Kuzul

The A’s bullpen is tired. Really tired.

Over the past two games, the Oakland bullpen has thrown six innings and allowed 11 runs. Suffice to say, the A’s once semi-impenetrable bullpen is dragging toward the end of the season.

The bullpen’s faults aren’t all based on fatigue.

Michael Wuertz has been injured on and off the entire season, and has been woefully ineffective during appearances. Rookies Neil Wagner, Andrew Carignan, and Bruce Billings have been thrown into tough situations, and their stats have suffered as a result.

Overall, the A’s bullpen is 18th best in the league with a 3.74 ERA. Since the All-Star break, the A’s overall ERA is 27th best in baseball at 4.80.

Everyone is fatigued, which will dissipate by spring training 2012. A healthy bullpen, with each member assigned a consistent role, should yield better results next season.

Andrew Bailey will be the A’s closer until he is traded. Despite injuries and career “worst” numbers so far this season, Bailey has 20 saves in 22 opportunities and has a 3.28 ERA. If he remains healthy and stays in the closer role its not beyond the realm of possibilities to see him save 40 games next year.

Grant Balfour is under contract through 2012 with a club option for 2013. He has been nothing less of spectacular in the right handed setup role this year with a 2.24 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 56 appearances.

Outside of Bailey and Balfour, the remaining five members of the A’s 2012 opening day bullpen are a mystery. Here are a few educated guesses about who else might be a member of next year’s bullpen.

Brian Fuentes is a name many A’s fans would like to forget. However, he is under contract through next season, and has actually pitched pretty well since Andrew Bailey returned.

Fuentes closed games in the beginning of the season, and was used in a relief role as well. Fuentes did not fair well under such heavy usage and managed to lose eight games by the end of June.

Since then, Fuentes has been much better, posting ERA’s of 3.52 and 1.86 in July and August, respectively. The A’s desperately need a lefty setup man, but Fuentes is the best they have at present.

Fautino De Los Santos has established himself as manager Bob Melvin’s apparent seventh-inning reliever. While he has struggled at times, “FDLS” looks to have locked down a spot in next year’s bullpen with his plus-95 mph fastball.

Joey Devine did not perform as expected this year. He was projected to be a late inning reliever, but struggled at the major league level and has pitched in AAA since. He still looks to be one of the most talented pitchers in the Oakland organization, and with a good spring training will be on the major league roster in 2012.

Craig Breslow has not been good this year, but his role hasn’t been well-enough defined. If Breslow assumes the role of lefty specialist, typically only a single batter, he should do well.  There are other options available, but the A’s seem enamored with Breslow despite his production this season.

Josh Outman probably could be in the rotation next year, but odds are he will end up the long man in the bullpen. He is best suited to start, but the A’s will have a glut of starters next year and Outman will probably see himself passed over.

There are a few pitchers from this season that will not return to the A’s bullpen in 2012:

Michael Wuertz hasn’t been the same since his injuries and it doesn’t look like the A’s will retain his services. Jerry Blevins has been promoted and demoted six times this season. For Blevins sake and the A’s, a trade or release would suit both teams well. Jordan Norberto, Bruce Billings, Andrew Carignan, and Neil Wagner should expect to find themselves in Sacramento Rivercats uniforms at the beginning of the 2012 season. 

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I’m not positive on what the appropriate definition of softest is for this. If it is the most cuddly, definitely Pablo Sandoval. If it is about who has the softest hands, possibly Alex Rodriguez but I wouldn’t know for sure.

One thing to consider is a player who folds under pressure, injures easily or just can’t seem to get it together for an entire season.

With that very vague and rough definition in place let’s take a look at the 10 softest players in the majors.

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The All-Star break is not far off.

And while some players will be traveling to Arizona for the midsummer classic, most GM will be pondering what did I do? What do I need to do?

The trade deadline is also rapidly approaching at just under six weeks and some teams will need to atone for poor decision making in the most recent off season. It’s judgement time for the first half of the year.

