With my next post, my intent was to discuss the A’s outfield situation but in light of Monday’s trade I’m obviously going to focus on the infield.

On Monday the Oakland Athletics acquired infielder Jed Lowrie and right-handed reliever Fernando Rodriguez from the Houston Astros in exchange for first baseman Chris Carter and two prospects, right-handed pitcher Brad Peacock, and catcher Max Stassi.

Jed Lowrie is the best player in this deal and when the A’s were unable to resign Stephen Drew, Lowrie was one of my preferred alternatives. However, I like this trade but I don’t love it. It seems like a bit much to give up for Jed Lowrie and it isn’t a huge vote of confidence for the newly signed, Hiro Nakajima, who was slated as the A’s starting shortstop not three days ago.

Jed Lowrie is now probably the A's best infielder.

The obvious rebuttal to those minor concerns is: Who cares?  Brad Peacock may very well turn out to be a solid pitcher, but he’s going to be 26 this year and is probably eighth on the starting pitcher depth chart, so no big loss there. I had high hopes for Max Stassi but the facts are that he was an oft-injured catching prospect who never put up better than solid numbers. And if Nakajima wants to be a SS so badly, then he can damn well earn it.

The real guy to miss here is Chris Carter. I’ve been a Carter supporter for awhile mainly because of his ridiculous power and the (perhaps unwarranted) belief that power hitters are late bloomers. Last year he hit .239/.350/.514 with 16 homers in only 260 plate appearances. Of course, he also struck out 83 times but that’s just part of the gig. I actually think he’s poised for a breakout year, and could hit 40 homers with that short porch in Houston.

But despite my optimism, it is hard, even for me, to find Chris Carter the at-bats he’ll need in 2013. The plan was to platoon him with Brandon Moss at first base/DH. But with Seth Smith and newly acquired outfielder, Chris Young, also vying for time at the DH spot, those at bats were becoming hard to come by for Carter.

If Chris Carter ever learns how to hit or lay off a curve ball, the A's may regret letting him go. But so far he hasn't learned.

Basically, I like all the players the A’s traded away, but the likelihood of any of them contributing to the A’s immediate future was small enough to justify their departure as this is yet another clear sign of the A’s “win now” mentality.

Not to mention that it’s easier to replace power DH types than it is to get guys that can play every infield position. The A’s have been looking for answers at 3B and SS for years and Lowrie could fill either position or even second base if needed.

Lowrie is a versatile but unspectacular defender all over the infield and is a good hitter. He has good plate discipline sporting an above average walk rate of 11.1% last year while hitting 16 homers in only 387 plate appearances, which is impressive for a projected middle infielder.

The negative surrounding Lowrie is that he hasn’t hit triple digits in games played in any season thus far and will turn 29 on April 17^th. If he plays 150 games or so, I’ll like this trade a lot more but the odds of that happening are not fantastic to say the least. However it does give the A’s a little insurance should Nakajima fail in his transition to the majors, or should Josh Donaldson’s second half last year prove to be a fluke, or should any of the remaining 2B candidates (Grant Green, Jemile Weeks, or Scott Sizemore) suck it up this spring. At least now the A’s have a proven commodity in the infield to go along with five or six other options which Manager Bob Melvin can rotate as he sees fit.

Another byproduct of this trade is the apparent confidence the A’s have in Brandon Moss. Moss was ridiculously awesome last year in limited playing time and has subsequently earned the right to the majority of at-bats at 1B coming into 2013. And with Carter now out of the picture, it would seem Moss owns the every day job. Now, do I think Moss will slug .596 again? No, I don’t. But I think we saw enough of him last year to believe that his numbers weren’t a total fluke. He’ll come back down to earth a bit but still I expect him to be a productive player and will probably bat cleanup to start the year. And again, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

Hopefully Brandon Moss can continue doing his best Babe Ruth impression this year.

Fernando Rodriguez was also sent to the A’s. He’s more of a throw in but he does have a live arm with a fastball in the low to mid nineties. He had an unimpressive 5.37 ERA last year, but did manage to strike out ten guys every nine innings. He’s got stuff, that’s for sure, which is enough for me. Billy Beane has a rather extensive history of being able to find good relievers so if this is a guy the A’s GM wanted, count me in.

I think there is little doubt the A’s got better on paper with this trade. But the game isn’t played on paper, as we all know. Oakland gave up some solid players for Lowrie, but no one with real star potential, and they get some stability for an otherwise wide-open infield in return. I think the value of this trade will come down to how much Lowrie plays. So everyone cross your fingers and hope he can stay healthy for an entire season… for the first time.

Note: All stats obtained form baseballreference.com 

The Oakland Athletics have had a relatively quiet off-season by their standards. After shocking the baseball world by winning the AL west on the last game of the season in 2012, the A’s found themselves in unfamiliar territory when the year ended. The Oakland fans had finally come out of hiding, they had a manager everyone loved and respected and the A’s roster, which was comprised mostly of rookies or young players getting their first real shot at regular playing time, is so young, talented and cheap that there is no reason to turn it over for prospects.

In fact, most of the news surrounding the A’s this off-season has been positive. On Wednesday, the A’s were involved in a three way trade that saw the  Washington Nationals send 1B/Outfielder Michael Morse to the Mariners, who traded John Jaso to the A’s. The A’s surrendered pitching prospects A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen as well as a player to be named later to the Nationals. I’ll get to the actual trade in a minute, but the idea of the trade is just as important.

Billy Beane has made it clear over the years and especially lately just how much he values young pitching. Cole has some serious potential and is still very young, so the fact that he surrendered such a high upside arm to improve the current major league roster is both surprising and vindicating. Beane knows this team is good and has a solid 3-4 year window to compete, and thus far I think he has made subtle yet definable improvements to the big club.

John Jaso should prove to be an offensive upgrade at the catcher position. Plus, he has a sweet beard.

