Kuzul

Bad breaks, thin pocketbook and recent sloppy play aside, the Oakland Athletics are still the best team in the American League West. If a couple key players perform well in September, the Athletics should repeat as division champions.

Mid-August finds the A’s 1.5 games behind the Texas Rangers, with the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Houston Astros trailing off in the distance.

The revised wild-card format means second place is no longer good enough, as the Rangers found last season. A winning season can go down the drain with one playoff loss.

Begin Slideshow

When it comes to the MLB waiver trade deadline, the Oakland Athletics‘ approach could be aptly titled “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Then again, general manager Billy Beane has never been one to show his cards, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

At this point, the A’s have talent on both sides of the ball. It’s just a matter of the two clicking simultaneously.

Four-fifths of the starting rotation could end up with a dozen wins. The offense is well-rounded with speed from Coco Crisp and Eric Sogard, consistency from the left side of the infield and power from Brandon Moss and Yoenis Cespedes.

There isn’t much news on the green and gold front, but here’s a look at a few tidbits that have circulated.

The A’s Might be in the Market for a Catcher

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland might be forced to kick the tires on a catcher.

It’s not necessarily that Derek Norris’ .230 average is the factor. It’s more that John Jaso is currently on the 15-day disabled list with no timetable for a return. Moreover, Norris, Donaldson—a former catcher—and Luke Montz (Triple-A) aren’t 100 percent healthy either, writes Slusser.

That leaves Stephen Vogt as the lone healthy catcher on the roster.

Unfortunately, the A’s don’t exactly have an Easter basket full of goodies to choose from at this point when it comes to available catchers.

John Buck might be available, but a .217 average (.182 in the last 14 days) isn’t much of an improvement. If Oakland is simply looking for anyone with experience behind the dish, he could do, but giving up any kind of prospect for Buck doesn’t make too much sense.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune speculated in early July that the Chicago Cubs might move Dioner Navarro. He’s hitting a quality .287 with nine home runs in a limited role, including an average over .400 against lefty pitchers. Those same stats should inflate his price tag, though.

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki questioned whether the Philadelphia Phillies‘ Carlos Ruiz would stick around.

Zolecki does a pretty good job of turning everyone off of Ruiz, though, with a powerful statement such as this:

He turns 35 in January, he has spent each of the past five seasons on the disabled list and he is in the midst of his worst offensive season since 2008, which comes on the heels of a 25-game suspension for using a banned stimulant.

When it comes to Jaso, concussions aren’t the type of injury that one fully recovers from in a set amount of time. Just ask the NHL’s Sidney Crosby. And the more Norris continues to play, the more difficult it becomes to restore to full health.

But the AL West race is tight.

Because of that, the A’s might not be in a position where they can afford to hope for the best from Norris and Jaso. Navarro is a great option, but he’s going to cost the most in terms of prospects. Ruiz is much too risky.

If the A’s just need a healthy body for cheap and aren’t worried about upgrading, Buck might be the guy to look into.

Adam Rosales claimed by Texas

For the third time in 11 days, utility infielder Adam Rosales switched teams, as confirmed by Xander Zellner of USA Today.

The A’s designated Rosales for assignment after trading for Alberto Callaspo. The Rangers originally picked him up but then designated him a few days later. The A’s claimed him, only to DFA him once more to make room for Sonny Gray.

And so he goes back to Texas.

Will he come back to Oakland for a third stint? It’s quite unlikely, simply because the events that have already unfolded have been so bizarre. The chances of it happening once again seems quite slim. The next most plausible move sees Gray or Dan Straily go down in favor of Tommy Milone coming back up.

Then they’ll have yet another decision to make once Brett Anderson returns from injury.

Talk of Adding a Reliever Hushes

Back on July 30, Slusser spoke about the potential Jake Peavy trade, but said:

The one area where there are available players is the bullpen, with several teams dangling relievers, so it’s quite possible that if the A’s cannot land a big fish such as Peavy that they might settle for adding a reliever, even though Brett Anderson could come off the DL next month in a bullpen role. Many years, Beane has added a reliever or two after the All-Star break.

Jim Bowden of ESPN confirmed the sentiment one day after:

Since then?

Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

There’s a variety of relievers that could be available. MLBTradeRumors.com does a fabulous job of breaking them down by right-handers and lefties. But how deep is the need for another bullpen arm?

With Gray proving his worth and Anderson returning, it seems there’s a plethora of arms.

