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Sources in Atlanta were reporting that the Atlanta Braves and shortstop Rafael Furcal had agreed to a contract. The terms of this deal are not yet clear, but what seemed to be clear, was that he might have an “A” on his hat, just unfortunately not that of the Oakland A’s. Now it is said that the Dodgers are still in the mix for the Furcal sweepstakes. This free agent is turning this story into a three ring circus. Take care everyone and make sure you check in with us at Athleticscast for any more off-season news.

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland

Hey A’s fans, just a follow up on my last blog entry, it is being reported by multiple sources that the Oakland A’s have made another offer to free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal. It is said to be worth $40 million over the course of four years. This is a $1 million dollar annual increase from the A’s first proposal of $36 million over four years that Furcal did not agree on. Hopefully the A’s can get it done here with this deal because considering the $13 million annually Furcal was looking for, this would be a nice bargain in my opinion. Get it done!

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland!

Hey A’s fans, its Jordan here. Now that the smoke has cleared in Las Vegas, and some of the bigger names have signed, notably CC Sabathia, K-Rod, and A.J. Burnett, the off-season can go back to business as usual. For the Oakland A’s that starts with continuing their pursuit of free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal. It was reported before the Meetings began that the A’s had offered Furcal somewhere in the neighborhood of $36 million over four years, and the A’s deadline came and went with no agreement. Apparently, Furcal and his representative, Paul Kinzer are looking for something more like those four years for $52 million, which may be a bit steep, considering his health problems from 2008, in which he only played in just 36 games.

Also, just because Billy Beane did not make any moves at the Meetings, which does not always mean that he was there for nothing. While names like Jake Peavy, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett dominated the news, work was being done. Billy has put multiple plans in action in the past, getting the ball rolling, so to speak, while at the Meetings. He has gotten some big moves done after the conclusion of those meetings. Only time will tell whether or not any roster moves will go down that were set into motion by Beane at these Winter Meetings, but hey, the anticipation and rumors are half of the fun during the off-season anyway.

I have a newfound excitement for the 2009 Oakland Athletics, and am ecstatic about the addition, of course, of Matt Holliday to this lineup, and I really hope that there is some way that we can keep hold of him for longer than half of this season, or just the ’09 campaign. With an addition of Furcal, a veteran starting pitcher (Randy Johnson anyone?), and another bat with some pop, I believe wholeheartedly that the A’s may be able to throw their hat in the ring with Los Angeles, assuming they lose Teixeira and don’t land Manny Ramirez through the rest of the off-season. By the way, those same Angels just threw down an eight-year contract proposal to Mark Teixeira reportedly thought to be worth at least $20 million per year, so who knows if he remains an Angel. I am happy to say though that optimism is flowing through my veins this off-season, and that flow would increase with the signing of the pieces mentioned earlier. Take care everyone, and have a good Holiday season.

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland!

Hey what’s up A’s fans, it’s Charles here again. After another lackluster year, the A’s now turn their attention to improving an anemic offense, that has plagued the team for the past 2 seasons. The first move made by the A’s this offseason was to resign Mark Ellis to a two year, 10 million dollar contract with an option year after that. While this move settles the infield it does little to nothing to improve the offense. With that in mind, we will discuss possible free agent options for the A’s this offseason. On our next blog we will address trading options, but for now lets take a look at 3 potential free agents the A’s could sign.

The A’s first offseason target should be former A’s star, and AL MVP Jason Giambi. It is highly unlikely the Yankees will resign Giambi, and at this stage in Giambi’s career it is likely that he would want to wind down his career somewhere he was comfortable. Luckily for the A’s, despite his controversial exit he still has two close friends on the team(Mark Ellis and Eric Chavez) who each want the A’s to pursue Giambi. Giambi would also have the opportunity to regain his past greatness in Oakland which made him an MVP. Last season Giambi had another “down year” for his standards, but for the A’s standards it was a great year. Jason batted .247, with a .373 on base percentage and 32 home runs. Having Giambi play 1st base/DH it would instantly give the A’s a bonafide star. Giambi is the type of guy that strikes fear in opposing pitchers eyes, and forces pitchers to change their gameplan. If Giambi slides into the 3 or 4 hole in the lineup, he could have protection from Eric Chavez(if healthy), Jack Cust(if he is still around) or a potential new comer via trade or free agency. It would also allow the A’s to have Daric barton learn from one of the best left handed hitters this decade. This move would obviously require the A’s forking up real money, the next option would be substantially cheaper. 