A few free agents have moved on, most notably Johnny Gomes, Stephen Drew, Brandon Inge, and Brandon McCarthy. But the A’s have the depth with which to withstand such losses. And really, McCarthy is the only one I thought and hoped would resign, but he got a sizable raise from the Arizona Diamondbacks and with his injury history that loss won’t likely be significant.

Other than that, Billy Beane has made the team stronger and, if possible, deeper. Along with the Jaso trade, he flipped infielder Cliff Pennington to the Diamondbacks for outfielder Chris young to replace Gomes and signed Japanese infielder, Hiroyuki Nakajima (or just Hiro) to replace Drew.

It must be a refreshing change of pace for A’s fans; I know it is for me. For once we are not constantly being bombarded with the unrelenting buzz of offseason trade rumors that would render the team irrelevant yet again. Instead of an apparent punted season, it seems Beane is going more or less all-in.

Most importantly, Beane has signed Manager Bob Melvin through the 2016 season. After locking up Melvin through 2014 last year, Melvin rewarded Beane by winning the Manager of the Year award. Beane then decided to further reward Melvin by extending him another two seasons. Melvin’s extension is probably the biggest indication of Beane’s growth as a GM and respect for his team.

Beane has famously denounced a baseball manager’s value but he has clearly found his guy and Melvin’s value, though difficult to quantify, is undeniable.

But let’s get to the actual news from Wednesday:

On the surface, it certainly looks like a lot to give up for a catcher who will more than likely be a platoon player. A.J. Cole has a front-line starter stuff. If he ever puts it together, this trade might not look so good down the road. Presently, however, Jaso is a considerable upgrade at a position that was one of the few question marks going into 2013 for the A’s.

I like the trade. Jaso, a left handed hitter, will likely only play against right handed pitchers, but as most pitchers are right handed, he’ll play quite often. And considering that he hit a robust .302/.419/.508 against righties last year, he represents a huge offensive upgrade.

A’s catchers hit just .204/.262/.325. That is the definition of atrocious. I don’t think production from the catcher spot would have remained that terrible, but it certainly will be much improved with Jaso getting the majority of at-bats. And I wouldn’t expect a drop off in production. Jaso made significant changes to his batting stance, which helped his approach and allowed him to hit so well in Seattle, a pitcher’s atmosphere much like the Coliseum.

Jaso’s defense leaves a little to be desired but as the A’s wouldn’t be throwing any gold glove catchers out there anyway, it shouldn’t be a huge factor.

Derek Norris is still in the A’s plans should still start most of the games against left-handers, but Jaso seems like the main man here. According to Billy Beane, he has been trying to trade for the former Mariner all off-season. Jaso also has a team friendly contract for the next three years.

George Kottaras is the odd man out as he has already been designated for assignment. The A’s have ten days with which to trade him or he’ll be sent to the minors or released… likely released.

All in all, the A’s got better with this trade. The catcher position was a black hole in the A’s lineup for almost the entire year in 2012 and now the A’s have a proven commodity at that spot. I’ll be examining the infield, outfield, rotation and bullpen in the coming days, but it is clear to me that the A’s are better at catcher in 2013… even if it was a steep price to pay.

Throughout the entire 162 game season, the Oakland Athletics had sole possession of first place once. But they timed it up perfectly as was the last day of the season. The A’s stunned the Texas Rangers and the baseball world when they swept Texas in the final three games of the season to overtake them for the AL West crown. They did so coming back from a deficit of five games with nine to play, which has never been done in the history of baseball. And game 162 was incredible.

You all saw the highlights: the early Texas lead, Coco’s game tying double, Hamilton’s blunder, all the bullpen magic, the Norris off-balanced homer. What an amazing game.

Sean Doolittle is fired up after striking out Josh Hamilton.

As impressive though, was the crowd. I’ve been to playoff games, opening nights, bobble-head days, and firework nights. I was there during the 20-game streak and I’ve been there when the A’s have honored past greats both players and teams.

I’ve never, NEVER scene the Coliseum crowd quite like that. You’ll sometimes hear people throw out terms like “tenth player on the field” in reference to the home field crowd. I’ve never really given that much thought until that Wednesday game. It was just so incredible.

It was a mere sellout to other teams on the outside looking in. Hell, it might have been that way to Lew Wolff. But to the fans, the A’s players, and I imagine the Rangers players, it was so much more than that.

A’s fans were so loud and so raucous it made the Coliseum shake. They weren’t just cheering for the A’s or shouting at the Rangers. It was like a collective release from all angst surrounding the team over the past five or so years. All the new stadium drama washed away for four redeeming hours.

The Oakland A’s and their attendance woes have been the laughing stock of baseball since Commissioner Bud Selig created “the committee” seemingly thousands of years ago. No one is laughing now.

Tickets for the playoffs are selling out. If that place is as intense as it was Wednesday, and I suspect it will be for the remainder of this postseason, the A’s will have a rare home-field advantage, one that can rival any in baseball.

This is the horror the A's will be up against Saturday at 3:00 pm. They got it.

Now if only they can take one in Detroit.

As fun as it was, the job isn’t done yet. For this season only, because the second wildcard was added after the schedule already came out, the team with the home-field advantage (the A’s) will actually have to start on the road (Detroit) for the division series. No, it isn’t fair but we knew this from the beginning of the season. This is the first time I’m bringing it up because I honestly thought this would have nothing to do with the A’s.

But alas, we are here and our reward for winning the AL West is to face Justin Verlander in Detroit for game one.

Parker will go for the A’s. There is really no pitcher alive that I would take over Verlander, but Parker has been pitching brilliantly lately. So I will say that our best shot to beat the Tigers in game one will be with Parker on the mound. If we can just take one in Detroit, I’m very confident the A’s can take two of three back at home, especially with the Coliseum bouncing the way it was on Wednesday.

