Kuzul

The Oakland A’s came off home series against Texas where the A’s with runners in scoring position managed to go for 0-30, but somehow were still able to take win two games of the three game series. 

At that point it looked like it was a turning point of the season for the A’s because they gained ground on the Texas Rangers in the American League West division race and had a chance with the Rangers having an off-day to even gain further ground. 

That didn’t happen for the A’s instead the A’s lost two games to the Seattle Mariners the worst team in the division and one of the worst teams in baseball. It was understandable the A’s wouldn’t sweep considering the team was facing Felix Hernandez in the second game of the series. 

Even then though the A’s had a chance to do some damage against Hernandez. In the first inning the A’s had runners on first and second with nobody out. Kurt Suzuki came up and got the A’s first hit with runners in scoring position. 

Only problem was Suzuki’s ball was hit so hard that Coco Crisp could not score from second base. Of course Hernandez then settled down retiring the next three hitters rather easily.

Regardless of that series there’s no better example of just how pathetic the A’s offense is then the first game of the series against the Minnesota Twins. The A’s had plenty of opportunities to score and yet only managed to score four runs. 

In fact the game started off well for the A’s with Crisp leading the game off with a single then stealing second on the first pitch to Daric Barton. Suzuki who’s been struggling mightily at the plate came up.

His main purpose at the plate should have been getting the runners over to second and third so the A’s would have two chances to get the run home. That means either hitting the ball to the right side or a sacrifice bunt. Suzuki has not been producing at the plate. 

Instead Suzuki wound up striking out, Jack Cust grounded out to first allowing the runners to get to second and third with two outs. Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded out to Alexei Casilla who made a nice play and threw in time to get Kouzmanoff. 

Two of the runs came in the top of the third inning when Cliff Pennington doubled, Crisp struckout but when Barton came up he stole third because Carl Pavano was not paying attention to him. Barton then lined a triple into the right field gap to score Pennington. 

Suzuki again came up with a chance to bring a runner home but wasn’t able to bring in Pennington and Cust  came through with an opposite field double bringing in Barton to tie the game up at 2-2. 

For the rest of the game the A’s had plenty of runners on base but were not able to cash in. The top of the seventh and eighth innings were the best chances for the A’s to do some damage.

In the seventh inning Crisp singled, Barton lined out to center, Suzuki singled to left field and was able to get to second while Crisp to third because Delmon Young was not able to catch the ball on a dive. 

Ron Mahay came in and relieved Pavano. Cust was pressing a little bit because he got the count to 3-1 and swung at ball four and ended up watching strike three. Kouzmanoff was robbed of a two run single by Casilla on a nice diving catch at shortstop. 

During the top of the eighth Mark Ellis hit an infield single, Rajai Davis hit a single, Chris Carter bounced into a fielders choice leaving runners on first and third with Davis being forced out at second. Cliff Pennington worked a walk. 

This meant that Crisp was up with the bases loaded and the infield playing back. The Twins in the game had already used the benefit of a suicide squeeze don’t understand why the A’s were going to utilize Crisp’s speed. 

Instead of at least getting a run in that situation, Crisp hits into the inning ending double play. 

In the top of the ninth inning the A’s managed to score a fluke run. Barton lined a ball to Denard Span for the first out of the inning, Kurt Suzuki doubled, Cust popped out to shortstop, Kouzmanoff hit a sharp grounder to Casilla who tried to make a backhanded play, but wasn’t able to do it which was scored an error and Suzuki also scored. 

Ellis hit a single leaving runners on first and second. Davis was up again and instead of taking any pitches he went after the first pitch and hit a flyball to left center to end the game. 

In all the A’s had 14 hits to the Twins five, but in the scoring department the Twins etched out four runs on those five hits and the A’s only managed three runs on those 14 hits.

Just further proof that in the offseason the A’s need drastic changes at the coaching level starting with Jim Skaalen and moving to Geren. It comes to a point in time when the players aren’t producing that a change must be made. 

