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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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In a recent Bleacher Report assignment I listed 15 potential sluggers that Oakland could add for a playoff push. Some of the sluggers on the list definitely fell into the “wishful thinking” category, a point I made clear in the descriptions of each player.

I intentionally left Jose Bautista out of that piece for a number of reasons. After looking at the season Bautista is having though, and the overall status of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, I have given it a lot more thought and come to the conclusion it is not as far-fetched of an idea as I had originally determined it to be.

While researching the Blue Jays needs to see if a potential match-up could be made between the A’s and Jays, I came across a blog posting from jaysjournal.com’s Mat Germain discussing this very scenario.

Germain writes:

“I’ll examine one particular team that may or may not be interested in Jose Bautista‘s services in 2011 (my most likely trade partner evaluated for the Jays in such a team – for now) and could make a deal happen with the Jays as a result, I don’t expect that we can predict when a deal could happen, if it ever does happen. Only Alex Anthopoulos knows when he’ll feel comfortable enough to pull the trigger on such a deal, but we can at least take a stab at where that deal may come from, whether it happens in the pre-season or during the season…

The Oakland Athletics… Their lineup definitely lacks pop and needs someone with Jose Bautista‘s power to help drive in runs on a regular basis. With their young and impressive rotation, a slugger like Bautista could be the missing link between them and the playoffs. The A’s and Jays have made a few deals since Alex Anthopoulos took over… Lines of communication are definitely strong between these two franchises…

The most important part here is that they are ready to compete in their division in 2011, while the Jays are still another year away. So, this deal allows the A’s to make the absolute best push possible for a playoff spot while increasing the chances that the Jays will do the same in 2012 and beyond…”

Okay, obviously I only cut excerpts of the entire blog posting there to give you an idea of the rationale behind Germain’s thinking that a deal could be completed between the two sides. For the whole blog-post, definitely check out the link above, it is worth a read.

Perhaps the most important part of the whole posting though is the last line I posted. The Jays are not ready to compete in the American League East against the Yankees and Red Sox in 2011, while the A’s are expected to contend down to the very end of the season for the division title in the American League West.

Bautista’s contract extension would actually be a benefit for the A’s

While I initially viewed the extension Bautista signed with the Blue Jays this past offseason as a main reason the A’s would not be able to trade for him, I have now changed my mind.

His extension is for an annual salary of $14 million per year through 2015, with a $14 million team option for 2016. Bautista will be 35 years old upon completion of this deal, assuming his club option is exercised.

The Athletics offered Adrian Beltre a contract worth just slightly less on an annual basis this past offseason. The length of the contract offered to Beltre was five years, the same length of time Bautista’s current deal runs, and Bautista is a younger player.

Adding Bautista would ensure we retain the rights to his services for four and a half seasons, providing plenty of runs to our young pitching staff as they continue to develop and perform while also under club control.

His contract would allow the A’s to shop him around to other contending teams during the offseason or at the trade deadline each of the following few seasons if they fall out of contention.

To put it simply, he provides a boost to the A’s offense now, and can be flipped for prospects later if they choose to trade him again.

Versatility allows him to play multiple positions for Oakland

Bautista fits the Athletics position needs as well. He has spent time the past few seasons in the outfield as well as playing occasionally at third base (48 games in 2010, 28 games in 2009).

Oakland could plug Bautista into multiple roles, depending on what they give up in return for him in a trade. Bautista could take over the everyday role at third base for the remainder of this season and then switch back to the outfield when a position opens up this offseason (Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp and David DeJesus are all free agents). Bautista could also fill one of the corner outfield positions allowing the A’s to trade one of the current outfielders to replenish the farm system after completing a trade with Toronto.

Bautista could also see time at the designated hitter position to allow Bob Geren to continue utilizing the roster depth to give adequate playing time to keep everyone fresh.

2010 was apparently not a fluke

Prior to 2010 Bautista had never hit more than 16 home runs in a season. Last year he broke out in a major way with a Major League leading 54 home runs.

This season he is off to a fast start with nine home runs and 16 RBI while only playing in 25 games so far. He is currently batting .357 with a 1.292 OPS and a league leading 30 base-on-balls.

I still have my doubts that he will be able to maintain his current level of dominance of American League pitching, but he seems to be proving that he is indeed able to match his 2010 campaign.

He is definitely the threat the A’s need in the middle of their lineup.