Billy Beane has an opportunity to land a man whom he has wanted for years, Rual Ibanez. While Ibanez doesn’t have a ton of name recognition he is exactly the type of hitter the A’s need. He batted .293 last year, with a .358 on base percentage and 23 home runs. Ibanez is a good contact hitter which the A’s currently lack, and he has hit very well against AL West foes. Ibanez would be a great 3 hitter who actually wants to swing the bat in key at bats, instead of letting the umpire control his fate a la Jack Cust. Ibanez can play corner outfield and would be an upgrade for the A’s offensively. The likelihood of signing Ibanez is actually pretty good, but except the Toronto Blue Jays to be the team most after him.

The final player the A’s could target is the home run and strike out prone Adam Dunn. Dunn is a superior version of Jack Cust, but having both in the lineup would be rather odd. Last year Dunn hit .236 with a 386 on base percentage and 40 home runs. He would be most effective if the A’s could put together a team on guys who could hit and get on base in front of him. Otherwise a combo of Dunn and Cust, with a weak top of the order would probably result in about 300 combined strikeouts and a significant amount of meaningless solo home runs. Dunn should only be signed if the A’s could acquire a good leadoff hitter, and have Suzuki bat second. Even with that the move still might not gel very well. Keep in mind, Dunn has never been on a contender and has never been mistaken for a team leader. With the A’s roster as is, the A’s would need someone to be a real leader, and Dunn isn’t that guy. 

Well for now here are three possible free agent targets the A’s might pursue. In our next blog we will focus on potential trade options that could help the A’s. Until then, go out and vote and live smooth.

Hello again A’s fans, it is Jordan here. Times certainly are tough for our Oakland Athletics right now. They have gone into a complete tailspin since they dropped the last game of the series in Oakland against the American League leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who seem poised to challenge for another World Series title. The A’s have dropped 21 of their last 24 games, and are quite frankly getting tougher and tougher to watch. It is tough to take some positives out of this almost month-long struggle, but we as fans must at least try, right?

Let us start from the roster side of things, think of this as a blog entry version of our side session. The Big Hurt Frank Thomas has been activated and is back in the cleanup spot, Wes Bankston and Brooks Conrad had a bit of a shot at the Big Show, and did not really impress, and A’s fans got to witness yet another young piece of our organization, Gio Gonzalez (another piece from the Dan Haren trade. He made his debut on this past Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, a game in which the A’s fell 5-1, suffering yet another sweep, this time at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays and Gonzalez starts tonight against Tampa Bay, and Eric “Made of Glass” Chavez has been shut down for the season with shoulder surgery. With Big Frank back in the fold, A’s fans at least have some at-bats to really look forward to watching in a game, Frank brings some much needed pop to a soft-hitting lineup. Frank is old, but still can hit when he gets his pitch, so hopefully he can help rejuvenate this team and help them get some more wins. With Gio Gonzalez aboard, he joins Carlos Gonzalez (no relation), Dana Eveland, and Greg Smith up on the big club as members from the Arizona trade in this offseason. The other two members of the system that the A’s acquired, Chris Carter (not the wide receiver) and Aaron Cunningham are playing pretty well in AA, with Carter crushing the ball from the power side of things, but needs to pick up his average if he wants to be a part of the Big League club in the next few years. Cunningham has played well, hitting for a nice average, and producing runs fairly consistently. Dan Meyer (pictured) has also made a move up into the rotation. I see the Eric Chavez injury and season ending surgery hopefully being a point of the organization looking at life without Chavy. This in my opinion should be the end of the Chavez era in Oakland, and hope that Billy Beane feels the same way. I see this as a positive if it goes down the way I hope it does, and all of these things that I have mentioned are positives in my mind.

