The Oakland Athletics have officially opened the 2012 season, but just how talented is this club? Spring training is already a memory, and decisions regarding the roster have been made. Some players earn high marks. Others already fail. Here's a look at the A's depth chart, complete with grades. It's a long season, so luckily there's plenty of time to improve.Begin Slideshow
Inconvenient as the schedule might be, the Athletics began the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season "hosting" the Seattle Mariners in the Tokyo Dome. While they may have been designated the home team, the crowd was clearly behind the Mariners, in no small part due to the return of Ichiro Suzuki. In spite of a very good start from Brandon McCarthy and an RBI double from Kurt Suzuki, they fell 3-1 to Seattle in 11 innings. A theme from last year, the A's struggled with runners in scoring position, going 1-for-14 and squandering multiple chances in the seventh and eighth ...
The 2012 Major League Baseball season is set to kick off at the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning as the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics take part in a two-game series in Japan. While the feel-good story of the inconvenient season opener surrounds Ichiro Suzuki’s return home, the story I’m most interested in is that of outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who has already been named the A’s Opening Day centerfielder. After defecting from Cuba to the Dominican Republic in January, Cespedes and the Oakland Athletics agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract nearly a month later. His blinding bat speed ...
The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics will kick off the 2012 MLB regular season in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 28th at 6:10 AM EST.The AL West division rivals have spent the last few days in Japan, hosting baseball clinics, visiting tsunami relief sites and playing exhibition matches against Japanese ball clubs.The international tours for the M's and A's will culminate in a two-game series that will mark the beginning of the regular season. The A's are listed as the home team, though there obviously isn't any home-field advantage for either club.While these two teams aren't the best that the MLB ...
The comparisons between Jemile Weeks and Jose Reyes are only natural. The make-up, the speed, the dreadlocks, both resemble each other immensely. The only real difference is age. Weeks is only three years younger than Reyes, who has already played nine major league seasons. Coming off a rookie season in which Weeks led the A's in average, perhaps the comparisons are justified. He hit .303 last season, while Reyes hit only .273 in his first full season. Hitting for average is only one part of the game, however, and Weeks still has a lot of work to do to become a ...
Cue the band and the television intro music: Are you ready for some baseball!? Yes, most Major League Baseball teams are still finalizing their rosters, evaluating players and determining key position battles in preparation for Opening Day. Lineups are being brainstormed and pitching rotations are beginning to fall in order. But, for the Oakland Athletics, all personnel housekeeping has to be set in stone now. After all, the team prepares for its season opener this Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners, in Tokyo, Japan. While the rest of the MLB has a few more days to begin their seasons, the A’s—and ...
Unless the Oakland Athletics produce a magical first half, general manager Billy Beane will sell off assets like Kurt Suzuki and cut duds like Jonny Gomes by the trade deadline. Beane is widely known for pulling the trigger on blockbuster deals year after year. With a roster that mirrors a Triple-A affiliate, competing against the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels will be no easy task. A weak roster and a trade-happy GM? 2012 will be no different from the last five seasons—the A's will be sellers at the trade deadline. The question is: Who's going to spend their last months ...
The Oakland Athletics are in a phase that organizations are generally reluctant to enter—rebuilding mode. With it comes almost a certainty for failure.At first glance the team's decision making seems irrational. Players are acquired and lost for a reason that most fans can't see. A player's skills during this time may not be as important as his age or tradability. What the fans cannot see are the two moves ahead that only their club's general manager knows. In this case, that man is Billy Beane. No stranger to this process, he has made no secrets about his intention for the ...
During the last week of March, most Major League Baseball teams are still ironing out their rosters, evaluating players and determining key position battles in preparation for Opening Day. Lineups are brainstormed and pitching rotations are beginning to fall in order. For the Oakland Athletics, however, all personnel housekeeping is already set in stone, as the team prepares for its season opener next Wednesday, March 28th, against the Seattle Mariners, in Tokyo, Japan. While the rest of the MLB has a bit more leeway to begin their seasons, the A’s—and Mariners—must ramp up their preparedness for Opening Day. Earlier this ...
If you were told to choose between the following two players as your team closer, who would pick? Player A: 199 career saves, 367 games finished, four-time MLB All-Star Player B: 10 career saves, 79 games finished, zero-time MLB All-Star You’d probably Player A, right? Not unless you’re Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin, who, on Tuesday, tagged Player B, aka Grant Balfour, as the A’s full-time closer, as reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. After all, if career numbers truly meant everything, then Oakland should have reacquainted itself with Jason Isringhausen or something, he being of 300 ...