Oakland Athletics

Buyers and Sellers Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics July 20th, 2008

Well, it is officially that time of year. With the trade deadline just around the corner, teams are either going to start their pushes for the playoffs or prep for next season. While some teams are always in the same selling mode, there are always a few surprising teams out to buy.

This year’s the surprise buying team is the Tampa Bay Rays. They have seem to come out of nowhere and are contending. They started the second half the season one half game out of first place (behind the Boston Red Sox).

The Oakland Athletics however, look to be in a sellers market. This is a different feeling for the A’s fan. For the past few years the A’s have contended each year.

With all the injuries last year, the A’s were not contenders but they didn’t sell out their player’s mid-season either. But that changed during the off-season.

During the previous off-season, the A’s became sellers. The team was involved in four trades that affected the team this year right away. Read more

Crash Davis Returns!? Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics July 9th, 2008

Last year the Oakland A’s picked up a minor leaguer from the San Diego Padres for virtually nothing. When the trade was made, it wasn’t a big deal and was only found in the other notes section. A’s general manager Billy Beane has once again plucked a gem and given up nothing in return.

With all the injuries the A’s players had last season, that minor leaguer got a chance to show what he could do. Who was that minor leaguer and what did he do with the opportunity?

Does he really invoke memories of baseball movie (Bull Durham) legend Crash Davis (the minor league career homerun champion)? When I look at A’s outfielder/DH Jack Cust play today, I think of Crash Davis

Cust has had a few cups of coffee in the majors with a four different teams (Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and the Padres). In fact, Cust even played in AAA for the A’s back in 2005, yet never got a call to the show.

While some player get called up and just can’t perform, others go on to show they can. They make people think about why they had to wait so long.

While some players do great things in the minors, it doesn’t always translate to success in the major. The A’s once had a player, Adam Piatt, win the Triple Crown while playing in AA. That achievement had not been accomplished in over 70 years.

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Justin Duchscherer, A’s star pitcher…but is he an All Star? Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics June 19th, 2008

The Oakland A’s are known for the pitchers they develop. In the past, the A’s have drafted (or traded for) and developed some of the top young pitchers in baseball. Among those are Tim Hudson (All Star and 20 game winner), Mark Mulder (All Star and 20 game winner), Barry Zito (All Star, 20 game winner, CY Young winner), Danny Haren (All Star), Rich Harden, and Joe Blanton.

Of those starters, the only one not drafted by the A’s was Danny Haren. Haren was acquired in a trade with the St Louis Cardinals in exchange for Mulder. That deal turned into another one of Billy Beane’s mastererful fleecings. Read more

Does playing for the A’s lead to the Hall of Fame? Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics May 27th, 2008

What is it about the Athletics franchise and the Hall of Fame? I was thinking about this the other day when Mike Piazza announced his retirement. What I wanted to know was how many players in baseball history played for the A’s franchise and were also enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame. What I came across was outstanding.

In the A’s 41 year history in Oakland, 11 players, coaches, or managers have passed through the green and gold before going on to the Hall of Fame. In addition to them, at least five (Mark McGwire, Tony La Russa, Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas, and Piazza) more have made stops that are not eligible yet or are on the ballot but have yet to be selected.

Some of those players spent long portions of their career in Oakland (Reggie Jackson, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter and Dick Willliams) while others were here for anywhere from a season to few months to a couple of games (Joe Morgan, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Don Sutton, Goose Gossage and even Joe Dimaggio). These players are not all there is though. This is just the Oakland side of it. DiMaggio was a coach with the A’s after he retired and Williams was a manager for the A’s.

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Married to baseball Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics May 21st, 2008

Wow, has it ever been a long time. I can’t believe I just survived three weeks without watching or listening to a single A’s baseball game. That has to be a new record for me. Of course, just because I wasn’t watching or listening, doesn’t mean I wasn’t being kept in the loop. That entire time I was having the A’s final game scores and notes texted to my cell phone.

We had no internet while we were away. And my wife was very gracious in allowing me to keep my cell phone with me to keep tabs on the A’s. I tell you, I married the best possible woman for me.