It’s also not like the A’s don’t have any options to replace Geren, Don Wakamatsu a former A’s bench coach could be in line to replace Geren along with Tony Defrancesco the manager of the Sacramento Rivercats. 

For hitting coach Carney Lansford would make an excellent addition to the staff. He played over 1200 games for the A’s and knows how to hit in the coliseum and he can pass on that knowledge to the hitters. 

The other problem with Geren and Skaalen that the team went that preached patience at the plate to more of a small ball approach. Meaning manufacturing runs anyway possible whether it’s going from first to third on a single, stealing bases, and sacrificing. 

Obviously Geren and Skaalen have not bought into that system. There’s been other times where the situation dictated that the A’s should have been bunting and moving runners into scoring position instead Geren elected to have his hitters swing away. 

End results have been rally killing double play. Until the A’s get a manager and a hitting coach to buy into the small ball philosophy the A’s will continue to struggle offensively. 

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For the Oakland A’s the team has a ton of talented starting pitchers and one of those pitchers is Gio Gonzalez. The word to describe his season so far has been inconsistent at one point he looked like the ace for the A’s and other times he’s struggled mightily. 

Looking at his numbers before tonights game he’s got a record of 10-7, with a 3.51 ERA, has started 23 games, has one complete game, and has struck out 114 while walking 62 hitters. 

One of his biggest problems has been walking batters. What’s really been noticeable though is the walks tend to come after a hitter gets on either by a hit or an error. While watching Gonzalez it’s almost as if he expects to get every hitter out and when things don’t go his way like he expected he loses concentration for that inning. 

Looking at his splits it’s understandable on why he struggles at times with runners on base. 

With runners in scoring position batters are hitting .257 against Gonzalez, but looking further it’s even more telling. With no runners on he’s very effective holding batters to a .202 average. 

Yet, when runners get on base that’s when things get out of control for Gonzalez. With a runner on first opponents are hitting .333, with just a runner on second batters are hitting .308, and when there’s only a runner at third teams are hitting .375 

When there’s runners on first with less than two outs he’s held hitters to a .231 average, with runners at third with less than two outs he’s held hitters to a remarkable .056 average, but more concerning is what happens with two outs and a runner at third Gonzalez is hit at a .296 clip.  

Clearly shows that if a hitter gets on base his concentration is off! What about with multiple runners on base? 

With runners on first and second Gonzalez is just a bit better than when there’s just a runner on base with hitters batting .289. When there’s runners on first and third Gonzalez buckles down and pitches extremely well holding batters to a minuscule .077 average. 

Gonzalez even does decent with runners on second and third holding batters to a .250 average. Bases loaded against Gonzalez hitter are only hitting .200 against him. 

In general though when there’s no outs in an inning Gonzalez is holding batters to a .189 average, when there’s one out he’s still at a respectable .231, but when there’s two outs Gonzalez struggles with hitters having a .285 average. 

Batting in the clutch against Gonzalez such as with two outs and a runner in scoring position hitters are hitting him at a .323 clip. In the later innings with the game close though Gonzalez does much better holding hitters to a .222 average. 

As for when teams are trying to comeback when they are within one run hitters are batting .215, when trailing by two runs a .247 average, within three runs a .234 average, within four runs .241, and trailing by four runs or more a .125 average. 

Problem innings for Gonzalez have been the second inning where hitters are batting .289 and the fifth inning opponents are hitting .295 against him.

Strong innings for him have been the third inning teams are hitting just .175 and the sixth inning teams have just a .193 average.

Counts are an interesting as well:

First Pitch: .268

1-0 count: .378

2-0 count: .368

3-0 count: N/A has walked all 14 batters

0-1 count: .238

0-2 count: .109

1-2 count: .113

2-2 count: .085

1-1 count: .327

2-1 count: .324

3-1 count: .424

Regardless of the count with a three ball count opponents are hitting .365, with two strikes hitters are batting .155, when the count is even .203, and when a batter is behind .143

Just looking at numbers though is hard to put into context on how Gonzalez struggles with runners on base. The best example of this came in a recent start against the Chicago White Sox.