What would the A’s have to give up to acquire Bautista?

This is the part of a trade for Bautista that scares me. His 2010 season and fast start in 2011 sky-rocketed his trade value for the Blue Jays, and it has yet to be proven that he can be counted on for this level of production annually.

Germain suggested the following names in his post as trade targets for Toronto: Grant Green, Chris Carter, Jemile Weeks, Tyson Ross, Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey, Michael Taylor, Adrian Cardenas, Michael Choice, Ian Krol and Fautino De Los Santos.

He was not suggesting it would take all of these names of course, he was just pointing out players that would be of interest to the Blue Jays.

My thought is that a trade of either Jemile Weeks or Adrian Cardenas, paired with Chris Carter or Daric Barton and either Fautino De Los Santos or Joey Devine would be enough to get the deal done.

Germain also suggested Kevin Kouzmanoff could be a throw-in to the deal to provide a stop-gap for the Jays at third base. If it saves one of the above mentioned players from needing to be included, then I am 100 percent behind that idea.

What concerns me though about trading a package of prospects for Bautista though is his sudden increase in production. I’m certainly not speculating that he cheated in any way, but I would like to see him sustain this level of production for more than just the first month of this season before I would part with any of the key prospects we expect to be contributors in Oakland for the next several years.

Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez would be my untouchables, as would Grant Green and Michael Choice. I’d be reluctant to include Tyson Ross in any deal either, unless the A’s top scouts and front office feel confident that he will be able to sustain his current level of offensive production.

Obviously, Jose Bautista will not come cheap though, so A’s fans would need to accept losing some of our top minor league names and perhaps a major league ready guy as well to plug Bautista into the middle of the lineup.

Why would this deal work for the Blue Jays?

The Jays could add three pieces that will help them to compete in the next three to four seasons at the latest, about the same time Bautista’s deal would be running out and his level of play likely declining.

The competition in the AL East suggests this is around the same time the Blue Jays could reasonably compete for the division title without major free-agent spending, using their farm system as the basis for building a contender.

It would not be a popular trade in Toronto, losing a star player never is, but it would fit the model Alex Anthopoulos seems to be trying to build his team around.

Conclusion

I’m still in favor of the A’s trading for a player with a more proven past than Jose Bautista. A trade for David Wright from the Mets still feels like the safer trade, and probably better fit for the Athletics.

Assuming that trade can’t be pulled off though, which many indications suggest it won’t, then rolling the dice on Jose Bautista would provide Oakland with a feared hitter that is proving he is a true difference maker.

The fact that Bautista would be under club control through at least 2015 and would have trade value for at least the next two seasons gives Oakland enough reasons to take a chance on Bautista and give up a few prospects to compete this season and build their lineup around him for the next three seasons as well.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @BMcClintock_BR.

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The greatest compliment you can pay a manager is that you can’t imagine their team performing any better year after year. Unfortunately this can’t be said of A’s manager Bob Geren since his tenure began in 2007, and the trend has carried over into 2011.

Ask any Oakland fan what the top reasons they feel their beloved A’s have failed to compete over the past few seasons and you are bound to hear the same answers: low payrolls which prohibit signing impact players, injuries and game management.

Fortunately for Oakland’s current manager, the first two excuses have earned him a free pass with the team’s front office through his first first four seasons as Oakland’s manager.

Geren became manager in 2007, following an impressive run to the American League Championship Series by his predecessor, Ken Macha. The decision to hire Geren was a controversial decision as many A’s fans felt the position should rightfully belong to long-time third base coach Ron Washington.

Through his first four complete seasons, Geren compiled a record of 307-340, with 2010 being his only non-losing season at 81-81.

A’s fans are aware of the injury situation which has decimated the roster the past four seasons. A lack of depth on the roster gave Geren limited resources with which to work to achieve a record better than his sub .500 mark.

This season was supposed to be different, and if Geren is to retain his post beyond this season, it better be.

The Athletics had the best pitching staff in baseball in 2010, and they have managed to improve in the early part of this season.

The lineup was upgraded over the offseason to support the young pitching and provide them the run-support necessary to improve on their 81-81 mark last year.

The bullpen was strengthened to account for the injury histories of Andrew Bailey, Jerry Blevins, Craig Breslow and Michael Wuertz (Bailey, Blevins and Breslow were all recovering from offseason surgeries).

