Kuzul

When people mention the name of Oakland A’s general manager, Billy Beane, many adjectives follow: Overrated, brilliant, shrewd and ring-less are a few. And while there are those who may never give Beane the credit he deserves for having built a solid small-market playoff contender during the 2000s, the job he has done in 2012 simply cannot be overstated.

Understand, the A’s were simply supposed to be a bad rebuilding team working towards a new stadium in Oakland or elsewhere. It was expected that their nucleus would not be solidified until at least 2014, and this was supposed to be the year when the bottom finally fell out completely to allow the A’s to reload through the MLB Draft like the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays.

Instead, the Oakland A’s sit on top of the American League Wild Card and a mere four games from the top of the AL West standings. Much has been made of this story, but considering that Beane made moves that all seemed to shake in Oakland’s favor, it is high time he is given the credit due for turning this team into a mostly unlikely playoff contender.

The moves Beane made have turned a middling franchise into the talk of baseball. And here are his best of 2012 and why he should be Executive of the Year.

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As the 2012 MLB season trickles down to the final stretch, a handful of teams are seeking playoff berths, while others seek vacation destinations following game 162. 

For the first time since 2006, the Oakland Athletics are putting their postseason paradises on hold. 

Oakland’s midseason surge peaked in July during the 19-5 stint and has yet to fully subside. 

Boasting a 31-14 record since the All-Star Break break, Bob Melvin’s Athletics have patched up their 2012 season quilt with variations of miscellaneous fabrics—and boy, is it warm. 

Following the series-opening 20-2 demolition of the Boston Red Sox, the A’s preserve the top spot in the AL wild card race in front of the Baltimore Orioles on the shoulders of these second-half standouts. 

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Do not be fooled by the logjam in the American League Wild Card standings.

Although there are five teams within 2.5 games of each other for that Wild Card play in game, in reality this is about three teams: the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Tampa Bay Rays.

That is all you see on the sports networks; that is all you hear on the radio. 

Except there are still 38 games to play for the surprising Oakland A’s, who have managed to win in ways that would surprise even the most faithful fan, still just 0.5 games out of those standings. Like the other surprise team in this picture (Baltimore), the A’s face a daunting September schedule that looms as a potential derailment on the playoff train.

That said, the A’s fortunes will largely hinge on how much of a cushion they can give themselves as they embark on the next 16 games of their season.

Starting tonight against the Kansas City Royals, the A’s play four teams with a combined record of 30 games under .500 in 2012. Even though 10 of the 16 are away from the Coliseum, the A’s will have to win in double figures to position themselves for the playoffs.

Let’s start with the Royals.

At 49-65, it has been another long year for Kansas City. Some of their young talent in the field has not lived up to the hype (namely Eric Hosmer). But despite their record, they have played the A’s tough, splitting six games so far this year. With Jarrod Parker’s elongated rest between starts, Brandon McCarthy and Dan Straily pitching, the A’s have to get at least two in this series.

From Kansas City, Oakland comes home to face the slumping Cleveland Indians.

A surprise team earlier in the year, the Indians have faded quickly. Posting a record of 10-21 since the All-Star break, Cleveland has been relegated to playing out the string in 2012. The A’s play the Indians seven times between Aug. 17 and Aug. 30. The aim should be to win five games against a team that has sunk down the stretch.

The A’s host the Minnesota Twins from Aug. 20 to Aug. 22 in Oakland.

In many ways, the Twins were the team that jump started Oakland into postseason contention, as the A’s swept them at Target Field to begin the second half of 2012. That series was in stark contrast to the three-game sweep Minnesota gave the A’s during their nine game losing streak in late May.

The one constant between the two teams has been that Josh Willingham has bashed the A’s. So far, Willingham has hit five home runs in six games against his former team. Keeping him (somewhat) in check and getting to Minnesota’s weak starting rotation will be key. Two out of three games here should be a minimum, with a sweep being the ultimate aim.

Finally, the A’s will travel to St. Petersburg from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25 in a big three-game series against current Wild Card leader Tampa Bay.