Both of these guys could move into the bullpen. Or they could take two spots in the rotation and bump others (Straily, Griffin and Milone are options) into the ‘pen. With the addition of an outside reliever, Oakland would then have 15 pitchers to choose from.

With so many pitchers already, it doesn’t seem likely that the A’s add a reliever. I wouldn’t hold your breath on a Rosie return either. And a catcher may not be en route.

When the A’s were thought to need a major splash most, Beane brought in Callaspo only. It’s hard to see him making a move now when the need is even less.

Then again, stranger and more surprising moves have happened.

Rosales can attest to that.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Billy Beane is doing it again. He’s putting together a roster of misfits that are doing nothing but win baseball games. And it’s all being done with the fourth lowest payroll in the majors, and a bunch of guys the casual fan can’t name.

Heading into action on July 27th, Oakland’s winning percentage is .583, good for fifth in Major League Baseball. And they’re leading the Texas Rangers in the American League West by four games. All this with a roster of cast-offs and no-names, and a ballpark that has a history of sewage backups. 

Despite all the disadvantages Beane and company have to endure, the A’s are one of the best teams in baseball.

And they’re doing this while flying far under the radar, as evidenced by their All-Stars.

They had exactly two. Bartolo Colon, and Grant Balfour.

Over the past year, not just this season, the A’s have been really good. Excellent, in fact. Take it from Buster Olney.

It’s very interesting just exactly how the A’s are winning games with so few resources. And yes, there are reasons; this isn’t just a long stroke of luck. So let’s start with the first and most important reason.

The Pitching Staff

It might seem too general, but World Series have been won with pitching and not much else. And Oakland’s staff is one of the best.

Some statistics off the top: The A team has an ERA of 3.60, sixth in the majors, a deep rotation that is fourth in baseball in innings pitched with 634 and an entire staff that refuses to walk anyone—as evidenced by their major league low 2.38 BB/9.

The staff is also tied for eighth in baseball in wins above replacement, or WAR.

Need more? The A’s are seventh in the league in K/BB, with a ratio of 2.88. They’re tied with the Reds and Pirates for the lowest WHIP in the MLB, at 1.19. And they’re holding teams to a measly .239 batting average against. That would be fourth lowest in the majors.

They’re not a sexy pitching staff. They don’t have the big names, or the guys who strike out 200-plus batters. They don’t have anyone who throws 100, and the way they get guys out isn’t always pretty.

Also, is it too mean to make a joke about Bartolo Colon and not being sexy? Probably. Let’s just move on.

What all this means is that despite how the staff may look, or how they go about business, they get the job done.

They don’t give out free passes very easily. So they force lineups to hit them. And lineups can’t seem to hit them. Despite the staff throwing fastballs at an average velocity of 90.6, ahead of only the Twins and Giants.

What this tells me is that the A’s in general have pinpoint control. They don’t throw too hard, and they don’t mow down lineups. They locate their pitches, and force batters to hit the pitches they give them. They don’t make the mistakes that hitters love to feast on. 

If you watch the A’s play, don’t expect to see a pitcher take the mound and look like a prototypical ace. But they sure will pitch like one.

The Lineup

Just like the pitching staff, it might not look like much. But the A’s hitters sure do get the job done.

They’re ninth in the league in runs with 457, yet 23rd in the league with a .243 batting average.

And other than those two stats, they’re really middle of the pack in every other notable category. They’re between 12th and 18th in the league in home runs, stolen bases, OBP, slugging, and strikeout rate.

Yet they’re in the top 10 in runs, and have been all year.

Just like with the pitching staff, the secret lies in walks. The A’s lead baseball in walks and BB percent, and are second in walks per strikeout.

What this translates to is a way to counteract an atrocious batting average. Even though they’re only hitting .243, Oakland’s OBP is .320. Instead of hitting singles, they’re trotting to first on ball four.

Although that doesn’t quite explain all of it. The other part is that the A’s love to hit home runs. Or at least they love trying to.

They lead the league in fly balls, hitting them 40 percent of the time. But they’re only 12th in the league in home runs with 107, which is explained by their home run to fly ball ratio of 9.8 percent. That has them tied for 23rd in baseball, and an average ratio is around 11 percent, good for 23rd in baseball. 

And all indications are that the A’s should be hitting more homers. They have the home run hitters in Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss and Josh Donaldson. And they’re 13th in isolated power. So there should be an uptick in homers down the stretch.

So really, this offense should improve. As unconventional as the strategy is, it seems to be working. Draw walks and swing for the fences. It’s an odd formula, but so far a successful one.