Now, the rosters don’t officially have to be announced until tomorrow (Saturday) but it looks like it will be the same as the end of the season. According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, those not with the team in Detroit include Colin Cowgil and Jemile Weeks (both pinch running options) and Daric Barton. That tells me that Chris Carter and Adam Rosales will be the backup infielders. This surprises me a little because Rosales is usually used against lefthanders and Detroit has no lefthanders in their playoff rotation and only one by my count in the bullpen. I thought they might go with Weeks this round (each round teams can adjust their rosters) for some late inning speed, but I guess they prefer Rosales’ versatility. Weeks certainly hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt.

As far as pitchers go, the A’s are operating under the belief that Anderson will be able to go for game three in Oakland. Like I said, that could change between now and tomorrow, but as of now, Dan Strailey would be the odd man out. He’ll be in Phoenix at the A’s complex keeping his arm ready in case he is needed down the line.

Parker gets the nod in game one for the A's.

Susan Slusser is also reporting that the A’s prefer to take an extra reliever (the spot opened up due to using only 4 starters rather than five) to an extra bench player. Manager Bob Melvin does love his match-ups.

The A’s have an extremely tough road ahead of them. Detroit was simply not as good as the A’s during the year; the A’s have deeper pitching and a deeper lineup, which bodes well for the regular season. However, Detroit has two Cy Young candidates at the front of their rotation and Miguel Cabrera batting third had a decent year finishing with the first triple crown in 45 years. This bodes well for the Tigers a short series. So while the A’s should and will fear no team, it will be difficult.

It will come down to execution and pitching. Detroit isn’t the best defensive team, while the A’s can be. They certainly have the ability to be one of the best defensive teams but then, there are so many youngsters, you never know. Offensively, they literally have to battle with every pitch. I know it’s cliché but you have to try to get their starters out of the game as quick as possible. This series could very well come down to the bullpen, and if it does, I give the A’s the slight edge.The last week of the season made me sure about one thing, a lead after the sixth with Doolittle, Cook and Balfour, and I like our chances.

I finished my last post with this Robert Frost quote which seemed fitting, and I shall continue until it seems otherwise: “Miles to go before I sleep.” LET’S GO OAKLAND!

Folks, we only have three more games left in this weird, wild season. Can you believe it? And with only one series against the Texas Rangers left, the Oakland Athletics are sitting in a pretty solid spot and control their own destiny.

Their magic number is down to one, which means that if they win just one game out of the final three then Oakland would be in the playoffs. Or if both the Angels and the Rays lose just one game the A’s would be in the playoffs. But, if the A’s were to be swept and either the Rays or the Angels won their final three, then they would have to play each other in a tie-breaker game to see who plays in the wild card “play-in” game.

Confused yet? Well apart from that, there are roughly 20 thousand different scenarios, give or take, that could still take shape in these final three games and all will affect the American League playoff picture.

The Yankees and Orioles are dead even and both are just one game up on the A’s. One of those two teams will win the AL East and the other will occupy one of the wildcard spots as both have clinched a playoff birth already. Ideally, one of those two teams will take a few losses in the next couple of days so that the A’s would have home field advantage for said wildcard play-in game, should the A’s have to play it.

The scenario I’m focusing on most right now revolves around the fact that the A’s are only two games behind Texas for the AL West division title. That means that if the A’s can manage a sweep of the Rangers this week (a tall order to be sure) then they would win the division crown and quite possibly own the best record in the AL. Then the A’s would leap frog that wildcard game entirely and move directly to the division series. Almost like a bye in football.

That would certainly be the preferred outcome not only because it takes away the coin-flip of a game that the wildcard teams must play, but also because I have tickets to Wednesday’s game, (and I’m trying to go Tuesday too) which is the last game of the year. So if the A’s are in position to win the West, it will be a hell of a lot more fun for game 162. Of course on the other hand, if Oakland hasn’t clinched yet it will be one of the more nerve wracking days of my life.

The starters for the first game of the final series will be Martin Perez for Texas and Jarrod Parker for Oakland. Perez didn’t make it out of the second inning against the A’s last week (though to be fair, much of that was due to defensive mistakes by Josh Hamilton) and Parker is turning into an Ace right before our eyes this year. So, you could say the match up favors the A’s on Monday night.

But I’d really like to clinch with this game. Travis Blackley starts Tuesday night and even though he’s far exceeded my expectations this year, the Rangers treated him like batting practice when last they faced four days ago. Then of course we would head into the last day of the year without having secured a playoff spot yet. Ugh. You knew this would come down to the wire.

Regardless of what happens, this season has been one of my favorites of all time to watch and I commend everyone involved with the Oakland Athletics. Keep it up! The job is not done yet. “Miles to go before I sleep.”

Weekend Highlights: I don’t usually like to focus on game recaps or highlights because there are plenty of those all over the place, but this weekend really stood out. First, we saw a glimpse of just about everything Yoenis Cespedes can do on a baseball field, which is everything. A’s fans have seen it all year, but as the spotlight focuses in on the A’s, the more casual fans get to see the many talents of Cespedes.

Mike Trout is probably going to go down as the best player we’ve seen in 20 years, maybe ever. But if he weren’t in the picture, Cespedes would be the talk of the town; he’s a true five-tool talent. By that I mean he can hit, hit for power, plays superb defense, has speed and has arm strength. This weekend, He made a phenomenal diving catch, a couple of very impressive throws, and sprayed the ball all over the yard including three extra base hits, one of which was a go-ahead homer in the eighth on Sunday. Finally, he showed off his exceptional speed by scoring on a solid single… FROM FIRST BASE! The guy is amazing.

Then there was the continuous barrage of amazing late-inning home runs. Josh Donaldson’s game tying two-run job in the ninth on Saturday, followed by Brandon Moss’ walk-off in the tenth. Cespedes’ afore-mentioned blast, Josh Reddick’s two-run shot that followed. Not to mention Friday night’s blowout. This team can do anything so get out there and support them! I can all but guarantee you will see something special.

