to split up the Big Three. In fact, in six seasons in the majors, Barton has only had one good ...
Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane, infamous for his wheeling and dealing front office habits, made another seemingly brazen move in the offseason by sending All-Star closer Andrew Bailey to the Boston Red Sox in a deal centered around the largely unproven 25-year-old outfielder Josh Reddick.Many saw the move as an early indicator that the A’s were entering a rebuilding phase in 2012 as the franchise awaits the announcement of the location of their new ballpark. However, Reddick and the A’s have exceeded expectations so far this season. Oakland appears to be an outside threat to snag the American League’s Wild ...
Down 2-0, the A's used a gritty fourth inning rally against Tim Lincecum to score four runs and defeat the San Francisco Giants 6-2, salvaging the final game of the Bay Bridge series in San Francisco. The rally gave Bartolo Colon his fourth win of the year. Lincecum dropped to 2-4. In defeat, Melky Cabrera went 4-for-4 to raise his batting average to .353 on the season.The Giants took an early lead on single runs in the second and third on RBIs by Joaquin Arias and Buster Posey. In the fourth, the A's got one-out singles from Seth Smith and ...
The Oakland A's sent Brandon McCarthy to the mound on Opening Day this season; now they are sending him to the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder.McCarthy, who was forced to push back a start earlier this season with shoulder discomfort, was placed on the disabled list Sunday in a move that is retroactive to May 18.McCarthy's last two starts since his start was pushed back have been pretty solid. He pitched seven innings of shutout ball, striking out 10 and not walking a batter on May 12. In his following start on May 17, he threw 5.1 ...
Either Ryan Vogelsong is secretly a comic book superhero, or he just may be the beneficiary of one of the more favorable calls of the 2012 MLB season. An apparent foul off of Vogelsong's bat was ruled a hit by pitch and it triggered a four-run seventh inning as the Giants beat the A's 4-0 to take the first two games of the Bay Bridge series in San Francisco.Tyson Ross wriggled out of jams in the first six innings but took the loss after being charged with two earned runs in 6+ innings.Ryan Vogelsong's pitching was definitely legitimate as he ...
After trailing by as many as seven runs in the first game of their three-game series with the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland A's put the tying run on and had a chance to come all the way back.However, it was not to be tonight as the Giants won 8-6 at AT&T Park.Oakland's offensive star was Josh Donaldson, who reached base in every at-bat and drove in five of their six runs. Included in his barrage was his first major league home run in the third inning. A's starter Jarrod Parker struggled from the beginning and was chased in the third ...
Once the St. Louis Cardinals had completed one of the most improbable comebacks in baseball history and won the 2011 World Series, a fuse was lit in Oakland: What was to follow, in quick and stunning succession, was the roster being completely and unapologetically blown up. Much like the dark days of December 2005 when two of Oakland’s three aces were traded within days of each other, Billy Beane dealt three former All-Star pitchers in the span of just three weeks. Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey were gone, and it appeared the A’s were heading into full-on rebuild ...
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane continues to build mediocre teams that aren't good enough to contend for the playoffs but aren't bad enough to put the team in position to pick at the top of the draft. This year, with a record of 20-19 so far, is no exception.Instead of being able to draft franchise changing prospects like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, the A's have been stuck with less heralded draft prospects like Jemile Weeks and Grant Green. On the other hand, the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays were able to bolster their rebirths by selecting at ...