Athletics News

"Billy Beane is about to be called a genius… again. "I've been called a moron, too," the A's general manager said with a laugh. "I sort of ignore both things." But it's hard to discount what the A's have accomplished through the first five-plus weeks of a season supposedly cluttered with so many "Pardon our dust while we remodel" signs. And it's impossible to disregard the contributions of Beane's latest find. "

" When spring training began nearly three months ago, A's manager Bob Geren faced several questions regarding his team. How would the starting rotation come together? Where would the power come from in the lineup? Would this team believe in its chances when few others seemed to? One area that Geren wasn't fretting over was his bullpen. For good reason, judging by the early results."

"A's owner Lew Wolff made his first trip to the team's facility in the Dominican Republic this week, accompanied by fellow owner John Fisher and general manager Billy Beane. Wolff came away impressed with the team's staff at the complex, saying, "It's a dedicated cadre of people and A's blood flows in their veins." "

"It would be easy to forget Andrew Brown's strikeout of Jarrod Saltalamacchia on Saturday. The whiff came in the ninth inning of Oakland's 6-3 loss to Texas and did not influence the game's outcome - but it illustrated why A's catcher Kurt Suzuki has become an instrumental part of his team's early-season success."

" Looking back, it's hard to believe that Beane is in such an enviable position of being overstocked with starting pitchers so soon after the offseason extreme makeover. Last season the A's had an injury-ravaged, patchwork rotation. Once the 2007 agony ended, Beane went to work. He traded ace Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for a wealth of prospects. Most of them, by design, were starting pitchers -- the type of talent Beane said the A's can't afford on the free-agent market and must develop themselves."

"A's manager Bob Geren announced before Wednesday's game that Chad Gaudin will be moved to the bullpen to make room for fellow right-hander Rich Harden, who will start Sunday against the Texas Rangers after coming off the 15-day disabled list."

"Mark Ellis had been playing his usual brand of impeccable defense, but he still didn't feel like he was making much of an impact for the A's while he slogged through a 0-for-17 slump that began May 2. Safe to say Ellis is still capable of being a difference-maker at the plate. He connected on a Lance Cormier fastball in the bottom of the 10th inning that bounced off the left-field foul pole to give the A's a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday afternoon before an announced crowd of 15,235 at McAfee Coliseum."

"None of Oakland's starting pitchers did anything to deserve a change in roles, but someone had to come out of the rotation to make room for Rich Harden's return Sunday at Texas. Chad Gaudin is the odd man out, according to manager Bob Geren, who said that the decision was a difficult one. The A's have had the best starting pitching in the league through the first five-plus weeks of the season."

"Going into Wednesday's game, Mark Ellis wasn't doing much hitting and the A's weren't getting many extra-base hits. Everything else is going Oakland's way, though. So it stood to reason that Ellis would bang his first-ever game-winning homer, off the foul pole in left with two outs in the 10th inning, and give the A's a 6-5 victory over the Orioles. Oakland swept Baltimore and finished the homestand 4-2, moving into a first-place tie with the Angels in the AL West. "

"With the way this road trip has gone for the Orioles, there shouldn't have been any doubt. Ellis' 10th-inning drive clanked off the foul pole, and the Oakland Athletics poured out of the dugout to celebrate a 6-5 victory and a three-game sweep over the Orioles, who are finding more excruciating ways to lose games."

"A critical error by Mora and a failed double-play chance -- both in the bottom of the eighth inning -- allowed the Athletics to force extra innings. Mark Ellis ended it in the 10th, bouncing a homer off the left field foul pole against reliever Lance Cormier, to send the Orioles to a 6-5 loss before 15,235 at McAfee Coliseum."

"Trembley has tried just about everything, including lineup changes, but nothing has helped the Orioles' offense get out of its funk. Starter Brian Burres was not particularly sharp last night and the Orioles were held to two runs or less for the fifth time in the past seven games in a 4-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics before an announced 11,492."