Anderson on the mend: Brett Anderson pitched a bullpen session for the first time since he suffered that oblique strain a couple of weeks ago. The whole time, he’s been saying he’s aiming to come back for the playoffs. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that it’s possible, though it seems unlikely, he could be ready for the wild card game on Friday but I’m sure the A’s are hoping for that division victory so that they could rest Anderson for a couple more days.

Desperate time call for desperate measures, though. Anderson is clearly the A’s best pitcher; if he is cleared to pitch in that play-in game, he’ll pitch in the play-in game. Here’s hoping.

I’ve been closely following the Oakland A’s for most of my life and have been writing about them for two years on this website. I think it would be fair to say that I know as much or more about this team than 99.9 percent of our population that doesn’t work directly with the organization. But on Friday I was given a much valued “back stage” perspective of daily happenings of the Athletics.

The A’s invited a bunch of bloggers to come and interview several members of the organization and go through the motions of a journalist’s daily routine. I tried to be as professional as I could but I think I was smiling from ear to ear the entire day.

Before I go on, I’d like to thank the A’s for hosting this event and to say I had a great time. I’d especially like to thank Adam Loberstein who coordinated it and everyone that took the time to speak with us including Manager Bob Melvin, pitchers A.J. Griffin and Brett Anderson, and Director of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi.

There is one more person I’d like to thank: World Series champion and the A’s color announcer for the TV broadcast, the great Ray Fosse. Talking to Fosse was the highlight of the day, but I’ll get to that shortly.

As I said, the intent for the day was to give bloggers a feel for a more professional setting, and while I took that to heart, I also didn’t want to deny the inner-child in me the opportunity to soak up everything.

I easily have enough material to make a good story but it isn’t necessarily anything that I haven’t addressed already. So instead I’ll try to paint a picture of the day and how it felt looking behind the curtain.

To start, Adam led us into the post-game interview room where we were set to have ten exclusive minutes with Bob Melvin. My first thought was, “of course this is the A’s interview room.” When I watch on TV, it’s obviously framed to show only the backdrop of the interview. Because the A’s are so important to me, in my mind that room is the size of an auditorium and there are thousands of reporters there. In reality, it’s barely the size of my San Francisco apartment’s living room (really small), there are pipes exposed on the ceiling and it was tucked away down a dark corridor. It… was… awesome.

Then came Bob Melvin. I’ve liked him since the day he was hired, which could be more of a reflection on how I felt about the A’s previous manager, Bob Geren. Nonetheless, he just exudes confidence. You sort of get that sense while watching or listening to his interviews but when he speaks to you directly, he seems calm and cerebral but firm all at once. It’s tough to explain but I can see why he has such a profound effect on this young team; during the brief time we spoke he had an effect on me.

Bob Melvin is the Manager of the Year in my opinion.

Melvin was very candid with us and answered each question honestly and thoroughly (and many politically). My fellow bloggers and I try to fire off as many questions as we could, ranging from bullpen philosophy to the progression of the teams attitude throughout this unlikely season. The only question that made him skip a beat was regarding the team’s MVP. After thinking about it briefly, he ended up giving three names saying, “The guys we count on the most are Coco, Reddick and Cespedes and I think at different parts of the season they would be considered the MVP at the time.” Can’t argue with that. They’ve been huge.

When Melvin left, Adam led us outside… as in out on the field, outside. It’s cliché to say, but I swear the grass was the greenest grass I had ever seen and smelled. This was my second favorite moment of the day and it caught me completely by surprise. I knew exactly what I would see when I got outdoors but didn’t know how awesome it would look. I had been on the field before, but not in this type of setting. Not when the players are taking batting practice and not when reporters I read every day are doing their pre-game Melvin interviews. This was actually the part of the day I was most looking forward to as I thought I would get a chance to pick the brains of my favorite beat writers. As it turned out the ones I most wanted to talk to weren’t there and as it further turned out that didn’t matter because as we were sitting their watching Melvin being swarmed by reporters (if you’re claustrophobic, don’t become a baseball manager) Ray Fosse walked up.

“Who are all you guys?” he said. When we told him about the blog day, it started a conversation, which led to another and then another. This was a completely unplanned portion of the day, and probably the part I will remember most. We got to talk baseball for a half hour with someone I grew up watching since I can remember watching baseball. And Fosse is exactly as passionate, knowledgeable and approachable as he seems on TV.

We talked about the success of the rookies, the status of the new stadium situation, the playoffs, and the great Oakland teams of old. He even let us hold his 1973 World Series ring. When it was my turn I fainted and woke up four hours later in a dimly lit room with A’s security guards watching me (not really).

It was by far the highlight of the day.

Next we returned to the interview room to talk with Farhan Zaidi. This was probably the best interview we had as a group. I don’t know if it’s related but Zaidi said he had never been in the interview room before, so maybe the fact that he doesn’t have to do it every day helped our cause because he was the most detailed in his answers.

According to Farhan Zaidi, Grant Green will be given every chance to earn a prominent role in 2013.

We mostly asked questions regarding the farm system: the rise of Dan Strailey, when will we see Grant Green, and why late bloomers like Donaldson and Carter have had their recent success. He did say something that struck a chord with me more than anything else. When asked about the endless supply of young pitching Zaidi pointed out that the A’s don’t set out to “build a 5 man rotation. We build a 162 game rotation. These days there are very few guys who you can expect to make 35 starts.” This also goes back to the debate about trading Strailey at the deadline. The A’s want depth and always seem to need it. Are the A’s pitchers really better than everyone else in the AL not named the Rays or do they just have more depth. You could make a damn good argument for the latter. The A’s have lost Colon, McCarthy, Anderson, Braden, and Griffin for large chunks of the season and they haven’t missed a beat because the next guy is ready to step up and take his place.