Large contracts were handed to a few undeserving folks. One sided trades were agreed upon, and washed up veterans began collecting another paycheck instead of a pension.

10 such GM blunders come to mind in the worst off season moves of 2011.

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Various sources are reporting today that Major League Baseball has had extensive discussions about potential realignment in the near future.

ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that the MLB and the MLB Players Association are discussing moving an NL team to the AL to have two 15-team leagues.

Amongst the considerations are three 5-team divisions per league or no divisions at all in an effort to remove the currently-utilized unbalanced schedule that gives some teams an unfair advantage based on their opponents and frequency of playing them.

The 15-team no division format would have five teams make the playoffs per league with the top three seeds in each league presumably receiving a bye into the second round of the playoffs.

One source reported that the odds of such a change occurring are about 50-50.

A major factor to consider with possible realignment is there would always be the need for an interleague series to take place because of the odd number of teams in each league. Another deciding factor would be which team to move from the NL to the AL; presumably an NL Central team would move to the AL West to put five teams in every division. The Houston Astros are one team that has been discussed, as it would allow for a rivalry with the in-state Texas Rangers.

So what to think of all of this?

If it does happen, it probably won’t be soon; it would likely take a few years to get everything in place and get a majority of teams on board. Some compensations would need to be made for the team transferring leagues, a new playoff format would need to be agreed upon and the potential of year-round interleague play is also sure to cause some debate.

This could be part of a master plan to increase revenues by increasing the number of playoff teams. I suppose a three-game playoff that has already been discussed would be used between the fourth and fifth seed of each league. The playoffs would continue like they currently function after the Wild Card round.

It’s difficult to fathom such a drastic change to the tradition-laden MLB, but stranger things have happened.

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The Oakland A’s, like many teams this year, have underperformed offensively.

Lucky for the A’s their system is loaded with enough pitching talent to keep them afloat. But for how long? Dominant pitching will have its rocky patches at times and when that occurs, the offense needs to step up.

So far this year, it hasn’t. But don’t fear, there are a few possible fixes. Obviously a trade would immediately benefit the Athletics’ offense, but doing so could hurt the organization for the long term. The alternative? Call someone up from Sacramento.

The Athletics’ AAA squad is loaded with talent that is stuck behind the incumbent starters at the big league level. Tyson Ross has already been dominant since he was slotted into the starter rotation in mid-April. Surely there are more bounties waiting to be unearthed from the minors?

Let us see who Billy Beane and the A’s might be willing to give a shot to at some point this season.

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Bud Selig recently noted that Major League baseball is considering expanding the playoffs to 10 teams in 2012.

The proposed plan would have two wild cards selected from each league. Those two teams would play each other in a one game playoff or a best of three series with the winner advancing to the divisional series which would continue in the same manner as it does today.

Opinions around the league have been varied. Smaller market teams seem to be in favor of the move. The Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has stated he is in favor of expansion as long as it doesn’t expand the overall length of the playoffs. Both the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians have voiced their support for the proposed plan.

If the plan were to include a three game series it would likely need to be played Monday through Wednesday the week following the end of the regular season. The division series would need to be pushed back to start on Friday.

There are some opponents to the proposed changes. The Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira have both voiced concern over the fairness of the proposed changes. Although I’m trying to read between the lines, it seems the two most recent World Series champions don’t want other teams to be able to steal a championship because of the inflated size of the playoff pool.

Baseball is America’s pastime, but also the toughest schedule. After playing a grueling 162 game schedule only eight teams make the playoffs. If more were to be allowed ,would it increase or decrease the value and prestige of competing in the postseason?

At some point some change will be made to the MLB postseason. But will this be the change? And will it happen by next year?

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The A’s need to learn that a baseball game is traditionally nine innings, not ten.

That didn’t seem to matter to the green and gold on the South Side, as the A’s managed to steal two out of three games, that all needed extras to be resolved.

Game one featured dominating pitching performances by Dallas Braden and Mark Buehrle. It appeared the A’s would go down 1-0 without a fight, but an Andy LaRoche double and Juan Pierre error pushed across a ninth inning run and gave the A’s a chance in the tenth.