" The Colorado Rockies, searching for some help for their starting rotation, were reportedly told by the A's that Joe Blanton isn't going anywhere right now. Colorado has inquired about a number of starting pitchers recently, including Oakland right-handers Blanton and Rich Harden, Texas' Kevin Millwood, Cincinnati's Josh Fogg and Boston's Julian Tavarez. The Denver Post reported that the Rockies were told by Oakland that Blanton, their preferred A's pitcher, is currently not available."

"The surprising performance of rookie left-hander Greg Smith in the rotation leaves the A's with quite a decision when Rich Harden returns from the disabled list. Harden pitched Tuesday night for Single-A Stockton, his second rehab outing in his recovery from a strained muscle underneath his right shoulder. If he comes out of that start OK, A's manager Bob Geren indicated he could be activated from the DL to start Sunday at Texas. Starting in Harden's place, Smith has gone 2-1 with a 2.54 ERA, showing uncharacteristic maturity for a pitcher whose big-league career consists of just six starts."

"Tuesday's outing was a lot more uneventful than Justin Duchscherer's previous one. The A's right-hander went just five innings Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels in a blowout victory that was comical in its one-sidedness. A dropped fly ball led to Duchscherer allowing five unearned runs that night. He also sat on the bench for what seemed like an eternity as the A's scored eight times in the top of the fifth inning. No such bizarre happenings Tuesday night at McAfee Coliseum, where the A's cashed in a workmanlike 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. But it goes in the win column just the same, and it clinched the series victory for the A's, who finish up a six-game homestand this afternoon against the Orioles."

"IT WAS AN ambitious project, 20 months of almost daily labor, with private meetings and clandestine interrogations, sold as a search for the truth. It would change the way we look at sports. Maybe even make us look away. Remember the Mitchell Report? Didn't think so. Commissioned by Major League Baseball, it was made public over the winter, exposing rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs among players and the complicity of executives. The report named names, alleged criminal connections and concluded baseball was corrupt on several levels. This 311-page bomb blew up several careers and maimed many others — only to have the fan emerge unscathed and profoundly indifferent. "

"An old baseball axiom holds that home runs come when you're not trying. In that case, Frank Thomas' dry spell with the long ball might continue. He's going max effort. "I'm trying to go deep," the A's designated hitter said before batting practice Tuesday. "I really am. I have a good swing right now. I have a good approach, it's just the results aren't there.""

"Emil Brown's career arc did not suggest that he had this kind of start in him, nor did it suggest that the Athletics would be all that interested in him to benefit from it. He did possess the A's-ian values of being available, well traveled and inexpensive, true, but he didn't seem to quite fit the Oakland mold. Not a lot of walks, an ordinary OPS-plus, and he had passed through these gates before without making a discernible impression. And today? Today, he is playing RBI Bingo. Having driven in 28 Athletics including the first one in Tuesday's 4-2 victory over Baltimore, he ranks second in the American League and fifth in the majors, and by his estimate has pretty much driven them in by every means possible."

""Just like I told the guys, we have been competitive in just about every game and I think that's because of our pitching," Trembley said before the game. "The other parts of the game will come and I'm confident they will. It's just a matter of getting this started. And when we do, I think every thing else will fall into place." Perhaps Trembley will be proven right. But the starting point did not come Tuesday night, when the Orioles fell, 4-2 to the Oakland Athletics after stringing together what's become a familiar storyline during the team's recent fall to earth. "

" Oakland A's designated hitter Jack Cust has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending May 4. Cust hit .500 (10-for-20) last week with three home runs, a double and four RBI. The 29-year-old designated hitter posted a 1.000 slugging percentage, along with a .600 on-base percentage."

"Third base hardly is Donnie Murphy's natural position in the infield. And if he had his preference, he would be an everyday player rather than platooning with Jack Hannahan. But he's also a realist. "I've got no room to complain," Murphy said. "I knew my role coming into the year." That role was to be a jack-of-all-trades type for the A's infield. Right now, Murphy finds himself drawing starts at third against left-handed starters."

"Eric Chavez is continuing to hit and take grounders before games, but stressed Monday that he hasn't spoken to the team about the possibility of DH-ing since early in spring training. Chavez, who had back surgery in October, feels good hitting, but he's well aware the team has several other designated hitters and knows the club wants him back to play third base. That's absolutely fine with Chavez. "I asked about it a long time ago, back in the spring, and that was the only time," he said. Manager Bob Geren has said that the team is working backward from the date Chavez can come off the disabled list (May 27) in planning his activity, but Chavez has no idea if he'll be ready then or not."