Gonzalez was pitching extremely well in fact he was perfect up until that point and what’s more disconcerting is the fact that he struck out 11 White Sox in that start as well.

The trouble inning was the bottom of the fifth inning and even then the inning started off well. Gonzalez struck out Paul Konerko on three pitches, but after that is when he got in trouble. 

Carlos Quentin hit a single, Ramon Castro hit an infield single, he gets the second out of the inning by getting Dayan Viciedo to fly out, Gonzalez then hits Andrew Jones with a pitch. 

The next batter up Brent Lillibridge who Gonzalez shouldn’t have had any problems with, but instead he gave Lillibridge way too good of a pitch to hit a fastball that Lillibridge took to right field for a three run triple. 

Matt Carson made an attempt to catch the ball but came up just short of making the spectacular catch when in reality regardless of the situation the ball was going to drop and score at least two runs even if Carson didn’t dive.

Juan Pierre bunted and scored Lillibridge bringing the score to 4-0 White Sox and Gonzalez finally ended the inning by striking out Alexei Ramirez. 

Besides the White Sox game what really stand out is what happens when Gonzales falls behind in the count. He becomes very hittable in those situations and one of the biggest thing during the offseason is how Gonzalez makes an adjustment. 

Gonzalez has been quoted as saying this about Dallas Braden “because of Dallas, I have great composure, and I have grown up big-time throughout my big-league experience.”

Yes, the overall numbers for Gonzalez are impressive with a 3.51 ERA and he has grown as a pitcher. As the season winds down it will be interesting to see how he progresses and what will be interesting to see is Gonzalez being able to work back from falling behind in the count.

If Gonzalez can keep up his work while being ahead of hitters and improves on when runners on base, he could become a top of the rotation starter for the A’s.

But if he continues to struggle while falling behind then he’s most likely going to find himself out of a job of back in Sacramento…

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Back in March of this year, Oakland A’s speedster Rajai Davis made a pretty bold prediction. He believed he could steal 75 to 80 bases in 2010.

That was a pretty bold prediction considering only seven players (Jose Reyes, Kenny Lofton, Tim Raines, Rickey Henderson, Marquis Grissom, Vince Coleman, and Ron LeFlore) have accomplished that feat in the last 30 years. Now that we are about two-thirds through the season, I wanted to see how Davis was doing in his prediction.

Going into last night’s action, Davis had swiped 34 bases, which puts him third in the American League. At his current pace, Davis would finish the season with 52 stolen bases. It’s good, but nowhere near matching the prediction Davis made in March.

I thought Davis would steal between 50 and 60 bases and here was my reason why back in March.

“Last year, Davis hit .305 with a .360 OBP. That OBP allowed him to steal 41 bases. History shows Davis won’t have that average or OBP again.

From 2006-2008, Davis averaged a .256 average with a .314 OBP. Those numbers won’t be good enough to steal 80 bases. It’s just not going to happen.

Let’s say Davis falls somewhere between his 2006-2008 seasons and his 2009 season. That would be a .275 average and a .330 OBP. Even with 500-600 AB’s, those numbers wouldn’t be good enough to steal 75-80 bases.

Jacoby Ellsbury led the American League in stolen bases in 2009 with 70 and he hit .301 and had an OBP of .355. Davis would have to pretty much repeat his 2009 season in order to steal more bases than Ellsbury.”

Just as I thought, Davis isn’t getting on base nearly enough times to steal 75 to 80 bases. He came into last night’s game with a .319 OBP. It’s very, very hard to steal 75-plus bases getting on base only 31 percent of the time.