So far the signings of Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes have paid off with both Bailey and Wuertz spending time on the disabled list.

Overall the roster has the talent and depth to make a run at the division title, the experts all seemed to agree.

So why is the team currently sitting at 9-10, and unable to play with any semblance of consistency?

It’s time for the front office to move past their love-affair with their manager and start to take a deeper look at how Geren’s management of the team has effected their rank in the standings since his tenure began.

A quick look at Geren’s managerial statistics on baseball-reference.com give you an idea of the impact Bob Geren has had on the Oakland Athletics.

In 2007 the Athletics finished with a 76-86 record. According to the Pythagorean W-L evaluation that Oakland team should have finished with a 79-83 record. Hardly a difference worth firing a manager over—after all the Athletics were not playoff bound in 2007 with their abundance of injuries. Geren was an underachiever by three games though.

In 2008 the team finished with a 75-87 record, and the Pythagorean formula suggests that they should have been one game better with a 76-88 record. Again, Geren likely deserves a pass on this difference due to the injuries that decimated his roster. Unfortunately you can see a pattern forming though.

In 2009 the A’s matched their 2008 record at 75-87. Here is where Geren took a massive nose-dive in team management though; according to Baseball-Reference’s Pythagorean evaluation the A’s should have had a 81-81 record, a difference of six games in the standings.

Last season’s team finished at .500 with a 81-81 record, but again the Pythagorean formula shows underachievement. According to its analysis, the A’s were deserving of a record of 85-77, another four-game disappointment.

So far this season the A’s are 9-10, while the formula suggests they should be 10-9. Add another game to the total.

Simply following that formula, Geren has underachieved by 15 games in his four-plus years as Oakland manager.

What has caused Geren to underachieve to this level though?

Game Management Decisions:

Where the statistic fails to tell the whole story though is that it only determines the amount of wins a team should have based on their total number of runs allowed compared with runs scored.

This does take into consideration injured players, however it fails to take into consideration mismanagement that may have led a high number of runs allowed.

For example, say taking out Grant Balfour in favor of the left-handed Brian Fuentes to face the right-handed power hitter, Miguel Cabrera.

Let’s just pretend that Cabrera then hits a home run to tie a game that the A’s may have otherwise won and the opposing team then goes on to score seven more runs in extra innings to win the game. I know, such an unrealistic scenario, right? Oops, forgot that this actually happened just last week.

In this scenario though, those seven runs mess up the evaluation of the Pythagorean evaluation and don’t credit the A’s with the win they deserved based on their own offensive comeback, and stellar pitching prior to the ninth and tenth innings.

Geren’s tenure is filled with questionable managerial decisions similar to this; need I remind you of the decision to intentionally walk a very ill Justin Morneau last season? That decision wound up costing Oakland the win also.

The current series against the Seattle Mariners illustrated missed opportunities with pinch hitters available. Felix Hernandez was dominant, but the A’s left runners on the bases repeatedly when the bullpen took over for King Felix.

It was unacceptable to have the game end with Hideki Matsui on-deck, having not received an at-bat throughout the 1-0 game.

Further, and I must admit this is the most irking of his tendencies for me personally, are the decisions to sit players after a good performance in the previous game. Last season Geren sat Rajai Davis in a game against Toronto in favor of the newly acquired Conor Jackson. Davis was coming off a 4-5 performance the previous day though, and was deserving of the follow-up start.

This season Daric Barton was victim of the same illogical lineup decision. Barton did enter the game in the late innings and helped spark an A’s win.

It’s called playing the hot-hand Bob, learn it!

The in-game decisions that Geren consistently mismanages have unarguably cost Oakland more games than are represented by Baseball-Reference’s Pythagorean analysis. How many games?

Honestly I did not have the heart to go through game summaries of 4+ seasons to figure this out, I felt it would be too disheartening for me as an A’s fan.

This season though, I can safely say the A’s are at least three wins better than their record suggests.

Player Communication:

There is an argument to be made that the majority of a manager’s job is not seen by the fans on a daily basis.

Fans only witness the game-time decisions, which is an obvious short coming of Geren’s. The more important aspect of the manager’s job is communication and management of players.

We know this was a major shortcoming of Geren’s predecessor, Ken Macha. Following Macha’s dismissal several players spoke out about their discontent with Macha’s communication skills and management of the clubhouse.