Kurt Suzuki then launched his first home run of the year and the Fuentes closed out the White Sox in the bottom of the tenth for the save.

Game two featured shakier pitching from Trevor Cahill. The newly minted long-term Athletic wobbled through the first two innings, yielding four runs. The A’s rallied and with a Kevin Kouzmanoff two-run homer the A’s nursed themselves to a 5-4 lead, which was promptly surrendered by the bullpen. Both teams matched zeroes until the bottom of the tenth, where Alexei Ramirez launched his second home run of the game to give the Sox a 6-5 walk-off victory.

Game three seemed to be a sure loss for the A’s, who’s offensive deficiencies put them in a 4-1 hole heading to the top of the ninth. Their only run was courtesy of a Hideki Matsui home run, who appears to be warming up to the season.

The A’s mounted a furious comeback, capped by a two out bases loaded single by Cliff Pennington to knot the game at four apiece. The A’s mustered three more runs off of Matt Thornton in the tenth and Fuentes easily shut down the White Sox for his fifth save in five chances, a 7-4 win and a road series victory.

Offense

The offense seems finally to be coming round after scoring a respectable fourteen runs in the three games. Matsui batted 5-13 with a home run and three RBI’s in the series. Daric Barton was 5-9 and had a career high four hits in Tuesday’s loss.

David DeJesus is the one A’s player lagging behind the rest, as he batted 2-13 and seemed to find a way to quash every A’s rally he was in the middle of. Conor Jackson continued to be affective and should look to get more playing time along with Ryan Sweeney, if DeJesus continues to struggle.

Defense

The defense in games one and two was solid, but hit a bit of a rough patch in the Wednesday finale. Brett Anderson and Kouzmanoff committed errors that led to unearned runs.  Conor Jackson found himself at third base for the end of the game after Kouzmanoff had been substituted. Luckily Jackson managed to avoid the ball while in the field.

Starting Pitching

Solid, but not as spectacular. Dallas Braden was the best giving up only a solo home run in six innings. Trevor Cahill struggled and failed to finish five innings, while Brett Anderson pitched through a gritty 5.2 innings, yielding three runs, two earned.

Relief Pitching

Definitely their best series of the year. Four shutout innings on Monday, two runs in 5.1 innings on Tuesday, and a single unearned run through 3.1 Wednesday. Fuentes pitched two innings and got a pair of saves. Tyson Ross pitched a dominating three shutout innings on Monday and received the win for his troubles. Grant Balfour pitched bottom of the ninth in the finale and was rewarded with his first win as an Oakland A.

Managing

No apparent blunders for Bob Geren and company. Compared to Ozzie Guillen’s use of the White Sox’ “bullpen,” Geren looks like a manager savant, but maybe its a bit too early to declare him manager of the year.

The A’s played well in crunch time and managed to snatch two victories from the jaws of defeat. After a successful 5-4 road trip, the A’s return home to the generous confines of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to take on the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.

Let’s hope their luck continues. 

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According to multiple sources, the A’s and opening day starter Trevor Cahill have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract extension.

The deal has not yet been completed and no announcement is expected until tomorrow at the earliest. Financial details and length of the extension are yet to be released. Cahill was the A’s opening day starter and has posted a 1-0 record with a 1.42 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12.2 innings so far this season. Last season he was an All-Star and Cy Young contender with an 18-8 record and 2.97 ERA in 30 appearances, all starts.

His deal signals a trend in the A’s organization after signing Brett Anderson and Kurt Suzuki similar to extensions over the last few season. Anderson signed a four year 12.5 million dollar contract last April while offering Kurt Suzuki four years and $16.25 million in July.

It appears Gio Gonzalez would be the next player in line to receive a long term extension with hopes of buying out remaining arbitration years.

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It is a new year for the A’s, but let’s hope their first series against the Mariners was not an accurate preview of what to expect in the coming year.

The A’s did not perform well in Friday’s and Saturday’s games losing 6-2 and 5-2, respectively.