"Emil Brown got a good look at Orioles reliever Jim Johnson when Johnson walked him to start the ninth. Then, he watched closely when Johnson walked Frank Thomas on four pitches in the 10th. That brought Brown, the A's top RBI man, to the plate with two outs and two on, and he rapped the first pitch from Johnson up the middle to send in Daric Barton and give the A's a 2-1 victory over Baltimore on Monday at the Coliseum."

"The Baltimore Orioles are in town, playing Oakland for the championship of May. Both teams would have you believe it's a longer road, and that's the beauty of the latest standings. No one can tell them they're wrong. Neither was in first place as the Monday-night opener began, but it sort of felt that way. It took the Orioles an eternity to override the tyranny of a meddlesome owner, Peter Angelos, and they're finally enjoying the sensation of league-wide respect. The A's, written off so mercilessly in spring training, are suddenly the envy of half the teams in baseball, matching a highly competitive roster with a conga line of intriguing prospects in the minor leagues."

"It's becoming almost a daily occurrence for the Orioles. They'll get a quality outing from one of their young starting pitchers, a handful of key outs from their bullpen and watch both get rendered afterthoughts by an offense that simply can't get on track. Oakland Athletics outfielder Emil Brown was the hero last night, lining an RBI single off Jim Johnson to score Daric Barton in the 10th inning and deal the Orioles another frustrating 2-1 loss before an announced 10,128 at McAfee Coliseum."

"While they wait for internal options to heal their wounds and fix their mechanics, the Rockies are actively pursuing depth for their rotation, discussing trades with the Reds for Josh Fogg and the Red Sox for Julian Tavarez. The Rockies also have kicked the tires on Oakland's Rich Harden and Joe Blanton and Texas' Kevin Millwood. Harden is hurt, limiting interest; Blanton is currently not available. And while the Rangers will listen on Millwood, they want the right players in return, not salary relief. The Rockies' motivation is shaped by their need."

"With his support group in the stands, the left-handed Olson continued his surprising dominance since being called up from Class AAA Norfolk last week, allowing just four hits in 6 1/3 innings against the Oakland Athletics. He allowed only one run and struck out seven, the highest total for any Orioles starter this year. Still, Olson's effort was not enough in a 2-1 extra-innings loss to the A's before an announce crowd of 10,128."

"Huston Street takes a hefty amount of adrenaline to the mound with him for the ninth inning, as do all major league closers. In nailing down his ninth save of the season Sunday against the Texas Rangers, Street's competitiveness boiled over a bit when he got in a verbal confrontation with home plate umpire Jeff Nelson with two outs in the ninth and a runner on second. The scene quickly simmered down, but it's rare to see Street jawing with an umpire in any situation. The seeds were planted earlier in the inning after Street was called for a balk when Nelson ruled he went to his mouth while still standing on the dirt of the pitcher's mound."

"Hot streaks come and go without much explanation for Jack Cust. So when times are tough at the plate, the A's slugger takes heart that a breakthrough may be just around the corner. It appears now is one of those prosperous times. Cust's two-run homer in the seventh inning Sunday awoke a slumbering offense and powered the A's to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers that helped the home team avoid a three-game sweep at McAfee Coliseum."

"To best describe how A's starter Greg Smith pitched Sunday, let's listen in on the sixth-inning call by A's radio voice Ken Korach: "He has eviscerated the heart of the Texas order." Eviscerated? Sounds like a word we missed on the SAT. Our trusty online dictionary defines that verb as, (1) to disembowel, or, (2) to remove an organ from (a patient). That's basically what Smith did in his six innings of work, without all the yucky blood and guts. Not only did he post 10 strikeouts -- the most in a game by an A's pitcher this year -- but eight K's came against the Texas Rangers' 3-4-5 hitters."