We have not heard anything similar to this about Geren. In fact, I would argue that Geren’s optimistic personality lends to an overall strength in his case to remain the manager of a young team in need of positive reinforcement as they learn to play at the Major League level.

Player Handling:

This actually falls into the communication category, but since Geren does one well and the other poorly, I decided to separate them for the purpose of evaluation here.

The manager is responsible for identifying problems with the players on his roster, mechanically as well as mentally. The objective being to get the players to play to their utmost abilities.

The image of the rah rah manager may be a bit cliche, but the message it is meant to send is a manager capable of motivating his team to perform at their best.

Geren fails in this regard. Productive players come to Oakland and fade, only to regain their form when they ultimately depart. Is this due to improper preparation? Is it a result of off-field issues effecting their play?

A good manager is able of controlling his clubhouse and getting his players to compartmentalize well enough to still perform between the lines.

If the player is not capable of this for a period of time, then the manager’s job is to identify another player to handle the position until the regular player fixes their problem.

The current handling of Kevin Kouzmanoff actually shows some progress in Geren’s development in this area. He was willing to step away from Kouzmanoff and allow LaRoche to take over.

Overall though, you have to look at the lack of preparation the defense has displayed this season, as well as the across-the-board regression of the A’s lineup.

Is a change necessary?

From a fan’s perspective, I believe the decision was made long ago that a change is necessary at the manager’s position.

I’m not saying at all that Geren is a bad baseball person, or even a bad coach. I actually think that he makes a good bench coach, and has a place on a coaching staff in Major League Baseball.

I want to be clear that I am also not making any judgements about Bob Geren the man. From everything I have heard about him, and from all accounts from former and current players, Geren is well liked. I have no doubt he is a great person. I am growing tired of watching the A’s underachieve under his reign though.

It is doubtful that Billy Beane would fire the best man from his wedding during the season. He is in the final year of his contract though, and the A’s have not offered him an extension.

In the past they have been quick to defend Geren, so far this season no statements assuring him of his job have been made.

I don’t see Oakland parting ways with him until the end of the season though, no matter how tempting it may be. After all, it is well documented that Beane does not attribute the manager as being too connected to the team’s successes or failures.

I find it hard to ignore the example of the 2009 Colorado Rockies though. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was fired with his team currently 10 games below .500. His replacement, Jim Tracy, managed to turn the team completely around to 10 games above .500 and a postseason contender.

I often find myself wondering if a different manager would be able to extract better results from the current roster (the rotation is the best in baseball, but the offense is anemic).

We’re only 20 games into the season, giving Geren 142 more games to turn this around and save his job. Nothing short of playoff contention should be enough though for him to return as manager in 2012, and it may take more than that to win back some A’s fans.

This 2011 Oakland Athletics team is talented and deep enough to contend in the American League West this season. Our manager needs to lead the team there, not be a detriment to their success.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter:   @BMcClintock_BR.

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After spending the entire offseason upgrading every portion of the Athletics roster, it’s time for Billy Beane to work the phones and finish the one loose end he failed to tie up.

The Athletics offense has been inconsistent so far this season with one of the biggest disappointments being the man who Beane tried to replace repeatedly during the offseason, Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Beane pursued Adrian Beltre, Edwin Encarnacion and Chone Figgins as potential replacements for Kouzmanoff.

Kouzmanoff said all of the right things following the A’s pursuit of seemingly every available replacement on the market. He entered spring training with a chip on his shoulder, and came into the regular season boasting one of the best spring performances on the A’s roster.

Unfortunately he has not carried his Cactus League performance into the regular season.

The answer to the A’s third base and offensive struggles is currently playing for Billy Beane’s early-career mentor, new Mets‘ general manager Sandy Alderson.

The best and most obvious answer to Oakland’s one remaining problem is a trade for New York’s David Wright.

(To the best of my knowledge no talks have taken place between the Mets and A’s at this point. This is just my opinion based on speculation of the two teams situations and needs).

Wright, at 28 years old, possesses a career batting line of .305/.383/.516 (.899 OPS) with 171 career home runs. Last season Wright batted .283 with 29 home runs and 103 RBI. So far this season Wright is batting .311 with two home runs.

In previous seasons Wright was considered an untouchable, the face of the New York Mets and the unofficial captain of the team. The fallout from the Bernie Madoff scandal and the Wilpon ownership has removed the “untouchable” label from every Met, Wright included.