Finally, we were able to interview the players. As I mentioned, A.J. Griffin and Brett Anderson were nice enough to take the time out of their busy day to speak with us and both were very forthright. When Anderson walked in the room he spit a bunch of tobacco juice into a cup he had in his hand, literally as he passed me. In most settings I would have thought this disgusting and rude. In this particular setting I couldn’t have been happier with the development.

I doubt either of them wanted to be there; they probably hate answering the same questions every day and probably more so when those questions are coming from bloggers, but I have to commend them again. All questions were answered honestly and in detail. Griffin was deliberate and serious with his answers and Anderson showed a bit more of that dry wit we have come to expect from his twitter posts (and even answered a twitter related question.)

Both guys seemed calm and collected, which I think is a reflection of their manager. In fact, both guys alluded to that “calming presence,” as they put it, from Melvin as a huge reason for the team’s success. He’s approachable and yet commands respect and has his team believing. These are things we all have guessed based on the teams results, but hearing it straight from the source reaffirms this surprising season.

And with that, the day was over. I had a blast and hope I can do it again soon, hopefully as a professional. Until then, I’ll thank the A’s again and be happy I got this chance; not many get it. My wife and I capped the day off with an A’s win over the Orioles as Derek Norris made that incredible throw down to second to end the game on a caught stealing. A badass finish to a badass day.

As I write this on September 13, the Oakland Athletics have just taken three out of four in Anaheim, a little payback for the sweep the Angels handed the A’s in Oakland about a week ago. Since then, the A’s have won six out of seven games on the road. In fact, the A’s tied an Oakland record with 12 strait road victories, they have a one game cushion for the top wild card spot and only sit 3.5 games behind the Rangers, the only AL team with a better record.

Did I mention it was September 13?

This isn’t just a good story anymore. This is a reality and we can see the finish line. And while there is a lot of baseball yet to be played, all against worthy opponents, it is amazing that the A’s are even in this situation in the first place.

I’ve already talked (at length) about the substandard expectations for Oakland coming into the season, but what’s as amazing is the amount of adversity this already overlooked squad has overcome to get to this point.

I’m not saying that the A’s are the only team to use the disabled list, but by taking players out of an equation most thought wasn’t any good to begin with, it’s borderline unbelievable the A’s are in the playoff race.

Before I get into the meat of this article, I’d like to talk about the Brandon McCarthy incident. McCarthy was recently struck on the side of the head by a line drive off the bat of Erick Aybar and was very seriously injured by it. It was scary at the time but even scarier when we found out he needed brain surgery later that night.

I want to tread lightly here because I’m certainly not a doctor and I only know the little information that has been released. I’d just like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to the McCarthy’s and their family and friends. This isn’t a matter of baseball. It’s a matter of Brandon’s quality of life. All the news has been encouraging and I wish him a speedy recovery.

As scary as it was, it is the latest example on a rather long list of obstacles the A’s have hurdled thus far.

Let’s start with the pitching. Without including the trades of three all-stars in the offseason, the A’s started the 2012 campaign without arguably two of the staff’s better pitchers, Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden, both of whom were recovering from arm injuries (Braden is still recovering). Prior to his season ending scare a few days ago, McCarthy had his own arm troubles and missed several starts. Bartolo Colon, Oakland’s most seasoned veteran and consistent pitcher was suspended 50 games for elevated testosterone.

Because of all this, the A’s have relied primarily on the unexpected success of their seemingly endless supply of rookie pitchers. Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin (who has also seen his fair share of time on the DL this year) and Dan Strailey have all impressed as starters this year. So much so, in fact, that A’s fans might get spoiled and start to expect this from all rookie pitchers. The bullpen has had some key rookies as well including, but not limited to, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook.

I don’t know how he does it but one thing Billy Beane always seems to have in his arsenal is relief pitchers. His resume over the years is pretty impressive: Jason Isringhausen, Keith Foulke, Billy Koch, Houston Street, Andrew Bailey, and that’s just the closers. I mean the guy got Travis Blackley, one of the most overlooked, and versatile pitchers on the A’s staff this year, off waivers when the Giants released him.

But back to those adversities I keep talking about; it continues to the hitters as well. Projected starting third baseman, Scott Sizemore, who the A’s thought could break out this year, had a season ending knee injury the first day of spring training. His eventual replacement, Brandon Inge, suffered a season ending shoulder injury about a month ago. The A’s saw significant drops in production from previously dependable guys like Kurt Suzuki (since traded to the Nationals), Cliff Pennington (on a tear right now), and Jemile Weeks. Weeks, if you remember, was the only player Billy Beane deemed untouchable in trades this off-season. He recently rejoined the team after a demotion to AAA.

Oh, then there is the revolving door at first base. By my count, the A’s have used six different guys at first base this year. Yoenis Cespedes, who’s the A’s most valuable player in my opinion, has missed 33 games to injury this year. He may miss more too as he just came out of the game today with a wrist sprain, though it’s expected to be minor.

The A’s have met all of these challenges head on with contributions from up and down the lineup. Even though he has cooled off lately, Josh Reddick has put up career numbers, Cespedes is amazing and Coco Crisp has played like an MVP since he got healthy. And how Awesome is Brandon Moss? He’s 18-homers-in-67-games awesome. Josh Donaldson is finding a home at third after his most recent call up. And Chris Carter is finally delivering on his power potential.

When you look at the win total thus far, you can’t help but think that everything has gone right for Oakland throughout the year. But that just isn’t true. I’d say it’s quite the opposite. Unthinkably so. The road these guys have traveled says a lot about their character and resilience. There’s a little more than two weeks left so it’s far from over, but I’ve learned my lesson about limiting what this team can accomplish. I don’t want to jinx anything but this feels special, doesn’t it?

There is nothing like a good old-fashioned 20-2 beat down to start off the final month of the regular season. The Oakland A’s absolutely demolished the unrecognizable Boston Red Sox Friday night, beating them by 18 runs. Wow.