Sunday’s game showed a bit of a bounce back as A’s managed a 7-1 victory on a day where the sun greatly aided the A’s cause. Luckily, the season is still young with 159 games still ahead.

It is difficult to tell what can truly be taken from the first three games of season, but let’s try nonetheless.

Coco Crisp is the real deal

Although three games is a small sample size, Crisp has carried his spring training success right into the regular season. So far he’s 5-12 with three runs scored and two extra base hits.

He finished Sunday a homer short of the cycle and has been the A’s best hitter thus far. Crisp had a marked impression on the A’s last season despite being on the DL nearly half the time. If he can stay healthy I would look for him to put up top numbers for an AL lead off man.

Defense needs step it up

This is an obvious one, the A’s committed seven errors in their first three games, five on opening night alone. This is probably not something to be worried about long term.

The A’s historically don’t play well on opening night and are still looking to get into sync. Defense is not something that changes for a player year to year without an injury. Rarely if ever, are players said to have a “career year” in defense.

So this is something that the A’s need not worry about unless the problem persists over a number of weeks. Kouzmanoff and Barton have committed multiple errors already this season but I expect them to be on their game shortly.

Starters are as good as advertised

Though the A’s dropped two out of three over the weekend, the starters were not at fault.

Cahill had the weakest showing, completing only 4.2 innings but he managed to strike out eight and only yield a single run. The 8 K’s was actually his second highest total for a start in his career.

If he can keep his strikeouts up and walks down he could improve upon last season. Gonzalez and Anderson both pitched admirably over the weekend; Anderson completed six innings and yielded only one run, while Gonzalez pitched seven full with a Ryan Langerhans home run his only blemish of the day.

Combined A’s starters when 1-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 17K’s in 17.2 innings.

Bullpen still has questions

By far the bullpen has been the weakest aspect of the A’s these first three games. This was suppose to be the A’s strength but they holds both the A’s losses this season.

Three games in is too early to panic, especially when one primary culprit is Craig Breslow, who had only a few appearances in spring training. He will improve once he gets into season shape.

The other question is Fuentes who had a solid spring until the Bay Bridge Series. Twice in his last two appearances has he yielded multiple runs and looks a bit out of sorts. Hopefully Bailey will return sooner than later so Fuentes won’t be forced into as many high pressure games. Again though, its too early to panic.

Performance of the Newcomers

The A’s major off season offensive additions consisted of David DeJesus, Josh Willingham and Hideki Matsui.

Three games in, and they’ve yielded various results.

Willingham started his A’s career with a bang, as he homered off of Felix Hernandez in his first AB. Overall he’s 3 for 11 with 3 RBI’s and 3 runs scored.

Matusi brought an 0 for into Sunday’s finale and managed a pair of hits including the 2500th of his career. Typically a slow starter, Matsui appears to be getting his bat up to speed.

David DeJesus is lagging behind the rest thus far having managed only one hit and one walk in 13 plate appearances. Though it is early it does seem like Ryan Sweeney should get a start to see what he can do after a very successful spring.

Remember, the season is only three days gone, and no drastic actions need to be taken so far. We’ll check back after the Toronto series to see how the A’s have fared in these areas.

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Sunday February 27th marks the first “real” game of spring training for the Oakland athletics. The pitcher, at least for an inning or so, is likely to be Trevor Cahill. He is also likely to be on the mound against the Mariners on April 1st. Anderson, Braden, and Gonzalez are surely to follow in some order.

But who will follow them? Who will take the fifth starter spot. It is always pleasant to enter a season with the entire starting rotation locked down. Having a fifth starter a manager is confident with is always a plus albeit they don’t cost eighteen million and get left off the playoff roster the previous season, cough, Barry Zito. Don’t get me wrong I love Barry Zito but the fact the A’s can field an entire rotation for less than half one year’s salary makes me feel Beane did the right thing in letting Barry walk. Anyway,that’s a different story.

The A’s entered spring training with no less than five viable candidates to fill the fifth starter spot come opening day. Let’s imagine what might happen down the line.

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