“If you’re going to listen to the new GM and he’s going to tell you [it will] bring back five pieces or something, then I guess you have to listen. I’m not saying we’re going to do it, but you’d have to listen,” Wilpon told ESPN’s Adam Rupin back in October.

Wright wishes to stay in New York and be a part of the solution rather than for a trade to a contender, but with the Mets in a total state of disarray any number of potential suitors will come calling this summer for his services, why shouldn’t Oakland be one of them?

The Wilpons appear determined to retain ownership of the Mets, which will require them to cut payroll reportedly in half down to the $70 million range. Wright is set to earn $14 million this season, $15 million in 2012 and the Mets have a team option for $16 million in 2013. Oakland can afford to instantly pick up the option as a sign of good-faith to Wright. Yordy Cabrera, the A’s second round draft pick in 2010 and top third base prospect, is at least three years away from reaching Oakland anyway.

If they are to cut their payroll and rebuild to become competitive again in the near future then they will need to shed Wright’s hefty price tag in exchange for lower cost prospects with upside that will help the Mets in near future while remaining affordable and under team control for several years.

Oakland, meanwhile, has the financial flexibility to take on such a cost and also has several pieces the Mets could use moving forward.

While I am only speculating who Alderson may ask in return for Wright, I believe the conversation obviously will start with pitching, and include position player prospects as well.

Would a package of Tyson Ross, James Simmons, Adrian Cardenas, Ryan Sweeney and a mid-level prospect get it done? Would it at least be a starting point? Would Michael Taylor still have enough value to make an impact on such a deal? Perhaps Max Stassi would impact the Mets decision if he were a “toss-in” to the deal?

Would A’s fans be willing to part with one of the young starters currently in the rotation in exchange for a bat? If so, which one is expendable: Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill or Brett Anderson?

The bullpen also has expendable players this season, giving Oakland several options to put together a package that could sway the Mets into a deal.

I don’t see Oakland trading Chris Carter, Michael Choice, Grant Green, Jemile Weeks or Mychael Ynoa; beyond them though I don’t see any untouchables in the A’s system.

The A’s can afford to make a few moves this season without completely depleting their farm system.

Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp, David DeJesus, Mark Ellis and Hideki Matsui are all free agents at the end of the season who should come with at minimum Type-B status, giving Oakland several compensatory picks in the 2012 draft should they fail to re-sign any of these players.  The A’s could also decide to trade any of these players to contenders if they are unable to make up ground to the Rangers and Angels by the trade deadline and pick up additional prospects right away.

As previously mentioned, the Mets new general manager is familiar with Billy Beane, as is the Mets assistant general manager, J.P. Riccardi.

Alderson was the GM of the Oakland A’s when Billy Beane was hired by the A’s front office. Alderson mentored the younger Beane and helped shape his approach to evaluating talent and building the A’s teams of the early 2000s. Riccardi served as Beane’s assistant until he was eventually given a gm-opportunity of his own with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Both Alderson and Riccardi have worked with Beane on trades in the past years, with the Padres and Blue Jays respectively.

The biggest question mark in the whole deal would be how Wright would respond to a trade from his hometown Mets. David Wright is “Mr. Met” after all, the player who was drafted by the team he grew up rooting for, and who has spent his entire career with.

There would be an adjustment period, Wright would need to adjust to playing on the West Coast rather than the East Coast. He would need to adjust to playing in the American League compared to the National League. He would need to acquaint himself with players that he only has had experiences with in interleague play.

Imagine the benefit to the A’s lineup short and long-term though. If a trade could be pulled off without losing any of the current A’s position players you now have the following lineup:

CF: Coco Crisp
RF: David DeJesus
3B: David Wright
LF: Josh Willingham
DH: Hideki Matsui
1B: Daric Barton
C: Kurt Suzuki
2B: Mark Ellis
SS: Cliff Pennington

There’s your instant boost to the offense, and given the defensive struggles Kouzmanoff has had at third base this season, your defense as well.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter:  @BMcClintock_BR.

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Don’t get me wrong—I am no movie critic and haven’t yet been given the keys to run a major-league franchise, but I can say that I am really looking forward to Moneyball. 

By now, almost everyone close to the game knows that the Oakland Athletics were featured in the book Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. Moneyball shows readers how the cash-strapped A’s used advanced statistics in new ways to build a successful team comprised of unwanted or forgotten players. 