"A baseball season is a progression, almost monthly, from the anticipation of March through the benediction of September, with the truth unfolding in the interim. The A's sailed through spring training in March and the introductory phase of April, exceeding the relatively modest expectations of everyone outside their circle and maybe a few within. They posted a 17-12 record, which projects to about 93 wins. "

" With starter Rich Harden and reliever Keith Foulke nearing their returns to the big-league roster, A's manager Bob Geren has decisions to make, including whether he carries 11 or 12 pitchers, and whom Harden will replace in the starting rotation. "We are deeper with Harden and Foulke coming back," Geren said. "It gives us good options." Harden is scheduled to pitch Tuesday at Class A Stockton. Foulke, who had neck stiffness that sent him to the disabled list retroactive to April 11, will throw approximately 30 pitches today at Triple A Sacramento and again Wednesday in Stockton, at which point he should be ready to return to Oakland."

"Texas had a chance to be the first team this season to sweep the A's in a three-game series, but Greg Smith and Jack Cust had other ideas Sunday afternoon at McAfee Coliseum. Smith turned in a dominating performance on the mound and Cust continued to swing a hot bat, belting a game-winning two-run homer in the seventh. The result was a 3-1 Oakland win that left everybody feeling good, especially the two guys who were already feeling good at the start of the day."

"Trying to extend their winning streak to five games, the Texas Rangers left themselves no room for error Sunday. This team simply can't do that. A fly ball lost in the sunshine. A sinking fastball that didn't sink. Continued inability to solve left-handed starters. In a 3-1 loss to Oakland, the Rangers combined all three. "

"The one on Saturday was mildly concerning, because it was the continuation of a not-so-positive trend that could throw a grease spot in the middle of the A's road. They were shut down long enough by a left-hander with only 14 previous major league appearances to drop a 6-3 decision to the Texas Rangers at McAfee Coliseum. This time, it was a Utah kid named Arlington James Murray, and yes, he heads into the starting rotation for 2008's all-name team."

"Jack Cust made a call to his bat company in mid-April. He had crushed a ball to left field at McAfee Coliseum only to see it turn into a deep fly out.It wasn't the first instance this season, and since his Old Hickory's felt light, he ordered a new batch. Not that it did him any good in the seventh inning Friday night when he hit a ball "as hard as I've hit one," only to see Texas Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton run it down with a spectacular catch and turn it into an inning-ending double play. "I've never hit a ball like that and not had it go out of the ballpark," Cust said a day later, still somewhat amazed. "I mean, it's hard to hit a ball better than that.""

" Dear Billy: You've done it again. Turned the A's into winners. Sure it's only May, but every month counts. Congratulations. Just one more thing. Sign Barry Bonds. Yes, that Barry Bonds, the one you talked to back in the fall of '06, or at least that was the story. Didn't your assistant David Forst say, "Barry is one of the guys out there who we're considering ... he's probably the best player in the game the last 15 years. I think anybody would be interested in having his bat in the lineup." So, get that bat. It comes with a lot of baggage, but it also comes with a lot of benefits. The shock value alone is worth the deal. "

"As long as it's Turn Back The Clock Day with the Oakland A's, let's turn it back 30 years to 1978. That year's A's had the second-best start in franchise history, at 19-5, even though they seemed to be doing it with smoke and mirrors. As it turned out, they were. Even with that great start, the '78 A's wound up losing 93 games, including 14 out of 15 during one June stretch and then 16 out of 17 at one point in August. Ah yes, the Mario Guerrero-Mitchell Page-Dave Revering years ... we remember them — ouch — so well. "

"Dallas Braden's Afro-like mop has reached such proportions that his teammates are encouraging fans near the bullpen to call him "Richard Simmons," because fellow reliever Alan Embree has likened Braden's hair to exercise guru Simmons "meets 'That 70s Show,' " Embree said. Last year, Braden wore his hair close-cropped, but this year's explosion of curls is drawing attention. Not all of it welcome: Braden said he's starting to find sunflower seeds in his locks, courtesy of his bullpen mates, "and I'm sure I've lost some golf tees in there," he said. "

"The A's did nothing terribly bad on Saturday night at the Coliseum, nor did they do a whole lot that was good. Oakland just lost 6-3 to Texas, without much fuss or muss. Chad Gaudin gave up a three-run homer to David Murphy in the first inning, and any drama disappeared right about then, as the A's dropped their first series in more than two weeks. They have not been swept in a three-game series this season"

"When Ramon Vazquez is in the Rangers' lineup, they are a winning team. On Saturday, the Rangers won their fourth consecutive game, beating Oakland, 6-3, to tie Seattle for third place in the AL West. Vazquez has started three of them. Saturday, the role player played a huge factor in the Rangers' win. He had a hand in the two innings in which the Rangers scored five of their runs."