As a matter of fact, if you take the OBP of the seven players I mentioned above in the seasons that they stole 75-plus bases, their average OBP comes out to .352.

Only Grissom (.317) was able to swipe 75-plus bases with an OBP below .320 in the years he accomplished the feat.

So next year, instead of predicting he will steal 80 bases, Davis should predict he will get on base 35 percent of the time. It will be a lot easier for him to steal those bases if he accomplishes that feat.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Gio Gonzalez was a first round draft pick in 2004, so his road to fantasy relevance has been slow to develop.  Finally, at 24 years old (he’ll turn 25 in September), he’s achieved it, putting up a solid 2010 season with these stats:

10 Wins
141.0 Innings
3.51 ERA
1.32 WHIP
114 Strikeouts (7.3 K/9)
62 Walks (4.0 BB/9)
.287 BABIP

The question is whether Gonzalez is a pitcher worth owning, or whether his success has been an aberration.

The strikeouts are actually lower than you would expect. For his minor league career (676.1 innings), he posted a K/9 of 10.3.  That includes a 9.7 K/9 in 184 innings at Triple-A between 2008 and 2009.

He also had 132.2 innings in the Major Leagues in ‘08 and ‘09, posting a K/9 of 9.7.  While you would perhaps expect a little bit of regression, a fall of nearly two-and-a-half strikeouts per nine innings seems a bit extreme. 

In his 23 starts this season, he’s struck out at least seven batters just four times. He’s still throwing hard (averaging 91.9 mph on his fastball this season) and with his track record, you would think an improvement could come.

It’s not like he has been overly lucky (his strand rate is also at 75.9 percent), but if his BABIP should regress, an improvement in strikeouts will help to offset that.

He’s not a big-time ground-ball pitcher, but he has done a good job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. His HR/9 is at 0.6 and his HR/FB is at 7.0 percent.  His home ballpark certainly helps in that regard.

In fact, looking at his home/road split helps tells an interesting story:

• Home: 6-3, 2.94 ERA over 70.1 innings (49 Ks)
• Away: 4-4, 4.08 ERA over 70.2 innings (65 Ks)

The odd thing is, it’s been his luck on the road that’s been costly, where he is sporting a .338 BABIP.  On the flip side, his BABIP at home has been .236.

You can say that he pitches to the ballpark, but that’s a lot of luck to attribute to that.  Then again, baseball does tend to be a game that evens itself out, so we shouldn’t read too much into this right now. Just something to monitor moving forward.

The major concern is his walks, which have always plagued him. He had a BB/9 of 4.0 in the minors, so the fact that he’s struggled throwing strikes, at times, should come as no surprise.  Unfortunately, that makes him a little sporadic, and hard to trust.

It’s impossible to ignore what he’s done this season, and he certainly is a usable option in all formats.  Tread carefully, but the numbers are there and the potential for more strikeouts seems great.

That’s certainly worth rolling the dice on.

What are your thoughts Gonzalez?  Would you like to own him moving forward?  Why or why not?

Make sure to check out our recent Scouting Reports:

• Elvis Andrus
• Brett Cecil
• Wade Davis
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• Tom Gorzelanny
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• Mat Latos
• Brad Lincoln
• Jonathan Lucroy
• James McDonald
• Kris Medlen
• Mike Minor
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• Jake Peavy
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• Sean Rodriguez
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THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM

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The Oakland A’s played the biggest game of the season tonight against the Seattle Mariners. Now, some would say it’s way too soon to talk about big game especially since it’s only August 9, but with a young team like the A’s, any time the team has a chance to make ground on the division-leading Texas Rangers, it’s a big game. 

What were A’s fans treated to tonight? An absolute disgraceful performance offensively. Pitching-wise, Vin Mazzaro pitched extremely well after a shaky first inning. He ended the night going seven innings, giving up three runs, two earned, while striking out five and walking two. 

Not a bad start for Mazzaro, although the one complaint could be after getting Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman is, what was he doing pitching around Russell Branyan in the first inning? 

