The Oakland A’s offseason has been a bit of a soap opera.
Since what looked like a full blown fire sale by shipping off three good young pitchers (Cahill, Gonzalez and Bailey), things have taken a different turn. Billy Beane pulled the trigger on Yoenis Cespedes, the hot prospect from Cuba, telling A’s fans that he is willing to spend some money to go along with the youth in Oakland.
Although, don’t forget about the huge contract he gave Cahill last year, as we know all too well with Beane, he is very impatient when he spends big bucks.
Drama
Manny Ramirez is bringing his show to Oakland along with a 50-game suspension and some legal issues.
Coco Crisp doesn’t seem happy with the notion that he may have to move to one of the corner spots in the outfield, due to the signing of Cespedes, so fans will have to wait and see how that plays out.
Crisp should just relax until we find out if Cespedes’s big numbers in Cuba are any indication of how good this kid can be in “The Show.”
Question Marks
Without boring you with a list of names that A’s fans are well aware of, I will just mention a few spots that remain a mystery in Oakland.
Closer Andrew Bailey is gone, so who will step in and win the job? The outfield is definitely not settled, and the DH spots and first base are a traffic jam to say the least.
What We Know
Kurt Suzuki, Coco Crisp, Cliff Pennington, Jemile Weeks and Scott Sizemore are pretty much locks for their respective positions and Brandon McCarthy, Bartolo Colon and Dallas Braden will fill the top three spots in the rotation.
My Two Cents
The A’s are a young team and there are a lot of ifs as we begin spring training. I like what I see in Jemile Weeks—there will be no sophomore slump here. If Cespedes works out, I like the potential one-two punch of the speedy Crisp and Weeks at the top of the order.
The competition for the closer spots and the three or four guys vying for the last two spots in the starting rotation could be good for business, as these guys will leave it all on the hill in order to secure a spot.
OK, I’ll stop dancing around the real issue in Oakland.
The Oakland A’s couldn’t score runs in 2011 and this needs to change. Cespedes, Manny and a huge stable of young unproven talent is supposed to solve that problem.
So, if the A’s are a soap opera, let’s hope it’s not the “Young and the Hitless.”
I’m just saying!
This article can also be viewed at SportsandMoviestuff.com
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com