What was the point of this you might wonder? Well, I just got married and then went on our honeymoon to Hawaii. My wife is a great person. If things had gotten done quicker the day after our wedding, we would have gone to the A’s game in Oakland.

Doing so would have been perfect for us as well. I actually asked her to marry me at the A’s/Giants game last year. It was great, too; the A’s stomped a mud hole into Barry Zito and the Giants that game to a tune of 15-3. It was a great game for my family and friends who attended (knowing what was going to happen). Even my wife loved what happened (getting engaged) at the game…even though she is a Giants fan.

What did I notice while I was gone? Well, for starters Duchscherer and Harden came back. Both have been just what the A’s needed as well. But, at the same time the offense that has been getting this team through has suddenly come up short.

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Big Hurt returns while Cust and Barton sit Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics April 25th, 2008

Babe Ruth hit 714 homeruns in his major league career. By strange coincidence that is the exact combined total of the A’s starting first basemen Mike Sweeney (198) and DH Frank Thomas (516) in yesterday’s game.

Although neither player hit one out yesterday, both still played a factor in the A’s dismantling on the Twins on Thursday. Just because they didn’t homer, doesn’t mean the A’s can’t hit any. Donnie Murphy had the first multi homer game of his career by hitting his first and second homeruns of the season.

With his second homerun of the game, Murphy brought the A’s team total to 11 for the season. That is ONE more than Chase Utley has hit for the Phillies ALL BY HIMSELF!

After an outburst at management, Thomas was released by the Blue Jays. Before signing with Toronto, Thomas played one year with Oakland where he had a steller year. He turned that year into a two year contract with the Blue Jays. After leading them in homers and rbi last year, Thomas fell out of favor due to a slow start.

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Walking wounded Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics April 23rd, 2008

What do Eric Chavez, Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, Kieth Foulk, Kiko Calero and Chad Gaudin all have in common? With the exception of Guadin who came off when Duchscherer went on, they all are on the disabled list (DL) for the Oakland A’s.

Last year, the A’s were hit very hard by injuries. Some even believe the recent injuries were why GM Billy Beane made the trades he did this off season. Since health was not guaranteed, why risk trying to make the playoffs, only to lose that shot and then lose the players? By selling Swisher, Haren, and even Scutaro high, the A’s got some quality prospects to build with.

Now, the season is almost a month old and the A’s have already used the DL six times; there are five players sitting on the DL right now. Last season, the A’s used the DL 20 times, including five times in April.

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Oakland brings the brooms to Toronto Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics, Uncategorized April 12th, 2008

How much better can the A’s get after winning two of three from Cleveland? How about sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays and being tied for first place in the AL West? That is just what the A’s finished up yesterday after playing three games north of the border.

It took extra innings, but it looks like Travis Buck may be coming out of his season-opening slump. Buck tied an Oakland record with three doubles and all three runs batted in. Set in 1936, the frachise record for doubles in a game is four.

After playing out a slugfest in the first game of the series which resulted in a 9-8 A’s win, the next two games were much closer. All four former A’s currently playing for the Blue Jays appeared in game one. Frank Thomas did the most damage, hitting his 516^th career homerun in the Jays losing effort.

Game two wound up 6-3, after the A’s scored four in the top of the ninth off Blue Jay closer Jeremy Accardo. Huston Street pitched the bottom of the ninth to notch his second save of the year (and in as many days).

The series finale was tied 1-1 after nine innings, so extra innings we played. The A’s scored two off of Buck’s third double of the game to take a 3-1 lead. Former A’s closer Keith Foulke took over in the bottom of the 12^th to notch his first save for the club since 2003.

In 2003 Foulke had a 9-1 record with 43 saves and a 2.08 era. Those were by far the best numbers of his career. After he left, the A’s went through a few closers: Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel, and Huston Street. Now that Foulke is back, he is one of Street’s primary setup guys. Both Embree and Foulke can come in to close a game out if Street is unavailable as well.