It was only the fourth time in Oakland history that the A’s scored 20 or more runs and it was done with authority. The A’s hit five home runs: Josh Donaldson continued his ridiculous hot pace (does anyone remember Brandon Inge) hitting a three run bomb, Brandon Moss hit a second deck shot, Josh Reddick hit his 28^th and his first career grand slam, and George Kottaras hit two as a backup catcher.

I was in the stands and it was some of the most fun I’ve had at the ballpark in a while. Obviously, everyone likes a little drama, and the walk-off wins have been great. But sometimes it’s nice to not have to worry about the game and enjoy a stress-less victory. It was awesome.

I’m also going to give some credit to the fans. It wasn’t the largest crowd I’ve ever seen, but they were certainly into the game. Often, especially with a team like the Sox or the Yankees, A’s fans will be overwhelmed and drowned out by the opposing team’s fans. Not this time. Chalk it up to the Sox waiving the white flag and/or the recent trades but I’m just excited to see A’s fans getting out and cheering for their team in a loud and rambunctious manner.

The A’s however, can’t get too comfortable even if they double their margin of victory tonight. While it’s fun to pound the other team into submission, the A’s have a very tough road ahead of them to finish their playoff push. Sitting only four games behind the Rangers for the division lead, the A’s currently hold the top wild card spot. However, the Angels, Tigers, Rays and Orioles are all within 4.5 games of the A’s so Oakland is anything but guaranteed a post-season bid. And everyone should realize this considering the historic runs both the Rays and Braves went on last year to propel them into the playoffs.

But this is a fun time and I certainly don’t want to overlook that fact. Even though it isn’t over, and the A’s have a lot of work to do, it’s damn fun to watch this team play. I want to convey the gravity of the situation, but I also don’t want it to take away from the excitement surrounding this team. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, but who would have seen this coming into the season?

Considering where most saw the A’s finishing at the end of the year, it is borderline unbelievable they’ve been so good, and it seems as if they are getting better. Oakland has one 8 in a row outscoring their opponents 79-20 in that span. That’s almost a difference of sixty runs in less than three full series.

But as I said before, September will be tough. In the final month (and three days as the A’s play their last series in October) the A’s play the seven against the Angels, seven against the Rangers, six against the Mariners, and three against each of the Yankees, Orioles, and Tigers. Those are some formidable opponents and each of those games will have playoff implications. Their only opponent out of the running is the Mariners and they’ve been playing much better ball since the All-Star break.

There is a lot of baseball yet to be played. If you are an A’s fan, get out there and support your team. We should consider ourselves lucky that this team is this good; this is the most fun I’ve had watching baseball in years and they deserve a few more butts in the seats to cheer them on. Something special is happening in Oakland and you won’t want to miss it. Let’s keep it up and GO A’s!

September Call Ups:  There are usually two rounds of September call-ups. Once on the first of the month and then another when the minor leagues finish their season. Today, the A’s reinstated A.J. Griffin and Brandon Inge from the disabled list and called up infielder Brandon Hicks and outfielder Collin Cowgil for some depth. That puts the roster at 29. I’d be surprised if they didn’t get some more pitching depth up here sooner rather than later too.

I really like Cowgil. He plays hard and seems to do a lot of things well on the field. I’m not the biggest fan of Hicks but he can play a bunch of positions and has some pop in his bad. I am a bit surprised that Jemile Weeks wasn’t recalled. I still think he might, but even if you don’t play the guy every day, you can still use him as a pinch runner. A speedster like Weeks can be valuable down the stretch. I guess they want him t get regular at-bat for now.

Wow, what a difference a couple of weeks make.

I apologize for my recent lack of posting but as I mentioned last time, I recently got married and as you probably could imagine, was a little busy. Everything went great, my wife and I had a blast and everybody was shaking his or her behind on the dance floor. What more could you ask for? (Oh, and the A’s won that day).

Now, back to baseball.

There has been a frenzy of news surrounding the A’s in recent days, and I’m going to try to get to it all so here we go:

50 Game Suspension- Bartolo Colon tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and has been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball. For obvious reasons, this news is incredibly disappointing. Prior to hearing this, it must have been hard for anyone to dislike Colon. He always seemed relaxed, content, and enjoying his time playing the game we all love. His teammates liked and respected him, journalists liked to cover him and fans gravitated towards him because of his approachability and demeanor.

The loss of Bartolo Colon will be a big hit to the A's final stretch.

Now we learn that he cheated the A’s, his teammates, the fans, and the game of baseball. I’m not going to delve too deeply into the intricacies of the steroid issue. That song has been played out for some time now. All I’m going to say is I’m not shocked it’s still in the game; we knew this would be a prolonged and ongoing endeavor; and lastly, it’s just sad. Everything about it is just sad.

Either way the A’s must move on. Dan Strailey was just sent down and cannot be brought back up to the big club for ten days. A.J. Griffin is still rehabbing (probably a week away) so our old friend, Tyson Ross will be filling in for Colon for the time being. More moves are sure to come certainly by September when rosters expand, but probably before.

Anderson Returns:  On a much more positive note, we finally got to witness the much anticipated (and often mentioned by myself) return of Brett Anderson. Anderson pitched Tuesday night at the major league level for the first time in over a year after recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was fantastic giving up just one run over seven innings while striking out six and walking none. Usually control is the last thing to come back to a pitcher after Tommy John so the no walks is particularly encouraging.

His fastball had some zip on it as he was pitching between 91-93 mph, and his breaking balls were very sharp, particularly his curveball. His slider is typically his best pitch but he was getting lots of swing and misses on the curve.

I’m not sure the A’s should really expect a whole lot from Anderson this year (though they may need to with the Colon news) but seeing him healthy now gives everyone more confidence going into next year. By then Anderson’s stuff and command will be a little sharper and he could lead this staff. Of course it would be really nice if he could do that for the stretch run to the playoffs.