"A's starting pitcher Joe Blanton was falling backward. Texas Rangers outfielder Milton Bradley was two-thirds of the way toward first base. It was a moment that screamed for somebody to scream, "Hold it!" But Blanton threw it anyway. Talk about summing up a forgettable night for the home team in nice tidy fashion. The A's fell 4-3 to the Rangers in their return to McAfee Coliseum, because their defense went haywire. And since they already had committed more errors than any American League team except Friday's opponent, haywire for this bunch has its own unique look."

"Sometimes when a manager or player returns to a ballpark in which he spent a number of years, he can feel uneasy. Not so for Washington in Oakland. "I spent 11 years here and I've never gotten anything but love," Washington said. "It's always easy for me to walk into the Coliseum. Everybody from the security guards to the people working the concession stands, they know me. So, it's easy.""

"Because of several plays the A's didn't make and one brilliant one the Rangers did, Texas took the opener of a three-game series at the Coliseum on Friday night. Oakland committed four errors, two of which led to unearned runs in the Rangers' 4-3 victory. Vicente Padilla got the win and C.J. Wilson picked up his seventh save, but the save truly belonged to Texas center fielder Josh Hamilton."

"Errors once again played a key role in a Texas Rangers game. For a change, it was the Rangers who benefited from them. In a 4-3 win over Oakland on Friday night, the Athletics made four of them, and the Rangers actually took advantage to win their third consecutive game. "

"So what to make of these supposedly wait-'til-we-move-to-Cisco Field-and-then-we-can-compete-thanks-to-a-viable-revenue-stream A's after their 15-8 Thursday night punch to the forehead of the supposedly class of the division? Not only did Billy Beane's latest mad experiment embarrass the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim enough to give them pause about adding any more real estate to their already-bloated handle, the A's also might have planted a few seeds of doubt in their biggest rivals' collective consciousness."

"Jack Cust's night appeared to take a miserable turn when he committed an error for the ages in the second inning Thursday night. Then he and his teammates spent the rest of the game heaping misery on the Los Angeles Angels' pitching staff. Cust's fifth-inning homer and 4-for-4 night don't nearly tell the whole story of the A's 15-8 rout at Angel Stadium. But his evening of redemption is as good a place to start as any."

"The A's received good news Thursday on the progress of reliever Keith Foulke, who has been rehabbing from a neck injury at the team's minor-league complex in Phoenix. Foulke felt no pain in his last throwing session and is scheduled to join the A's on Saturday, before heading out on a brief rehab stint. The right-handed setup man will pitch Monday for Triple-A Sacramento and Wednesday for Single-A Stockton, then likely be activated if all goes well."

"Rich Harden, out since April 2 with a strain under his right arm, threw 32/3 innings in a rehab start at Triple-A Sacramento. He allowed three hits and a run while striking out four against Omaha. He threw 50 exactly pitches - coming out with a 2-2 count to Damon Hollins. "I was actually pretty happy with my command," he said by phone from Sacramento. "That's something I wanted to get out of it, and that's what I wanted to work on because it hadn't been that good in my simulated game. I felt like I was hitting my spots. For the most part, I threw a lot of strikes.""

" Nick Adenhart's second-inning control difficulties in his major-league debut seemed a world away by the end of the A's 15-8 romp here Thursday night. The Angels right-hander didn't even factor in the decision, thanks to Jack Cust's dropped flyball in left in the bottom of the second, but Cust's error didn't wind up hurting Oakland in the slightest. And it's not often you can say that about an error that leads to five runs."