The Rays took two of three from the A’s in Oakland as its starting pitching allowed a measly five runs in three games. The series is even at three games apiece, but Oakland will need to play well at Tropicana Field as that set sandwiches series between Cleveland and Minnesota. 

Ultimately, I feel the A’s will have to win 89 games to qualify for the postseason. I project that based on the number of teams still playing, the schedules of the other contenders and, ultimately, the schedule that awaits Oakland.

With that said, to have a reasonable chance to get to that figure, the A’s will have to win 11 of the next 16 games, thus putting their record at 72-58 going towards September.

While the team does have the benefit of playing every other contender, Oakland’s schedule is fourth toughest (.507 opponents win percentage), and they play 27 of the final 48 games on the road.

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It is certainly a bit of a misnomer to use the term “underpaid” when discussing professional baseball players. With a new league minimum salary of $480,000, even the sixth outfielder and the lefty specialist make more annually than the President of the United States. Make no mistake—if you’re talented enough to catch the eye of a big league team, you have the chance to become better paid than the majority of Americans. The league minimum is nothing to sneeze at, but the league average is a tick above $3 million—a paycheck most of us would be hard-pressed to complain about. 

Of course, all players—and all player contracts—are not created equal. They are frequently based on past performance and hope to approximate future performance, an inexact science at best. It is not uncommon for aging players to perform significantly worse in the final years of their contracts than they did when they first signed it, and every now and then you get players whose numbers take drastic and unexplained dips soon after signing mega-deals.

These so-called “albatross contracts” haunt the dreams of every major league GM, who want nothing less than to sign the next Dan Uggla ($13 million, batting .210), Bobby Abreu ($9 million, recently designated for assignment by the Dodgers) or Vernon Wells ($21 million for a whopping -.4 WAR per Fangraphs).

But on the other end of the spectrum are players who are playing well above their pay grade. These are mainly younger players who have yet to become arbitration eligible, but have already started to contribute in big ways to their big league club. For some of these players, the right break for their team in the playoff race could mean a big boost in their MVP candidacy (as we have seen in recent years, MVP voters very much factor team success into the spirit of the award). 

We can quantify the extent to which a player outperforms their paycheck by calculating their cost vs. performance score—the average MLB salary divided by the player’s salary, multiplied by the player’s WAR. 

Read on to find out which legitimate MVP candidates are being paid less than Jack Wilson.

All salary figures are courtesy of Baseball Player Salaries, and all batting stats are courtesy of Fangraphs.

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Ryan Cook allowed a ninth-inning game-tying home run for the second straight game. Toronto scored twice in the 11th inning to stun the Oakland A’s 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum.

David Cooper blasted Cook’s 1-1 fastball to right center field to tie the game at one. The A’s had a chance to win in the 10th inning, but Josh Reddick struck out looking with the bases loaded. 

Oakland got a great performance from their bullpen until the ninth inning, as starter A.J. Griffin left after just 1.2 innings with tightness in his right shoulder.

Jordan Norberto was fantastic, going 3.2 shutout innings. The A’s scored their only run in the second inning after a Brandon Inge walk and wild pitch. Derek Norris hit an opposite-field slicing double to right field to make it 1-0.

With great relief from Norberto, Pat Neshek and Grant Balfour, it appeared the one run would hold up. But Cook could not hold the lead, blowing his seventh save in 18 chances.

Jerry Blevins took the tough loss, giving up two runs in the top of the 11th inning.

The A’s appeared to have a chance to escape damage, as Blevins struck out Jeff Mathis swinging with runners on first and second.

However, the throw by George Kottaras to third base was wild, allowing the running Edwin Encarnacion to score. On the next pitch, Moises Sierra doubled to left field, plating the final run of the game.

The loss drops the A’s to 58-49 and Oakland will try to win the series Sunday afternoon. Tom Milone looks for his 10th win and to bounce back from a rough start last weekend against the Blue Jays.

He will be opposed by fellow southpaw Aaron Laffey.