When the team is not winning, fans begin to lose interest, and only the hardcore A’s fans can stomach watching them play. I do still urge the fans in the Bay Area to continue to support the team, and roll with the punches right now. I hope everyone understands that the plan all along for 2008 was to be a rebuilding year, and we are seeing the growing pains right now. The team overachieved the entire first half of the season and gave fans hope. I still believe that the hope should be there, just hope for the future. I have said all along that I believed this team would be a third or fourth place team in ’08, and was very surprised by their solid start. This baseball season though, as we all well know, is a marathon, and teams must be consistent for a span of six months (162 games) to earn the right to fight for a championship. The A’s do not yet have the horses to do so as of right now. I did say that after the non-waiver trade deadline, I wanted the A’s to have made more moves, perhaps moving Bobby Crosby, Huston Street, or Eric Chavez (which was near impossible), in order to build for the future. A name that was moved at the deadline that I coveted from the Los Angeles Dodgers system was Andy Laroche, who was traded to Pittsburgh in the Manny Ramirez three-way blockbuster deal. The Dodgers had gone and picked up Casey Blake to play third for them on their run towards a divisional title battle with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they had the emergence of another third base prospect, Blake DeWitt, who right now, they see as their third baseman of their future, thus making Laroche expendable. It was rumored that Los Angeles was interested somewhat in Bobby Crosby and heard rumors of their mixed interest in Huston Street. Shoulda, woulda, coulda though, as my friend Charles would say are your three best friends, and it didn’t happen so it doesn’t really matter. I do love the Joe Blanton deal that went down thogh, and am excited to see the prospects we received in the next few years. With Chavez possibly moving elsewhere (fingers crossed) the A’s need to move forward with a plan for the left side of the infield in the future, especially at third. I don’t really see Crosby sticking around either.

I am a very frustrated fan, as no one likes to watch their team consistently lose, but keep the faith everyone, this team is set up for a good future as long as a few more good moves are made. If you would like to weigh in on any of my opinions or thoughts, we would love to hear them, so feel free to post your comments under this entry, to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185 and leave a voicemail message that will be played on our next show. I am coming back from vacation in the next few days, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for our next episode.

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland!

Hey what’s up A’s fans, this is Charles with a recap from this weekend’s series against the Red Sox. This was yet another rough series for the A’s, who were swept in Boston by the new look Red Sox.

On Friday night the Red Sox beat the A’s 2-1 in 12 innings. Justin Duchscherer started for the A’s and pitched 6 innings while yielding one earned run on five hits. For Boston, Tim Wakefield pitched 6 and 1/3 innings and gave up no earned runs as neither starter factored into the decision. Jed Lowrie had a big night going 2-4 with both of Boston’s RBI, including a single to win the game in the 12th. In Jason Bay’s debut he finished 1-3 with 2 runs scored. For the A’s, Jack Cust supplied a solo home run in the 8th inning which only delayed the inevitable. Mike Timlin pickled up the win with one inning of work, while Allan Embree took the loss by giving up an earned run in 2/3 of an inning.

On Saturday the A’s were assaulted by the Red Sox by a 12- 2 margin. Dana Eveland had a porous outing by pitching 2 innings and giving up 9 earned runs. Following this outing, Eveland was optioned back to AAA, and Dan Meyer was called up to take his place. Jon Lester opposed Eveland and picked up the win by pitching 7 innings and giving up 2 earned runs. Emil Brown had a two run home run for the A’s, while Jed Lowrie had another great night by going 2-3 with 3 RBI as the A’s lost 12-2.

Sunday morning was anything but easy for the A’s who lost 5-2 to finish up a disappointing series. Dallas Braden pitched 3 1/3 innings and gave up 4 earned runs, while Dice K pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 earned runs and recorded 8 strikeouts. The game featured a rain delay and another weak effort by the A’s offense. Daric Barton hit a two run home run for Oakland while Jed Lowrie went 1-3 with 3 RBI. It’s not often when a single player outperforms an entire team however, that  was the case with jed Lowrie in this series. The A’s will look to bounce back as they head up north to the second best country in the world to ace the Blue jays.

In the four game series in Toronto, Greg Smith(5-10, 4.04) will start for the A’s on Monday night against Roy Halladay(12-8, 2.85). Tuesday night, Sean Gallagher(4-4 4.11) will face Canadian native Scott Richmond(0-1, 5.06). On Wednesday, Justin Duchscherer(10-7 2.33) will face Shaun Marcum(5-5 3.57). the series will conclude on thursday when a pitcher to be named will face A.J.. Burnett(13-9 4.57). Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great week and remember to live smooth.

