|
|
|
|
|
Do not count the A’s out
By Jerry Feitelberg July 21, 2010 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Oakland A’s have now played 95 games this season. With their win today over the injury depleted Boston Red Sox, the A’s find themselves one game over the .500 mark with a record of 48 wins against 47 losses. The A’s have won 7 out of their last 8 and 14 out of the last 21. They started the day 8 games behind the division leading Texas Rangers. The A’s are a young team that seems to be getting better. They still have 67 games left to play. This is time of year when some teams start to fade while others get better. The Texas Rangers have a history of fading in the second half of the season. The A’s have 13 games left with the Rangers and can make a move. The A’s have excellent starting pitching. Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Vin Mazzaro, Ben Sheets, Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson are a pretty good starting pitching staff. Sheets may not be the Sheets of all but he is a leader in the clubhouse and has been a big help to the young pitchers. The A’s bullpen has come around and has been getting the job done. The defense has been outstanding. One of the tenets in baseball is “strength up the middle.” What that means is good pitching, a good catcher, good middle infielders and a good centerfielder. The A’s have all those elements. They also are a team that plays the game right and does not quit. While they have good players, they do not have a lot of power hitters in their lineup. The big hitters are usually corner players. The big boppers can be a third or first baseman or a left or right fielder. As of the moment, the A’s do not have that type of player, yet. It is not impossible for the A’s to win the division. They need to get hot and they need some help. The trade deadline is July 31st. The general manager, Billy Beane, should be in the market to get a big bat. In past years, the A’s have been sellers but this year they should be buyers. It’s time for ownership to make a decision to go for it. Oakland has not been to the playoffs since 2006. They had a big bat in the person of Frank Thomas. It’s time for the A’s to make the moves needed to improve the team. Professional baseball is about winning. Winning is wonderful. Will the fans support the team? Build it and they will come. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||