The How

Just like in years past, the A’s are having success with a lot of leftovers, players that other teams didn’t want.

First of all, huge shout-out to FanGraphs for all the statistics throughout this article, and then for this piece on exactly where many of the A’s key players came from. I’ll run through some of the highlights here.

Coco Crisp was signed for two years $14 million, along with a third year team option. Not bad for someone who’s WAR over the past two seasons is 4.4.

Josh Donaldson was a throw in to a deal that sent Rich Harden to the Cubs. But this season he was a near All-Star with a WAR of 4.3.

Brandon Moss was cut from the Phillies, but now has hit 38 homers in 179 games in an Athletics uniform.

The A’s have paid Bartolo Colon $5 million over two years. The same Colon who has 14 wins and a 2.54 ERA this season.

Jarrod Parker and Brett Anderson were acquired in trades, and AJ Griffin and Dan Straily were late draft picks. And their other All-Star Grant Balfour was signed to a two year $8.1 million dollar deal after his time with the Rays. Pretty good rate for one of the top closers in the game.

The only guy the A’s really spent money on was Yoenis Cespedes. And when you look like he does, run like he does and have such a pretty home run swing, you can’t blame them.

There should be a theme that’s starting to pop out. Almost all these guys were forgotten about, or cut or drafted extremely late. 

But Oakland brought them all together. They reinvented moneyball, just in a different way. This time there are no stars like Barry Zito or Miguel Tejada or Tim Hudson. 

Just a bunch of guys who believe in the strategy, believe in each other and believe they’re great when not many people even know their names. Josh Donaldson being one of them.

They may not be household names, but they play like they should be. And if they keep on winning, everyone will know who they are.

All statistics, unless otherwise noted, come from FanGraphs.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is approaching, and the Oakland A’s are in a position similar to where they were at this time last year.  Back then, the A’s were just in the playoff hunt, but this year, they find themselves as division leaders at the deadline.

Last year, Oakland’s general manager Billy Beane opted to acquire talent rather than deal talent at the deadline, and the A’s went out and acquired shortstop Stephen Drew.  The A’s could use help in the middle infield again.  

Adam Rosales, Eric Sogard and Grant Green have been unimpressive in their attempts to deliver at second base.  Green is still looking for his first MLB hit.

With that in mind, the A’s could target a veteran like Chase Utley.  Now that the Texas Rangers have acquired Matt Garza from the Cubs, the A’s could feel hard-pressed to also acquire a big-name player before the deadline.

That would be one option for the A’s to consider.  Another option would be to be patient with Green as he adjusts to the MLB talent level.  After all, Utley is in a contract year, just like Drew was when Oakland acquired him last year.  Drew left in free agency after just a few months in Oakland.  Utley is making $15 million (according to Spotrac) this year, so re-signing him would be no easy task for the small-market A’s.

Oakland’s most dire position right now is second base.  If the A’s feel the need for a pitcher, they should look no further than Triple-A, where Sonny Gray is waiting.  More pitching help will also arrive when Brett Anderson returns from the DL.

The same can be said for Oakland’s under-performing outfield.  If the A’s want help in the outfield, Michael Taylor is in Triple-A with Gray.  

The A’s have had a revolving door at second base for over a year, with names like Jemile Weeks, Cliff Pennington, Rosales, Sogard and Green trying to secure the job.  Utley is not living up to his $15 million contract, as he is hitting .279 with 13 homers and 36 RBI.  Still, those numbers do look much better than anything Oakland has had at second base in a long time.

Utley would have a quicker stint in Oakland than Matt Holiday, but he could be the missing piece that helps catapult the A’s from being division champions to World Series champions.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I think I’m supposed to write something like, “And so the legend of Yoenis Cespedes grows” here.

Or perhaps, “On a night to remember in New York City, Yoenis Cespedes swung his way into the national consciousness and flipped his bat at the end in a moment made for gifs and tweets, so that we don’t soon forget that he’s arrived.”

And then we’ll all wax poetic about the majesty of a ball soaring through the evening sky and landing in bedrooms all across the America, as kids plaster posters of Cespedes in their rooms after Monday evening. 

Let’s not. The truth is, he won a Home Run Derby, where guys mash 60 mph pitches over the fence for fun. We can recognize that Cespedes will be more recognizable now without romanticizing his Home Run Derby win. 

This is the competition that ruined Bobby Abreu’s swing in 2005. He was hitting .307 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI before the All-Star break, he hit .260 with six home runs and 44 RBI the rest of the way.