As a result, it led to two runs because the next batter, Jose Lopez, followed with a RBI single scoring Ichiro, who opened the game up with a single. Franklin Guttierez was able to take a hanging slider to right field for a RBI single scoring Branyan. 

It looked bad when Mazzaro got behind in the count to Ryan Langerhans, but Mazzaro was able to get out of further trouble by striking Langerhans out on a 3-2 pitch. 

Overall, the A’s had excellent opportunities to score runs. The biggest moment of the game was in the top of the fourth inning and further proves why Bob Geren is not the manager that will lead the A’s to the playoffs. 

Jack Cust opened the inning up with a single and Kevin Kouzmanoff walked, putting runners on first and second with no outs. The A’s hadn’t been hitting well with runners in scoring  position; in fact, when Kurt Suzuki came up in the top of the third, the A’s had been 0-for-30 with runners in scoring position. 

What the issue is that Geren decided to push the envelope instead of playing it safe. Mark Ellis had been the A’s best hitter with runners in scoring position, but knowing that the A’s had been struggling to get runs in with runners on base it would have been a much better decision to bunt. 

Instead Geren chooses to let Ellis swing away. What does Ellis do? He grounds into the inning-ending triple play! Let me restate that: He grounds into the inning-ending triple play! 

Now, in reality, the call was missed. Ellis definitely beat the throw from Chone Figgins to first, but either way two runners were out and the A’s were now 0-for-31 with runners in scoring position. 

The A’s only scoring came on a double by Rajai Davis. Coco Crisp opened up the sixth inning with a leadoff single. Davis then pulled the ball down the left field line, scoring Crisp from first. 

Suzuki again came up with a runner in scoring position and he grounded out to second base moving Davis to third with one out. Make it 0-for-32 for the A’s with runners in scoring position. 

Next up for the A’s was Cust, who had two hits previously, but he ended up striking out making it 0-for-33 for the A’s with runners in scoring position. Kevin Kouzmanoff couldn’t come up with a big two out hit making the string with runners in scoring position. Oh-for-34. 

There’s not much to say about the rest of the game for the A’s offensively since that point in the game as they went 0-for-12, not even making a dent off struggling closer David Aardsma. 

What a disgraceful way to start a series for the A’s. The Mariners are one of the worst teams in baseball and the A’s can’t even gain ground on the Rangers, who were idle today, and in fact lost positioning in the standings because of tonight’s game. 

Even worse, though, for the A’s is that Felix Hernandez is starting tomorrow night’s game. So, instead of sweeping a team that came into tonight with only 42 wins, the A’s could be the team that gets swept—not a good sign when the A’s had a chance of gaining ground on the Rangers. 

The reason why the A’s had an excellent chance to make up some some substantial ground on the Rangers is because the Rangers are facing the New York Yankees the next two games.

Tonight, though, is just another example of the long list of reasons why Geren should be fired at the end of season regardless of where the A’s finish. The only way he saves his job is if the A’s make the playoffs, and under his direction that doesn’t seem very likely.  

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Trevor Cahill has become the ace of the Oakland A’s staff. Brett Anderson had the role at the beginning of the year, but because of injuries, Anderson has conceded the role. 

Today, Cahill improved his record to 12-4 today, his ERA is now at 2.56, WHIP .98, and has struck out 76 while walking 41. At 22 years of age, Cahill has blossomed. 

When the season started, it didn’t look like Cahill was going to have a shot in the rotation. He started the year off rough against Toronto, but has been tremendous since. So much so Cahill is about to tie Nolan Ryan for most starts going five plus innings with giving up six or less hits. 

Ryan did it 20 consecutive starts and Cahill, after today, is at 19. 

Begin Slideshow

In a lot of ways, the Oakland Athletics have already had a very successful 2010.

The campaign isn’t over by any means—with more than 50 games yet to be played, anything and everything can still happen.