For someone like me—ignorant of this world and its data before I read the book—the idea of creating a team with what a computer tells you is, of course, very intriguing. 

It has been said many times that this movie is very reminiscent of The Social Network, but of course, the question remains: Can the movie-makers take what was written and make it a story that people truly care for? 

The book describes the emergence of two castoffs—Chad Bradford and Scott Hatteberg.  Those familiar with their careers know the struggles they went through and the determination they needed to truly find success.

A successful translation of these stories to the big screen remains to be seen. 

Though hardcore baseball fans will likely flock to the theatres when the movie is released, we don’t know yet if mainstream America is interested in sabermetrics. 

Heck, how many years did it take for baseball insiders to finally accept more sophisticated statistical analyses? 

The evolution of sabermetrics isn’t like the story Facebook.

Yet, with a cast that features Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill, and with Aaron Sorkin writing the script, Moneyball does have all the ingredients to make a dramatic impact on those unfamiliar with this side of the baseball world. 

Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective.

You can follow The GM’s Perspective on Twitter and facebook

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It appears that for once the statement “all things happen for a reason” has some validity in regards to the Oakland Athletics.

The A’s attempted to buy their former radio flagship KTRB 860am, finally ending negotiations the final week of spring training.

The failed bid to purchase the station briefly put regular season broadcasting in question for the Athletics, drawing criticism for A’s owner Lew Wolff.

Thankfully 95.7FM, The Wolf, stepped up and signed a broadcasting contract with the Oakland Athletics to become their new radio flagship for the next four years.

Today, Entercom, the company that owns 95.7FM, announced they were changing their formatting and  switching to an all-sports radio format. Entercom is also the broadcast partner of the San Jose Sharks.

The new “SportsRadio” 95.7FM launched today playing a loop of bay area sports highlights along with some sports-themed music.

Dwight Walker, Entercom’s vice president and marketing manager, told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser, “We’ll be talking A’s and Sharks, two winning franchises that aren’t getting as much attention as they could.”

For Athletics fans this should come as welcome news. The Bay Area powerhouse in media coverage has always been KNBR 680/1050 in San Fransisco. KNBR is also a partial owner of the San Francisco Giants and their flagship station however, limiting the amount of coverage given to the A’s.

The first immediate difference I noticed was that Chris Townsend’s pre-game show returned to it’s prior extended-coverage format. Hopefully the post-game coverage returns to normal length as well, rather than the condensed version that became necessary to fit into the prior country music programming of The Wolf.

No announcements have been made yet about regular programming on the station, although several possibilities come to mind including A’s broadcasters receiving similar coverage provided to the Giants broadcasters on KNBR.

Slusser’s shared her hope for the new formatting of 95.7 FM:

“If this truly is to be a station that does right by the A’s, I’d love to see Townsend get an even more high-profile daily spot, too. Wouldn’t drive time go nicely with merging right into the pre-game show? Maybe a regular morning hit with Ken Korach, the way KNBR provides extra formats for the Giants’ broadcasters?

Here’s someone else I’d like to see with a regular outlet of some sort, or even a behind the scenes role: David Feldman, who knows more A’s facts and stats than anyone around. He’s the person I turn to for bits of info, facts about A’s history, and he also knows the broadcasting industry well, having done lots of TV work (producing, stats, you name it) and some radio.”

I couldn’t agree more with her suggestions.

It remains to be seen how Entercom will handle the programming and coverage of the A’s, as well as other local teams, but it is a promising step towards equality for A’s fans who have been deprived of equal media coverage in the Bay Area.

I know for sure that I will be tuning in more frequently to 95.7 throughout the day and away from KNBR and the daily overload of Giants talk.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter:

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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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Everyone knew coming into this season that the A’s would have the same setup as the team across the Bay, the San Francisco Giants. The A’s pitching has been hyped up from the get go, and rightfully so. The starters are young and very good, and the relievers are a major improvement over last years.

The A’s lineup looks a bit different from last years as David Dejesus, Josh Willingham, and Hideki Matsui now sit in the 3-4-5 spots. 

Willingham is currently doing the best out of the three with a .231 average with two home runs and five RBIs. Dejesus sits at .217 with 3 RBIs and Matsui is currently hitting .182 with 3 RBIs as well. 