First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

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At the last checkpoint, the Oakland A’s were 39-42 at the midway point of the season. On pace for 78 wins, they have gone a blistering 16-3 since to move to 55-45 and are on the verge of taking the lead in the American League wild-card standings. For the month of July, they are 18-3 and show no signs of slowing down.

What is all the more remarkable about this turnaround is that is has happened without many of the cogs people expected the A’s to need to have any kind of chance to contend for anything in 2012. For starters, Jemile Weeks, expected to be the catalyst for the Oakland offense, continues to languish around .220 for the year. The A’s shortstops have combined for splits of .184/.244/.276 as of July 28th. That is by far the worst in baseball. Catchers have not been much better, performing at splits of .198/.250/.269 in 2012. 

Meanwhile, the A’s have the No. 1 pitching staff in the American League despite having three rookies in the rotation. The team ace Brandon McCarthy has missed chunks of the season with a balky shoulder and rotation stalwarts Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden have yet to make one pitch at the major league level. 

So what have the A’s done well? First off, they are getting great production from Yoenis Cespedes. Backed by a hot July, Cespedes currently has splits of .302/.361/.541 for an OPS of .902. Considering “The Cuban Missile” has missed about 30 games to injury, the production he has had is all the more remarkable.

Even more of a surprise has been the amazing play of Josh Reddick. Billy Beane looks like a genius for acquiring the right fielder for Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney. All Reddick has done is lead the team with 22 home runs, drive in 50 runs and compile his own slugging percentage of .537 with an OPS of .885 in 2012. By far the A’s most consistent hitter during the year, Reddick has helped the A’s balance out their lineup over the course of the season. 

Of course, Oakland’s success could not happen without great pitching. The trio of Jarrod Parker, Tom Milone and A.J. Griffin has done more than just complement veterans Bartolo Colon and the surprising Travis Blackley. They have become the lead story in a rotation that continues to surprise.

Parker, while having some struggles in July, still sits at 7-4 with a 3.38 ERA on the season. Milone has been lights out in Oakland, going 9-7 overall, while Griffin has truly been a pleasant surprise. In six starts, Griffin has gone six innings in each, winning his last three decisions while posting an ERA of 2.25 on the year. Instead of being a warm body until other starters got healthy, Griffin appears to be firmly planted in the rotation. 

Knowing how quickly the situation can change, it is important to note that the A’s still have a tenuous schedule to navigate. The 10 games with Los Angeles and six with Texas will likely determine if Oakland has a position in the 2012 playoffs. But there are also six games with Tampa Bay, three more with the Yankees, three with another division/wild-card hopeful, the Detroit Tigers, as well as six with the always pesky Seattle Mariners.

Either way, to be on pace for 89 wins with this team, there is no doubt that Bob Melvin deserves more than just a little consideration for AL Manager of the Year. Whether he will merit it will depend on his team in the next few weeks.

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Ryan Cook has been almost lights out for the A’s this season. Tonight was not one of those nights. The San Francisco Giants overcame a 3-1 deficit with four in the ninth to beat Oakland 5-4 and take the opener of the Bay Bridge series in Oakland. Cook took the loss, while Giants reliever Clay Hensley got credit for the win. Former A’s reliever Santiago Casilla allowed Josh Reddick’s 16th home run in the ninth, but picked up his 20th save.

A’s starter Jarrod Parker went six-plus innings, allowing only a single run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Struggling Giants starter Tim Lincecum actually resembled his former dominant self after the first inning, going six innings and allowing three runs on only three hits. Lincecum struck out eight. But he did walk four batters, as his control remained elusive.

After Parker went 1-2-3 in the first, the A’s immediately struck against Lincecum. Coco Crisp led off with an infield single. He then promptly stole second and third base and scored on Jemile Weeks’ single to center field. Josh Reddick then snapped his 0-for-19 slump with a bloop single that landed just in front of Nate Schierholtz. A walk to Yoenis Cespedes loaded the bases.

Then Seth Smith hit a grounder to Giants first baseman Brandon Belt. 

