TruE SExy wrote:i didnt even remember we still had duke lol...yeah we need to get some value out of him...shame we didnt pull the trigger after his great last season, it was unlikely that hed ever duplicate that era

for next year we're set at pitching but still have no offense...beane's got alot of work to do...i dont see this team's recession lasting more than another 1-2 years

I really like Tommy Everidge, I think he is going to be around for a while. The rest of the infield however needs help. Hopefully one of the young SS either that was drafted this season or the kid from Minnesota will be ready for next year. I like Pennington a lot, but he is not a MLBer. It will be an interesting and most likely eventful off-season. I think some more players should have been moved at the deadline, mainly Duke, but also Springer and possibly Wuertz. I dont see these guys being around to see the turnaround, so they should have been moved in order to maximize value.

how good would Gordan Beckham have looked playing 3B or SS for the A's? That kid is going to be a stud for the ChiSox. Im hoping AK sticks around next year to play 3rd in the event that Chavez is still not ready. I cant wait until the end of next season when Chavez becomes another teams problem. It sucks, waiting around to see if he will ever play again.

even if chavez played again, he'd probably be washed up...gordon looks like the real deal, i wonder if he'll turn out better than tim beckham the SS who went #1...right now we only have a few specialists and no all around players...id keep rajai and cust for power and speed, but everyone else just hits for an ok average and cant do much else. maybe keep ellis and suzuki, but realistically, theyre solid players but not gonna provide any offense

heres to hoping both jemile weeks and brett wallace pan out...plus another good draft pick for this upcoming draft...btw how do baseball draft picks get assigned? suckiest teams get top picks?

TruE SExy wrote:even if chavez played again, he'd probably be washed up...gordon looks like the real deal, i wonder if he'll turn out better than tim beckham the SS who went #1...right now we only have a few specialists and no all around players...id keep rajai and cust for power and speed, but everyone else just hits for an ok average and cant do much else. maybe keep ellis and suzuki, but realistically, theyre solid players but not gonna provide any offense

heres to hoping both jemile weeks and brett wallace pan out...plus another good draft pick for this upcoming draft...btw how do baseball draft picks get assigned? suckiest teams get top picks?

the picks go worst to first....and if you sign a teams class A FA, you receive that team receives your first DP. You then have the sandwich picks that also go along with losing a FA.

I like Suzuki a lot, but a guy hitting mostly in the middle of the order has to do more than 12 hr and 65 rbi, we need producers. Weeks could be a great leadoff man hopefully with Davis hitting behind him. IMO its time for Ellis to move on, there is little left for him here.

GoodBye Jason Giambi! The A's have released G, he is free to sign with any team for a portion of the Vets minimum, but I think he is done. Beane tried to make a run this year with Holliday, Cabrera and G, but now its back on the youngsters.

cabrera never made sense to me...giambi and holliday were good decisions...swing or miss for giambi, sadly it was a miss and it sucks to see him go out like this, same with smoltz who was cut by boston today

are u following jemile weeks? he has poor minor league stats, is he supposed to be a power hitter or a speed/on base guy

TruE SExy wrote:cabrera never made sense to me...giambi and holliday were good decisions...swing or miss for giambi, sadly it was a miss and it sucks to see him go out like this, same with smoltz who was cut by boston today

are u following jemile weeks? he has poor minor league stats, is he supposed to be a power hitter or a speed/on base guy

he is probably going to be just like his older brother rickie in Milwaukee. he will rake and slump, he is a really fast guy, but I didnt like the pick last year and he really hasnt done much to change my mind.

Im really hoping next season Beane comes into the A's clubhouse on opening day and tells them they are out of it and their season is over. Who has been hotter than the A's over the past couple weeks? They recently surrendered 1 run to the Rangers in an entire weekend series....the series which de-railed the Rangers and pretty much guaranteed the Red Sox would win the Wild Card.

Next year the A's should go with who brung them and play only organizational youngsters and not bring any over the hill reclamation projects to town. Move Jack Cust, let him walk, do whatever, there is just no place for him on this team.

