If the Oakland Athletics decide to once again sell assets at the trade deadline, they should ship closer Grant Balfour to the New York Yankees. Moreover, they must strike now for the best deal possible. There are several reasons a trade partnership between these two teams is perfect. In fact, here's 10 of them.Begin Slideshow
There's no question that Brandon Inge is finally an answer to the third base dilemma plaguing the Oakland Athletics.First and foremost, Inge can perform at the major league level—unlike Oakland's other options.Since last year's starter Scott Sizemore suffered a season-ending left knee injury, the A's have been trying to fill that role.So far the choices are flat out terrible.Josh Donaldson still needs times in the minors. Eric Sogard can't seem to adjust to the big leagues. In addition, each moved from other positions.Luke Hughes was a last-ditch effort to patch up the platoon.The three combined to hit 11-for-93 this year, ...
Down 4-0 after the first inning, the A's rallied to score eight consecutive runs, including five in the key third inning, and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 9-5 to move back over .500 for the year. Tom Milone overcame a very shaky first inning to get his fourth win. He went five innings allowing five runs on five hits and four walks on 94 total pitches.Early on, it appeared as though the rubber game would be another listless loss as Milone gave up four runs, largely aided by walking the bases loaded to open the game. In the third, the ...
Previous opportunities squandered, Jonny Gomes took it upon himself to ensure it would not happen again. His lead-off home run off Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta in the 12th inning lifted the A's to a 4-3 victory over the Rays on Saturday to even their three-game series at a game apiece.Grant Balfour pitched the 12th inning to record his seventh save and the A's once again reached .500 on the season. Bartolo Colon struggled, giving up three runs and eight hits in five innings. But the A's bullpen was excellent, providing seven scoreless innings.Josh Reddick was the offensive star, going ...
Seven runs in the third and fourth innings doomed the Oakland A's and a dominant David Price kept the offense quiet as the Tampa Bay Rays took the first game of a three-game series over Oakland, 7-2.Tyson Ross could not get through the fourth inning, giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks. His earned run average has ballooned to 8.55 from 2.13 in his last two starts. Meanwhile, Price overpowered the A's with a season-high 12 strikeouts over eight razor-sharp innings.The A's took an early lead with a pair of doubles from Jonny Gomes and Kurt Suzuki ...
The Oakland Athletics recalled Michael Taylor from Triple-A Sacramento, and according to CSNBayArea, he will make his season debut in Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The transaction occurs after the A's placed left fielder Coco Crisp on the 15-day disabled list due to an inner ear problem.Taylor, a rookie, is not new to the Oakland ball club, having appeared in 11 games last season.He earned his 2012 promotion, however, in part because of his torrid performance this past April. In 23 games with the Sacramento River Cats, Taylor dominated Triple-A pitching, sporting a .347 batting average, with 15 ...
It was just last week that the idea of which team may deal for Grant Balfour before the trade deadline was discussed.This week, it's time to figure out who could replace him as the Oakland Athletics' closer. Balfour blew a save last week against the Chicago White Sox, melted down against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday and almost collapsed against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night. The A's went on to win two of those games, but Balfour had little to do with that.The A's had Jordan Norberto finish off Tuesday night's game after Balfour allowed three hits and two ...
It's been a difficult 2012 year for Oakland Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp. The 32-year-old veteran re-signed with the A's this past offseason, after toiling with options to move elsewhere. Ultimately, his comfort with the Athletics organization and the opportunity remain close to his West Coast roots prompted him to return to an unrecognizable team that traded away much of its roster from last season or simply allowed players to walk via free agency.So, why would Crisp come back to an A's team that was clearly in a rebuilding process, filled to the brim with minor league prospects and not expected ...
The 2012 Major League Baseball season is 26 games old for the Oakland A's.I don't know if fans should be happy with this, or if they should be disappointed.The A's were expected to finish towards the bottom of the American League West by a lot of so-called experts. They now stand at 13-13 (second place) only four and a half games behind the mighty Texas Rangers.The A's are coming off a series win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and are 3-3 so far during a nine-game east coast swing that started in Baltimore and will end in Tampa ...
Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick is off to a solid start, chipping in a little in every category in the early going. He isn’t confusing anyone for Matt Kemp, but he’s been a solid fantasy outfielder. Reddick came over from Boston in the Andrew Bailey trade and has do a solid job batting third for the A’s. He got a little revenge on the Boston Red Sox in hitting a three-run home run off Clay Buchholz in the series opener. He is hitting .275 with 13 runs, four home runs, nine RBI and three stolen bases. Last year, he hit .280 for Boston ...