You could also argue that it remains the best manifestation of how fans and sportswriters alike could ignore the signs of steroid use in baseball for years on end. 

It isn’t just chicks that dig the long ball, after all. 

But Cespedes is now a familiar name to the casual fan—there’s no two ways about that—and in the process was given a platform to share a part of his story as a Cuban defector.

It was a cool moment, even if doing the post-Derby interview in Spanish became some sort of issue for bored Internet commenters. 

And it was fun seeing him do battle against young star Bryce Harper, who will surely win many things more important than the Home Run Derby in his career. 

However, Cespedes didn’t “arrive” on Monday night. He hit .292 with 23 home runs, 82 RBI and 16 stolen bases in his rookie season, and while he’s hitting just .225 this year, he does have 15 home runs and 43 RBI.

He’s not a star yet—heck, he’s not even playing in the All-Star Game—but he’s already a very good ballplayer. 

But his profile has raised. The profile of his team, the Oakland Athletics, may have raised a bit as well. The A’s shocked a lot of folks by reaching the playoffs last year. For any people who mistakenly thought that was a fluke, well, the A’s proved them wrong and currently sit atop the AL West. 

Cespedes is now the most marketable player in Oakland. His bat flip at the end of the Derby was memorable. People are going to hope to see some of his moonshots in actual games now. He’s entered All-Star lure. 

Nevertheless, the Home Run Derby didn’t somehow make him a star, nor will it shoot him into elite status. He was already a good ballplayer, and now a lot more folks will find that out. 

Let’s save the Red Smith-esque columns glorifying the moment, shall we?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Oakland Athletics, which are currently tied for first with the Texas Rangers in the American League West and also have the fourth most wins in the majors, only have one All-Star representative: Bartolo Colon.

Colon is definitely having a great year and is deserving of this spot; however, excluding Josh Donaldson and Grant Balfour from their first All-Star Game is mind-boggling.

Let’s put up some stats:

.317 AVG, 15 HR, 57 RBI, .385 OBP

.315 AVG, 6 HR, 42 RBI, .344 OBP

One of the lines is for Donaldson, and the other is for an AL All-Star reserve. Which one do you think is Donaldson’s? Obviously the second one, right?

Wrong.

The second line is for AL reserve Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles. Donaldson has the top line and the better numbers. He leads Machado in every meaningful category.

David Schoenfield and Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN did a piece on Machado, asking if he has what it takes to be the AL MVP. The initial take on him is that he’s a defensive monster at third, and they are calling him an “all-time great.” They even compared Machado to Brooks Robinson.

I think it’s a little early to start throwing names around like that.

While not as defensively sound as Machado, Donaldson is certainly up there as a great defensive third baseman. Furthermore, he is a more consistent and clutch hitter than Machado. In multiple games this year, Donaldson has come through with a key hit or game-winning home run that propelled the A’s into the win column.

He’s also outperformed Machado in 59 less at-bats.

Now onto Balfour.

The Oakland closer has successfully converted his last 40 save opportunities, which ties him with Dennis Eckersley for the longest streak in A’s history. His line reads perfect: 22-of-22 in save tries with a 1.82 ERA.

If we were to compare his stats with those of Minnesota Twin Glen Perkins, we would see striking similarities with the case of Donaldson over Machado.

Grant Balfour: 1.82 ERA, 22 Saves, 35 K

Glen Perkins: 1.93 ERA, 20 Saves, 45 K

Ten more strikeouts do not make an All-Star. Joe Nathan of the Texas Rangers—another All-Star reserve—isn’t perfect in his save attempts like Balfour is, and AL reserve Jesse Crain doesn’t even have a single save, although he is more of a setup man.

Balfour told John Hickey on IBABuzz.com:

It’s not always good enough to be perfect. It’s a little frustrating playing for a long time and putting up good numbers. But I guess if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.

I thought that the All-Star Game was about getting the best players on the field to represent their leagues.

Oakland having only one All-Star is hardly a good representation of the American League. The last-place Chicago White Sox have two All-Stars, as do the fourth-place Seattle Mariners. Also, with Colon possibly pitching the day before the All-Star Game and thus not making him eligible to play the next day, the Athletics will be the only team not represented.

Let me echo that again: A first-place team in the league will have zero players in the Midsummer Classic.

Now the question is why? Why have the A’s been snubbed?