Of the three scheduled starting pitchers, only rookie Dana Eveland (Danny Haren trade) made his scheduled start. Both Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer landed back on the 15 disabled list. Starting in their place were Chad Gaudin (who came off the DL) and rookie Greg Smith (also Danny Haren trade).

Today the A’s take on the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland for their second meeting this season. Scheduled to start for the A’s this series are Joe Blanton, Lenny DiNardo, Chad Gaudin

Mark Mulder to Danny Haren to Greg Smith? Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics April 10th, 2008

I’ll give you a Wade Boggs and a Mike Greenwell for you Curt Young and Dave Stewart!

Remember when you were a kid and you would trade baseball cards? You would trade for your favorite players and hope they were with the team for a long time.

Well, we are long past the days of George Brett, Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken Jr. There is no loyalty in baseball anymore. Players are dealt or leave teams all the time. Today’s ball players have become way too greedy and the owners are just as bad. Forget about playing a child’s game for fun and out of love. Today it’s about making as much money (millions upon millions) as possible.

For a fan of the Oakland Athletics, we have become accustomed to seeing players come up, develop into stars and either shipped out before having to be paid an astronomical some or leaving via free agency.

This past off-season alone saw the A’s trade away two of their biggest stars and one of the bigger fan favorites; Macro Scutaro, Nick Swisher, and Danny Haren. Who the A’s did NOT trade however, was Joe Blanton, even though there were several rumors going on about him.

Starting for the A’s on Tuesday night against the Blue Jays is Greg Smith, one of the players acquired in the Danny Haren deal. Smith will be making his major league debut tonight. Also in the starting lineup will be rookie Daric Barton.

Barton came to the A’s (along with Danny Haren and Kiko Calero) in the trade with the Cardinals for Mark Mulder. As you already know, Haren brought the A’s Smith (and five other players) this past off season. Barton and Calero are still with the A’s….for now.

When the A’s traded Mark Mulder, they traded away a 20 game winner. What they got in return was not only an All Star, but an All Star game starting pitcher. Now the A’s have traded away the All Star and got a ton of prospects back in return. Only time will tell if they can develop and show the promise that they hold.

Tonight, Smith will be trying to give the A’s their second win of the series against the Blue Jays. He has a chance to show some of that promise. While Barton will look to keep adding to his team leading six runs scored.

Smith was brought up from AAA Sacramento when Justin Duchscherer was placed on the DL. If Smith does well, he could possibly earn a spot in the rotation. If not, he could be sent back down after the start.

Bring on the Blue Jays for game two and let’s see what the rookies can do.

First Series Win Posted by Jason Farmer in Oakland Athletics April 7th, 2008

Two series into the 2008 season and the A’s (3-4) are off to what I would call a decent start. After splitting the Japan series and dropping both games in Oakland to the Red Sox, the A’s came back to win two of three against the Cleveland Indians (3-3).

After taking the first two, the A’s were hoping for the sweep. Unfortunately, things were not to be. After scoring six runs in each of the first two games, the A’s were only able to manage one in the series finale.

After another outstanding performance from Blanton, the A’s failed to give him any run support for the third game. This is the second straight game that Blanton has lost by a score of 2-1. If things continue on this path, Blanton could be this year’s hard luck starter.

In the past that has been reserved for players such as Time Hudson and Danny Haren. However, since both were traded away, a new pitcher has to step up and acquire that role…unfortunately.

On Friday, Justin Duchscherer started the first game of the series, but left with a strained bicep in his pitching arm. He did however pick up his first win of the season. He collected six strikeouts in five innings in his first start in five years.

On Saturday, Dana Eveland notched his first win as well. He went seven innings with seven strikeouts and allowed just one run in a match-up against Cleveland ace CC Sabathia. Second basemen Mark Ellis hit his team leading second homerun of the season in the victory

Next up for the A’s are the red hot Blue Jays (4-1). Toronto is coming off a three game sweep of the defending champion Red Sox. The A’s probable starters are Rich Harden (1-0), Justin Duchscherer (1-0), and Dana Eveland (1-0).

While in Toronto, the A’s will get a chance to play against several former A’s. Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs, Marcos Scutaro, and Shannon Stewart are among those now playing for the Jays.

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