However, the A’s sit nine and a half games off the American League West pace set by the division-leading Texas Rangers. With the Texas in town for the weekend, they have a chance to shave some of that margin and they’d better.

Because they’re even further behind in the AL Wild Card race.

Granted, with the juggernauts out in the AL East, the playoff side door was probably never a realistic option.

Nah–it’s the pennant or bust.

Since the Rangers look to have a pretty firm grasp on the flag, Oakland’s hopes for contention are dwindling with every nine innings.

Nevertheless, the Elephants have shown a lot of pluck and resiliency over the course of the season. They started behind the eight-ball due to a minuscule payroll and then had their plight compounded by Lady Luck, who gave them only two flavors—bad and rotten.

Even so, the Green and Gold are treading water and posted a respectable 14-10 record in July, which was fourth-best in the Junior Circuit.

More importantly, there are plenty of silver linings that should give the franchise and its fanbase hope for the immediate future.

Begin Slideshow

The perfect game is long gone for Dallas Braden. He finally got his first win since he pitched that masterpiece, but after tonight it looks like he’s going back to his losing ways. 

Tonight was an absolutely disgraceful performance by Braden against the Texas Rangers. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if Braden had been roughed up by certain hitters in the Rangers lineup such as Michael Young, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, Jorge Cantu, or even David Murphy, but that didn’t happen.  

It was the ninth place hitter in the Rangers lineup; a hitter so bad that he wasn’t even hitting .100 for the season! The batter was Taylor Teagarden, who rarely gets playing time because he simply can’t hit.

For some reason against the A’s he does. Well it was understandable that he did get his first homerun of the season off Vin Mazzaro who should have never gone out to pitch that inning to begin with.

Yet, with Braden on the mound it’s a different story. He came in the bottom of the third and Braden fell behind. Teagarden eventually got a 3-2 changeup that he deposited into left field for an easy double. 

He scored on a double by Elvis Andrus, but that’s the first time that Teagarden gave Braden problems in the game. Coming in to the game Teagarden was hitting .059 on the season. Yes, .059! 

With that double it meant it was Teagarden’s third hit of the season and brought up his average to .086. Teagarden wasn’t done, he had an encore for Braden. 

Braden allowed a sharp single to Christian Guzman who hit a rocket to shortstop Cliff Penningtin. This brought up Teagarden again. Braden then gave up Teagarden’s second homerun of the season.

This is an example that shows how far Braden has fallen since the perfect game he threw in May. 

The game itself showed nothing too exciting for the A’s offense, they just laid down for Cliff Lee. There was no effort except for in the first inning when Daric Barton hit a one out triple and Kurt Suzuki followed up with an RBI double.

There was one last chance for the A’s to come back that was in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs Daric Barton hit a single which was the third hit of the night for him, and Kurt Suzuki followed with a single.

So the A’s had first and second with two outs. In stepped Kevin Kouzmanoff with an opportunity to get the A’s in striking distance against Lee. Well, to call the at-bat disappointing is an understatement. 

Much like Kouzmanoff has done all year, he swung at the first pitch and popped it up, but luckily for him it went out of play instead of being caught. The second pitch from Lee was a fastball on the inside corner and if he had been looking for it he could have it, the third pitch from Lee wasn’t even in the strike zone and Kouzmanoff flailed helplessly at the pitch.

If tonight was a big game for the A’s, that means tomorrow afternoon is even bigger because if they don’t take this weekend series from the Rangers the season is all but over. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon brings out a much better effort. 

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Billy Beane is notorious for deadline deals. He has a quick trigger finger and seems to always be shuffling players in and out of the Oakland clubhouse. However, the 2010 trade deadline was different, as Beane and the Athletics just sat back and watched from a distance.

Some A’s fans are disappointed by the quiet deadline because they feel that if the A’s added a power bat they would be able to contend for the division crown. However, this is an unlikely scenario, and even if the A’s did catch the Rangers, it is hard to imagine this Oakland team making a splash in the playoffs.