It could be the old standby that Oakland is a small-market team and won’t get as much publicity from the main stream media. Maybe it’s because the A’s don’t have the big name star that has the multi-billion dollar contract that has everyone in a frenzy.

What do you think? Drop a note in the comments and maybe we can figure this whole thing out.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Entering the second half of the 2013 season, the Oakland A’s sit at a very respectable 47-34, good for second place in the American League West. The A’s are on pace to match 2012’s 94-win total in spite of some very key components either being injured (Brett Anderson) or flat out underwhelming (Josh Reddick). 

And while the performances of players such as Jed Lowrie, Grant Balfour and especially Josh Donaldson have been fantastic, the room for improvement is what should give A’s fans cautious optimism for the remainder of 2013.

So here’s how I see the Oakland A’s performing in the second half of the year individually. We begin with the reserves and bullpen.

Begin Slideshow

It’s likely that at the beginning of the 2013 season, no one would have assumed that starting pitchers Bartolo Colon of the Oakland Athletics and Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners would be anchoring their pitching staffs.

Colon pitched brilliantly last season—posting a 10-9 record and 3.43 ERA—before being slapped with a 50-game ban for violating MLB‘s joint drug program.

Iwakuma was injured at the beginning of last season and worked out of the bullpen before joining the starting rotation, ending his first year in the league with a respectable 9-5 record and 3.16 ERA in 30 appearances, 16 of them starts.

Yet on Friday, they matched up against each other, Colon with a 9-2 record and 2.89 ERA, which included a six-game winning game, and Iwakuma with a 7-2 record and impressive 2.06 ERA.

In fact, Safeco Field has proved to be a safe haven for both pitchers.

The A’s got to Iwakuma quickly as he yielded a two-run home run to Yoenis Cespedes in the top of the first inning.

The Mariners answered right back, however, when second baseman Nick Franklin connected for a three-run shot off Colon in the bottom of the third.

Colon settled down after Franklin’s shot, working quickly and flawlessly through eight innings.

But Iwakuma wasn’t quite so lucky. He gave up two more home runs, a solo shot to Jed Lowrie in the fourth and another solo blast to Coco Crisp in the sixth.

It just wasn’t Iwakuma‘s night, exiting after seven innings and allowing four runs on six hits, three of which went yard.

On the other hand, Colon was efficient after Franklin’s blast, giving up just four singles for the rest of the evening and once again showing off outstanding velocity and command.

The 6-3 victory by the A’s lifted Colon to 10-2 with a 2.93 ERA, joining Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer as the only other hurler with double-digit wins in the American League.

At least one person on Twitter expressed incredulity at that fact.

At this point, it would be hard to overlook Colon as a deserving All-Star selection. At 40 years of age, he has a legitimate shot at a 20-win season, which would make him one of the oldest in MLB history to achieve the feat.

But for now, the A’s and Colon will simply enjoy the seven-game winning streak and hope that it doesn’t stop anytime soon.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle.

Feel free to talk baseball with Doug anytime on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Oakland Athletics have won 10 of their last 13 games versus National League opponents, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Tuesday, as they take on the San Francisco Giants at the O.co Coliseum.

Sports bettors will find that the Athletics are -135 home favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 8.5 in the betting market.

Let’s take a closer look at this interleague matchup from a betting perspective, while offering up a prediction along the way.

Begin Slideshow

If only they awarded points for how awesomely you failed.

Had Yoenis Cespedes made this diving Matrix catch, a ripple in the fabric of space would’ve began in Keanu Reeves’ pants and reverberated throughout the world, revealing our perceived reality to be but a computer simulation perpetrated by our machine overlords.

Maybe that’s a bit grandiose, but the believer in me likes to think Neo at least felt a twinge in his apples when the Oakland A’s outfielder went into bullet-time during Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, courtesy of NextImpulseSports.

I’ve seen people lay out for the ball before, but Cespedes‘ almost-catch reeked of science fiction movie physics and Trinity lobby-flips. It didn’t record an out, but hot damn did it look cool.

While Cespedes didn’t make the grab or stop the machines from harvesting our bodies like living batteries, he did found other ways to contribute, knocking in a two-run double to help the A’s wrap up a 4-1 victory over the Giants.

Now if only Cespedes can focus his energy and concentrate on the ball instead of the circus tumbling, he might prove to be “The One”—a distinction currently held by this young baseball player, who puts Cespedes‘ missed catch to shame. 

That’s what taking the red pill looks like, Cespedes. Just remember—there is no ball.

Follow @Dr__Carson

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com