Earlier this afternoon, the A’s continued their rebuilding process by sending their “ace” at the beginning of the ‘08 season to Philadelphia in exchange for three minor league prospects. Blanton, the A’s Opening Day starter, was struggling this season in Oakland, as he had been very inconsistent with his (5-12) record and a 4.96 E.R.A. The haul of prospects that the A’s pulled back in this deal were second baseman Adrian Cardenas (the second ranked prospect in the Phillies’ system according to Baseball America before the season’s start), AA level pitcher Josh Outman, who was the fourth ranked prospect, also according to Baseball America, and is (5-4) with a 3.20 E.R.A. , and outfielder Matt Spencer who is hitting .249 this season at Class A Clearwater. Cardenas is just 20 years old, Outman is 23, and Spencer is 22. All three of these players will be sent to the A’s farm system, and with Blanton vacating the starting rotation Gio Gonzalez may be called up into the rotation, but no decision has been made yet. I (Jordan) feel like this was a good move for Beane to make at this time, because he is continuing to make it clear that he is in full rebuilding mode. I respect that he is sticking with his guns from the offseason. There will be more on this, and the Harden trade in our next episode of Athleticscast. Please make sure you all weigh in on these roster moves by emailing us at hosts@athleticscast.com, by calling us at 415-691-6185, or by posting your thoughts on this page. Take care, and Let’s Go Oakland!!!!

Today the Oakland A’s traded right handed starter Rich Harden, and Chad Gaudin in exchange for outfielders Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, pitcher  Sean Gallagher and minor leaguer John Donaldson. This marks the end of the Harden era and further signals the A’s desire forego competing this year for a chance to make the playoffs next year. Stay tuned, more to come.

Baseball America is reporting that the A’s and 16-year old Michael Inoa of the Dominican Republic have agreed to a contrat with a $ 4.25 million signing bonus. This kid is 6 foot 7, and at 16 has been clocked at 96 mph on his fastball, but is regularly about 91-93 mph. He is supposed to have an excellent curveball and a “dirty” splitter. It is nice to see the A’s continue to build their farm system, and this kid has me excited for the future. He is projected as a 1 or 2 starter potentially, and with our already good amount of young arms in the rotation and on the farm, things look good for the future as far as pitching is concerned.

Hey what’s up A’s fans, this is Charles here with another series recap. This week the A’s traveled to Arizona for an interleague matchup against the talented Diamondbacks where they lost two out of three.

On Tuesday the A’s pummeled the D-backs 15-1 in what was Brandon Webb’s worst start of the year. Justin Duchscherer cruised through 8 innings of work while only giving up 1 earned run. Brandon Webb stumbled through 3 1/3 innings while surrendering 7 earned runs. Mark Ellis had a huge day going 3-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI, while Rajai Davis also tacked on a homer run and 3 RBi on a 2-2 night. Bobby Crosby and Eric Chavez each had a home run and two RBI, while Carlos Gonzalez, Kurt Suzuki and Cust each had an RBI. 

On Wednesday the Diamondbacks returned to favor by beating the A’s 11-1. In his first start against his former team, Dan Haren pitched 7 strong innings while giving up one earned run. For the A’s Joe Blanton was awful in his 3 innings as he gave up 8 earned runs. Kurt Suzuki went 2-4 and recorded the only RBI for the A’s while multiple D-backs had big nights. Chris Young had a three run home run, Stephen Drew had a two run home run and Dan Haren had a 3 run double to open the game wide open as Arizona took game 2 of the series.

In the rubber game of the series on Thursday, Arizona beat the A’s 2-1 to take the series. Greg Smith started for the A’s and pitched 5 innings and gave up one earned run, while Doug Davis pitched 6 innings for Arizona and gave up 1 earned run. Jack Cust had a bloop RBI single that landed on the fair line to score the only run for the A’s. Chris Young went 2-2 with an RBI, while Justin Upton went 2-3 with the the game winning home run in the 8th to lead Arizona to the win. 

Following the series loss to Arizona the A’s head back to Oakland to face the surprising Florida Marlins for a three game series. On Friday night former Sacramento King Mark Hendrickson(7-5, 5.74 ERA) will face Rich Harden(4-0, 2.53 ERA). Saturday night will bring a matchup of Ricky Nolasco(7-4, 4.35 ERA) and Dana Eveland(5-5, 3.56 ERA). The finale on Sunday will feature Andrew Miller(5-5, 4.87) and Justin Duchscherer(7-4, 2.08 ERA). Make sure to email us at hosts@athleticscast.com or call us at 415-691-6185. You can also have your voice heard by posting a message to this blog. Go A’s! Have a great weekend and remember to live smooth.