Belt, instead of tagging first base for the force out, stepped over the bag and threw home, where Weeks slid home to beat the tag of backup catcher Hector Sanchez. Brandon Inge followed with a bases-loaded walk to force home the third run of the inning. To Lincecum’s credit, he stopped the bleeding, striking out Brandon Moss, Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington in order to keep the score 3-0. 

The Giants scored their run in the top of the third when, after a leadoff single by Sanchez, Parker threw a wild pitch to advance him to second. Gregor Blanco then singled to right field for the RBI, making it 3-1.

But Parker would allow nothing else, and the bullpen effort of Jerry Blevins and Grant Balfour was splendid. Cook just could not shut the door. Belt’s two run double and RBI singles by Sanchez and Blanco put the victory in the Giants’ win column.

Good: Jarrod Parker. He definitely deserved to win. Unfortunately for him, it was one of those deals where the closer just didn’t have it. But Parker was solid. He threw six-plus innings and did enough to exit with a 3-1 lead. He kept the Giants guessing with his fastball and changeup and continues to impress at home.

Bad: A’s 7-8-9 hitters. You can’t completely scapegoat the bottom of the lineup, but they do deserve some criticism. It’s is not really the overall performance (1-for-10 with five strikeouts), but the lack of production in the first inning, when the A’s could have ended the game right away. With the bases loaded and no outs, Moss could not put the ball in play. Needing only a sacrifice fly, Suzuki could not put the ball in play. And the last chance to produce, Pennington, struck out meekly. The A’s gave the Giants an opening and they took it.

Ugly: Ryan Cook. It was bound to happen. Most closers have a bad appearance or two in the course of a season. Cook’s was definitely tonight. His control was off from the beginning and walks—a season-long issue—were his undoing tonight. In total, he was charged with four earned runs. That is double the two he had allowed entering the game. This was a disheartening loss for the A’s, who appeared well on their way to getting the opener against their Bay Area arch rivals. 

Looking to bounce back from this tough loss, the A’s will send Tyson Ross against Madison Bumgarner on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

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After a disastrous September, Boston missed the postseason for the second straight season. We saw a major upheaval of the organization and the roster.

Theo Epstein and Terry Francona left.

Ben Cherington and Bobby Valentine are here.

The front office made several moves during the offseason to try and revamp the team with hopes of making a postseason run in 2012. This included letting players walk during free agency as well as trading players to try and give the team a new feel.

Here are six players that didn’t return to Boston after their epic collapse last season and have made strides to help their new teams.

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With this type of run support, Tom Milone could win 20 games. After getting nine runs in his last start, the A’s offense gave Milone 11 total runs and thumped the Detroit Tigers 11-4 at the Coliseum.

Josh Reddick went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five total RBI. Brandon Inge added four RBI, including his fifth home run, a three-run blast that busted the game open.

That was more than enough for Milone, who bounced back from a shaky first inning to go seven strong innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out six total. 

The A’s responded in the first inning with a Kila Ka’aihue double and Inge singled to right to score him. After that, the offense put up crooked numbers in the third, sixth and seventh innings. Reddick’s first home run and a Seth Smith double made it 4-2 in the third.

The A’s would then score seven runs in the sixth and seventh, buoyed by Reddick’s second home run and Inge’s blast. 

Good: Josh Reddick. Milone was solid, but the night belonged to Reddick. He had two singles and two home runs to raise his average to .292 with eight home runs and 19 RBI. If he stays hot, Reddick could play himself into All-Star consideration.

Bad: Andrew Carignan. I questioned his recall and Carignan struggled in his one inning of relief. He threw 31 pitches (only 13 for strikes) and allowed two runs on two hits and two walks. His earned run average is 8.44 for the year. 

Ugly: Daric Barton. He went 0-for-5 to lower his batting average to .188. There is no reason why he should be starting over Ka’aihue at this point. It just does not make sense. 

Now 17-16, the A’s will send Brandon McCarthy against Detroit’s Doug Fister on Saturday, May 12. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET. 

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