A’s Acquire New SS- The Oakland A’s acquired shortstop Stephen Drew from the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospect Sean Jamieson. Drew, who recently came back from a very serious ankle injury will hopefully provide some offensive stability at SS, something the A’s haven’t had all year. In a small sample size this year, Drew hasn’t been good at all but there was a bit of a falling out between him and the Diamondbacks front office; the A’s hope the change of scenery will suit him well.

Drew was definitely in the mix for the A’s at the deadline. I can’t believe the A’s wouldn’t have made this trade before deadline, as Jamieson isn’t considered a top prospect, so Arizona must have lowered their price.

Weeks Sent Down- In a corresponding roster move as a result of the Drew trade, Jemile Weeks has been sent to AAA. I was pretty surprised by the move, though I don’t think it is a big deal at all. Weeks has been bad all year, but he’s young and learning and I fully believe he’ll bounce back.

Hopefully the speedy Jemile Weeks will make a quick return to the bigs

I think most of his issues are mechanical. He has great bat speed but his swing gets a little long with some loft and he ends up hitting a lot of balls in the air. Not a good idea for a guy with Weeks’ limited power. He needs to shorten up and level out his swing, which he’ll be able to work out with some AAA at bats. Remember, rosters expand in less than two weeks so it’s almost a certainty that he’ll be back at the beginning of September. I think this move was done mostly to light a fire under Jemile.

He said all the right things, of course. He accepts and understands the demotion and told reporters that he still believes he is a star. That confidence is why I believe he’ll figure it out.

I apologize for being a bit MIA lately but I’m actually getting married in just over a week, so as you can imagine I’ve been a bit busy.

Nonetheless, baseball goes on and so must we.

The Oakland Athletics chose to stand pat at the July 31^st waiver deadline, much to the dismay of the majority of their fan base, local media, and possibly many of the players. I can understand the frustration; the A’s are unexpectedly in the playoff hunt and have clear needs that could have been addressed. Their lone acquisition was a backup catcher named George Kottaras. Who? My thoughts exactly.

I, myself, have mixed feelings on the issue. In my deadline preview, I made it very clear that I thought the A’s SHOULDN’T mortgage the future for a chance at immediate success because that chance at success probably wouldn’t have been all that greater had they traded for somebody. But the romantic in me wanted Billy Beane to go for it. The A’s haven’t been in this position lately and for all we know they may not be in it any time soon. So step in the box and take your hacks, right?

It’s a little more complicated than that.

There really was only one guy the A’s were connected to that I thought made perfect sense and that was Hanley Ramirez formerly of the Marlins. He’s a high profile name that has underperformed this year and could have done well with a change of scenery. But, as always, it came down to money. Apparently the A’s were willing to part with the better prospects but for only half (or so I heard) his remaining contract. But the new owners of the Dodgers with seemingly limitless resources were fully willing to take on all of Hanley’s salary and thus swooped him right up from under the A’s.

As I understand it, the A’s got pretty close here. And as I also understand it, they were not close anywhere else.

The made their play for Stephen Drew of the Diamondbacks, but he’s hitting just over .200 so is he really an upgrade? Likewise for Yunel Escobar of the Blue Jays who’s only hitting marginally better, but that’s in Toronto; those numbers would go down in Oakland, not to mention his rumored makeup issues.

I could have also got on the Chase Headley train as I mentioned before, but the Padres were asking for two top prospects for him. Would you trade Dan Strailey (who just got the call today; more on that in a bit) and Michael Choice for Headley? I wouldn’t. Maybe.

Not to mention that Brandon Inge has hit like five homers in the last week so it doesn’t seem right to sit him down.

Look, I get that it’s frustrating the A’s didn’t make a move, but truth be told, there weren’t a whole lot of moves out there to be made. And even though the deadline has passed, the A’s can still get a player through waivers, though I wouldn’t count on it. It’s a difficult process to explain and an even more difficult process to carry out so we’ll cross that proverbial bridge when we come to it.

The A’s have made their bed and they now have to lay in it. I can’t blame them too much, because this has been a pretty magical ride recently. Though I will point out that they are 0-2 since the deadline passed, which also coincides with the first two days of August. August 1^st was an unwelcome sight after their record setting July; let’s see if the A’s can continue their winning ways. Don’t lose faith.

Strailey gets the call: Dan Strailey, who came out of nowhere this year and has become the A’s top prospect, got the call to the big leagues today and will pitch on Friday against the Blue Jays. Strailey, a 24^th round pick in 2009, has been dominating AA and then AAA all year and leads baseball in strikeouts. He’s probably not a top of the order guy, but has five average or better pitches and his changeup has a chance to be a true weapon. This is the guy other teams wanted in trade talks with the A’s and Beane was unwilling to part with him so it should be fun watching him pitch. Infielder Adam Rosales, of whom I’ve always been a big fan, was also recalled from AAA.

Injury Updates: Brett Anderson has made two rehab starts and is feeling quite well. The results haven’t been wonderful, but the guy hasn’t pitched for a year we can cut him some slack. He’ll likely get a couple more starts in the minors and will hopefully be ready to join the A’s in mid-August, though he joked that with the team pitching so well, he isn’t sure there will be a spot for him or Brandon McCarthy when the come back form injury. He may be right.

I’m not sure how much Anderson will actually help upon his return but seeing him take a big-league mound will help the A’s know what they have going into next year and will do wonders for his confidence.

And speaking of McCarthy, he also threw a rehab start. He’s likely to throw one more before joining the team, though it’s also likely he could be on a pitch limit with his recent injury struggles. I would bet the A’s would move to a six man rotation with so many youngsters and a few guys coming back form major injuries.

As I write this, the A’s are preparing to welcome the New York Yankees, who come to Oakland boasting the most wins in the majors. I’m not sure there is ever a good time to face the Yankees, but this four game series represents especially unfortunate timing for the A’s. The Yankees are currently enjoying a 42 game streak where they have scored at least three runs and are approaching the major league record for such a streak. That is a pretty ridiculous statistic.

