Times have been tough for the Oakland A's. Last year was particularly uninspiring. The A's really didn't have too many "stars" lying around to blame their shortcomings on being injured. Eric Chavez was out most of the year with back problems, but we all saw that coming. He's a mere shadow of the player that won five consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Justin Duchsherer was going through a divorce and depression all while rehabbing an injury. I suppose we missed him on the hill. But the vaunted rotations of years past (Hudson, Zito, and Mulder)of which books were written and numerous stories told, are long gone. In their wake we have rookie sensation Andrew Bailey who represented Oakland at the All-Star Game in St. Louis. He's made for a fine replacement to Huston Street who just didn't seem to have "it" in Oakland in the end. But beyond these players, there really was not much to "hope" for in 2009 and what on earth are we supposed to be hoping for in 2010?
I watched CSNBA's season in review broadcast over the winter break and all it consisted of really were a couple of double-plays the A's turned last May or something. The A's single greatest accomplishment in 2009 as far as I'm concerned is the day they came back from 11-0 to Minnesota and won on a wild pitch. A close runner-up would have been Rajai Davis' scramble around the bases to beat Texas on the overthrown pick-off attempt in the 10th inning. But that's out of 162 games.
Gone are the days, it seems, that the A's "Moneyball" formula provided them with the most efficient bang for their buck. Nick Swisher is now a World Series champion in NY. Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon went elsewhere to win world titles. Tejada and Giambi were caught up in the steroid scandals, though Tejada has managed to continue to be productive. But all of the A's best players of the 2000s are in other towns playing for other teams.
What's left really does not lead even the most casual fan to believe the Oakland A's will make any noise in the AL West. The Seattle Mariners have been on a shopping spree this spring. They picked up Chone Figgins to say the least. Meanwhile, the LA Angels signed World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, and the Rangers picked up slugger Vladimir Guerrero. Who did we lock down this offseason? Jack Cust. Just when you started to think it couldn't get any worse. This guy makes Matt Stairs seem like Rickey Henderson on the basepaths!
Duchsherer at least agreed to come back to Oakland where he feels at home. Bailey will be back to close out games, if there are any games to close out. He may want to just opt for relief duty. Patrolling the infield? We can all hope Eric Chavez will be back, but the expectations are minimal at best. Mark Ellis has been fine, but he's aging and not exactly producing numbers at the plate. I haven't the faintest idea of who half the players listed on the roster are at this point: Pennington, Fox, Miles, Petit, and Carter? Your guess is as good as mine.
The starting rotation next to Duchsherer? Gio Gonzalez seemed to settle down and could have some upside. Mazzaro had his moments. Besides Bailey in the pen, Ziegler remains along with his 15 minutes of fame from 2008 when he had the scoreless innings streak going. Let's face it. We're not the team that other clubs dread to come and face because of our lights out pitching rotation.
At best, the Oakland A's are probably heading for a 50-60 win season in this fan's opinion. It's a good thing the A's still have $2 Wednesdays and Dollar Dogs because if you had money to spend, you're better off going to see a competitive Giants team across the Bay in a state-of-the-art facility (AT&T Park).
I'm disappointed that we aren't doing more to continue the tradition of winning baseball here in Oakland. Through all decades (70s, 80s, and 90s) the A's have had a history of competing for postseason action with 4 titles to show for it. I'd like to say that next year's Craig Breslow bobblehead night would be reason to sign up for season tickets right now, but it just does not feel that way.
And just when you think it couldn't get any worse, former A's great and one of my childhood heroes Mark McGwire comes out with the obvious confession that he did, in fact, use steroids when he broke the single-season HR record.
Well ... at least we have the $2 Wednesdays. This team doesn't seem worth the paper those cheap tickets are printed on.
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