As the statistics show, these guys were brought in to score some runs. Willingham leads the team with his five RBIs, and Dejesus and Matsui are three and four in the same category. 

Willingham has never hit better than .277 in his five full seasons. He has eclipsed 21+ home runs three out of the five seasons. He has only had 70+ RBIs in two of his major league seasons. 

Dejesus on the other hand will provide a somewhat more consistent average as he is a career .289 hitter. Last season, Dejesus had his best average of his career hitting .318. This came in only 91 games though. Dejesus has never hit more than 13 home runs and has never brought in more than 73 RBIs in his 7 seasons. 

Matsui’s average has fallen each season after his highest average in 2005 of .305. Last season, Matsui hit .274 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs. Matsui is currently 36 and will turn 37 in June, which brings up some health issues this late in his career. 

Not all the blame can just be placed on these three guys. Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff is hitting a team worse .174. Catcher Kurt Suzuki is tied with Kouzmanoff for the team worst average as well. Kouzmanoff and Suzuki both have an RBI a piece. 

A major focus of the A’s will be the health of outfielder Coco Crisp. Crisp currently leads the team with a .276 average and has 8 hits. Crisp also leads the team with three stolen bases. Crisp has only played more than 130 games three times out of his MLB career of nine seasons. He only played in 75 games in his first season with the A’s last season.

The A’s will be asking a lot out of their younger hitters as well. Short Stop Cliff Pennington hit .250 with six home runs and 46 RBIs in his first full MLB season. 

First Baseman Daric Barton has been hitting out of the two hole and leads the team with a .367 OBP. Barton hit .273 with ten home runs and 57 RBIs. 

The fact is that the A’s offense has only scored more than three runs twice this season. The pitching hasn’t been stellar thus far in the season, but it’s still early and this team could get things clicking. This team is young and is very similar to last years Giants team. There will be many 2-1, 3-2, and 1-0 games for the A’s. They need to find ways to win these games, and it will start with the offense. 

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The Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins enter this weekend’s three-game series with identical 2-4 records. Both teams are currently tied for last in their respective divisions (the A’s are tied with Seattle and Minnesota is tied with Detroit).

The Athletics salvaged one game of their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 victory behind a solid pitching performance by Trevor Cahill.

Cahill was outstanding in his eight innings of work, allowing only one run on three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Cahill handed over his masterpiece to stand-in-closer, Brian Fuentes, who earned his first save as an Oakland Athletic.

The A’s scored their first of two runs on a wild-pitch strikeout by Coco Crisp that allowed Andy LaRoche to come home with the A’s first run and Coco Crisp to reach first base. Crisp then proceeded to steal second and third base, and came home to score on a line drive single by Conor Jackson.

The A’s played their second errorless game of the season, an accomplishment for a team that has seen defense cost them a pair of victories already this season.

Fuentes proved his last outing was nothing for A’s fans to concern themselves with as he allowed only one hit in his inning of work. Fuentes needed just 10 pitches to shut down the Blue Jays on Thursday.

The Minnesota Twins lost two out of their past three games to the New York Yankees.

In Thursday’s game the Twins’ rookie second baseman, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, fractured his leg on a slide by former Athletic Nick Swisher. The Twins will recall Luke Hughes to take Nishioka’s spot on the roster.

The series opener is also the home opener for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Target Field is considered a pitcher’s park, yielding only 118 home runs last season. The A’s have not hit many home runs this season, so don’t expect that to change over the weekend.

Thankfully, the park also plays to the A’s pitching strength. Expect three close, low-scoring games.

Probable Pitchers (All games on CSNCA and 95.7FM):

Friday, April 8, 1:10 p.m.:
Brett Anderson (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Carl Pavano (0-1, 15.70 ERA)

Saturday, April 9, 4:10 p.m.:
Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Nick Blackburn (1-0, 1.59 ERA)

Sunday, April 10, 11:10 a.m.:
Brandon McCarthy (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Scott Baker (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

Injuries:

Athletics: Rich Harden (15-day disabled list), Andrew Bailey (15-day disabled list), Michael Wuertz (15-day disabled list), Adam Rosales (60-day disabled list)

Twins: Tsuyoshi Nishioka (broken leg, will be placed on 60-day DL), Kevin Slowey (Day-to-Day)

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow him on Twitter:   @BMcClintock_BR.

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