But I’m not worried.

Ok, I’m a little worried, but as I continue to write this, Oakland is only a game out of a playoff spot. Huh?

I doubt Billy Beane thought he'd be in this position in spring training. What will he do?

I know I’ve said it before but it really is amazing to see where this team is now and where people thought they’d be at this point. Even I didn’t envision this and I was more optimistic than most.

So, looking at the bigger picture, where does this put the A’s in the trade deadline musings? General Manager, Billy Beane, is always active this time of year but has some serious decisions to make before July 31^st. I think even two weeks ago, most assumed the A’s would be sellers and rid themselves of veteran talent and payroll for prospects that would help down the road. While that is certainly still a possibility, Beane will not punt the season if his team is still in it. And he never has. At least not once the season has started.

So is it possible the A’s could be buyers and sellers? That seems to be a popular belief by many of the talking heads around baseball.

What we know: We know the A’s are a lot farther along with the latest rebuild than any of us thought they were at the beginning of the year. They have a solid core of good young players around which to build. We know that Billy Beane will not break up this core for anything, or just about anything.

A few years back, he broke the cycle of his rebuild to acquire Matt Holliday, which did not work out well. He won’t make a trade for that type of player again, simply because he can’t afford to give up his young assets. And those assets are producing anyway so why bother?

We also know that the A’s are right in the middle of a playoff hunt but that there are about a thousand other teams fighting for two spots, so even if Oakland is in it until the very end, they can’t mortgage the future for a small chance of immediate success.

Finally, we know that Billy Beane is not shy about trades and if there is something out there that will help this club, he’ll jump all over it.

What the A’s need: The clearest and biggest need for the A’s is on the left side of the infield. I think the Cliff Pennington experiment has about run its course and you can say the same for Brandon Inge’s career. Inge can still defend and run into a homer every now and then but has a .278 OBP this year and that just doesn’t cut it.

The A’s missed out on Kevin Youkilis. It didn’t take much to get him and he could have helped the A’s third base woes. They aren’t going to get a superstar but even league average at either of those two positions would be a drastic improvement.

Grant Green will be called up at some point in the second half and I think he can really help.

Some possible solutions could come in-house. Grant Green is being groomed for a possible super-utility role as I alluded to earlier this month, and it might be time to take another look at Josh Donaldson. He’s not the sexiest answer but he’s putting up Ruthian numbers at Sacramento this year.

What the A’s have: As far as being buyers, the A’s really don’t have much to trade. Or at least, they don’t have much they are willing to trade. Like I said, the A’s won’t and shouldn’t over react to their surprising place in the standings by forgoing their most valuable prospects.

With Seth Smith, Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Coco Crisp all manning the outfield and under contract through at least next year, and guys like Collin Cowgil, Grant Green and Michael Taylor all waiting in the wings, it’s possible Beane could make top prospect, Michael Choice available in the right deal. The problem is Choice is having a down year by his standards (though he’s been heating up of late) and his value has likely taken a hit because of it. Plus, he has power, and power is expensive. A cheap, young talent like Choice will be tough to pry away from Billy.

Beane could also deal from his pitching surplus. He has a plethora of young major league pitchers and more on the way. It’s certainly possible that he could use Dan Strailey, Brad Peacock or Sonny Gray to get a good young third baseman, but we all know how much Bean loves his pitching. It’s tough for me to envision him parting with any of those guys.

As far as selling, I think any of the A’s veterans can be had at the right price. Coco Crisp is the most obvious as the A’s have a bunch of capable outfielders and he makes the most money (except for Cespedes but he isn’t going anywhere). I think Grant Balfour will be traded too. He’s a pretty good reliever and has experience in multiple roles. The A’s insist that Balfour would require a serious haul, but I think they’re bluffing. If they can get value, they will pull the trigger.

I think the same can be said for Bartolo Colon and Brandon McCarthy. But they’ve been so good for the A’s that I doubt any team would surrender enough for the A’s to get rid of either. Bartolo is too old and McCarthy is too injury prone for any team to get serious, in my opinion. And why bother if you are the A’s? These guys have you in the playoff hunt; they can be keys down the stretch.

But like anyone else, if someone is willing to pay Billy Bean’s undoubtedly high bounty, he will oblige.

What I predict: I think there is a 50-50 shot at Coco being traded, especially if he keeps up this hot streak he’s been on. I think Balfour will be traded, but both of these potential deals will only land the A’s solid prospects at best.

Beyond that, I don’t see the A’s giving up any of their veterans unless they are blown away (which I don’t believe will happen). Moreover, I think that’s a good thing. With all the youth and uncertainty involved with the rotation, I think keeping Colon and McCarthy will be prudent for the A’s down the stretch.

I think Headley could be the missing piece, but I also think he will cost too much for the A's to bite.

I believe the A’s will be buyers in a sense, but I don’t want anyone to get overly excited about that. If they bring in anyone, that person won’t be an all-star and he doesn’t need to be. Just solid at either SS or 3B. Not only do the A’s want to keep their young talent, but the market for the left side of the infield is very small, making potential acquisitions much more valuable to their prospective teams.

If, and it’s a big if, the A’s decide to pursue someone in the upper tier of the trade market, two guys I’d look at are Chase Headley, a 3B form San Diego and Stephen Drew, a SS from Arizona.

Both guys would command a lot in return but both are under control past this year. Headley will be a free agent before they Padres are relevant, but they are said to be asking for quite a lot in return. He’s a very good hitter (his numbers are greatly diminished by playing in San Diego) and would help the A’s immensely.

Drew seems to have fallen out of favor in Arizona. He’s also a very solid shortstop who can hit. He’d give the A’s flexibility and a little more pop in the offense. But again, he’d command a lot in a trade.

I’d expect the A’s to be active, but I doubt they’d acquire a player of this magnitude. But Minor acquisitions could help a lot. And I’ve never known Billy Beane to stand pat with a deadline approaching.