Kennedy 3B
Davis CF
Sweeney RF
hopefully a big bat youngster to play LF
Suzuki C
Chavez DH
Powell 1B
Ellis 2B
Pennington SS

So 3 months after my last post in the A's Thread, I will see if we can spark some life into Oaklands "other" team. I know there are a few A's fans on the board, what does everyone think about this upcoming season. So far the only thing of real substance that has happened is the non-tendering of Jack Cust, which I think is a great idea. There was also the trade for Jake Fox from the Cubs who is a DH type with a pretty good bat. Also signed Dallas McPhereson to a minor league deal to hopefully get some AB's at 3rd base. He has mashed in the minors, but so far appears to be a 4A player, kills it at the minor league level, but just doesnt have what it takes to be a Major Leaguer.

Eric Chavez has not gotten hurt yet!! We will see how long that lasts.

Always,

I was shocked to discover yesterday that Beane has no "veteran" contracts past 2010. He literally has no obligations to any player outside of arbitration, which he can non-tender.

Do you have any idea why he's proceeding this way? Is he readying the team for sale, or stripping it down entirely for the next rebuild, or what? He's a fascinating GM and I can't wait to see what he does next.

No Longer StuckInSoCal wrote:Always,

I was shocked to discover yesterday that Beane has no "veteran" contracts past 2010. He literally has no obligations to any player outside of arbitration, which he can non-tender.

Do you have any idea why he's proceeding this way? Is he readying the team for sale, or stripping it down entirely for the next rebuild, or what? He's a fascinating GM and I can't wait to see what he does next.

In my opinion, one of Beanes biggest assets and faults is that he is always trying to stay a step ahead of the game. As far as not having any salary obligations, I would say he is just trying to be extremely flexible. Last year with his spending, he proved to be one of the few teams without a huge budget to not be affected by the downward trend in the economy and I think he may be loading up for something big next year. I dont think the team is in the process of being sold, but its going to be hard to increase the payroll enough to field a competetive team unless the team is going to be moving into a higher revenue stadium.

There are a couple of guys on the team like Sweeney and Suzuki that I think you will soon see commitments made, but most of the guys are so young and not close to arbitration that it will probably be a while before anybody knows exactly what direction they are going.

I think this can be a succesful season for the A's, but by succesful Im talking a .500 season and an unfortunate last place finish. The division, outside of the Angels, who were far superior to the A's have much improved this offseason. I look for Seattle to take the West, with the Rangers and Halos battling it out for 2nd and 3rd.

I was very happy to hear on my way home from work tonight that the A's made a trade for Kevin Kouzmanof. This guy is a very good 3rd baseman, he only made a handful of errors last season, he also hit I think in the 270s with 18 hrs and nearly 90 rbi. Very excited about this move, hopefully this means that the organization has forgotten about Eric Chavez, but if he does try to come back, it should certainly be as a 1B or DH now.

Welcome to Oakland Kevin!

Damn this thread makes me feel like Im talking to myself, but today the A's signed Ben Sheets. This gives Oakland a great rotation along with a very good defensive team to play behind them. The AL West is winnable this year with the slipping of the Angels and I really like the moves made this offseason.

A rotation of Sheets / Anderson / Duke / Braden / Cahill with a shutdown pen coming in behind them is sure to create lots favorable series matchups.

"Always" Next wrote:Damn this thread makes me feel like Im talking to myself, but today the A's signed Ben Sheets. This gives Oakland a great rotation along with a very good defensive team to play behind them. The AL West is winnable this year with the slipping of the Angels and I really like the moves made this offseason.

A rotation of Sheets / Anderson / Duke / Braden / Cahill with a shutdown pen coming in behind them is sure to create lots favorable series matchups.

I like the signing. I hope it goes better than the Nomar signing last year, though. And don't worry Always, you can post in the Giants thread.

Hmmm, maybe you should consider switching teams?

No Longer StuckInSoCal wrote:

"Always" Next wrote:Damn this thread makes me feel like Im talking to myself, but today the A's signed Ben Sheets. This gives Oakland a great rotation along with a very good defensive team to play behind them. The AL West is winnable this year with the slipping of the Angels and I really like the moves made this offseason.

A rotation of Sheets / Anderson / Duke / Braden / Cahill with a shutdown pen coming in behind them is sure to create lots favorable series matchups.

I like the signing. I hope it goes better than the Nomar signing last year, though. And don't worry Always, you can post in the Giants thread.

Hmmm, maybe you should consider switching teams?

Thanks for the offer, but I will stay on this side of the Bay. I hope the Giants do well, but have always been and will always be an A's fan.

Its really a totally different signing than Nomar. Nomar was picked up to be an extra infielder and injuries forced him into too much early playing time, which caused him to get injured himself.