By staying quiet at the deadline, Beane is looking to improve the 2011 and 2012 Oakland Athletics. This is a talented group of young players who have had a rough season due to inconsistency and injuries. Keeping this team together through the remainder of the year and the offseason will help the current A’s build continuity and trust in each other.

It is hard to win or feel comfortable on a team where players are constantly being shuffled in and out. Teams that have success generally have a core group of players that know what it is like to play with each other.

The A’s are young which means if Beane can keep this group together, they will be able to build continuity and return to the winning ways of the early 2000’s.

The current team has a great pitching staff and is desperate for a power hitter, but the trade deadline was not the right time to address this.

When rosters expand in September, the A’s will more than likely call up Chris Carter and Michael Taylor. Both these players have promising bats and will help the A’s in the future.

Fans may be upset that the remainder of 2010 seems pointless, but 2011 and 2012 look to be filled with young talent and a fresh start.

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The Oakland A’s did nothing at the trade deadline and by doing this general manager pretty much said “screw you” to Oakland A’s fans. This year will be another wasted season for the A’s. 

What’s sad is if Beane had gotten some deals together the A’s could have made a run at the Texas Rangers even if the Rangers went out and got Cliff Lee, Bengie Molina, Cristian Guzman, and Jorge Cantu. 

At the deadline the A’s could have made some noise. Ryan Ludwick was traded to the San Diego Padres for practically nothing, Miguel Tejada was also acquired for practically nothing from the Baltimore Orioles, and the same can be said about Lance Berkman heading to the New York Yankees from Houston. 

Houston itself agreed to pay 11 million of Berkman’s salary for the Yankees. 

Even some lesser trades could have helped such as how the Braves traded for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth. 

There were ways that Beane could have improved the team, but instead A’s fans are stuck watching another year of anemic offense and what’s even worse is the fact that the A’s have the second best ERA in the American League. 

If the A’s had any offense they’d be much closer to the Texas Rangers then the eight games they are out right now. This is counting both games tonight in which the Rangers and A’s both suffered losses. 

If you look at the schedule for the A’s they could make some significant ground on the Rangers, but they cannot give away easy wins like the team did tonight losing 3-2 to the Kansas City Royals. 

Let’s say the Rangers beat the Mariners on Wednesday and Thursday with the A’s winning on Wednesday as well and Thursday is an offday for the A’s. 

That means the A’s would be eight and a half games back of the Rangers. How do the A’s inch closer to the Rangers? Well in the next two series it will be huge because it’s two division teams. 

One is the division leader the Rangers and the other is the last place Seattle Mariners. The Rangers next six games include the final two games of the series against the Mariners, two games against the new York Yankees, and two of the three games against the Boston Red Sox. 

Like I said before the Rangers most likely will win the next two games of the series leaving the A’s eight and a half games back. If the A’s take two of the three games at home against the Rangers they’ll be six and a half back and the A’s should no doubt sweep the Mariners. 

Meaning that if the Rangers lose the two game series to the Yankees and the first two games of the Red Sox series the A’s would be three and a half games back of the Rangers and there would be a division race. 

This of course is wishful thinking for any A’s fan. The reality is it could have happened if the A’s brought in a couple of bats and traded away some prospects. 

The sad part is Beane has never been the one to shy away from deals. It’s not like him to just stand pat. Regardless of his intentions for the offseason, the truth is the A’s did have a shot at the division, but that door was slammed shut when the A’s didn’t do anything to improve the offense. 

When Matt Holliday was acquired before the start of the 2009 season it was the belief he was going to anchor the middle of the A’s lineup instead he was a constant disappointment with very little effort until he knew he was going to be traded. 

Yet, for Beane it was the worst trade he’s made as general manager. Trading away Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith. No one is going to debate that Smith was a huge loss, but Street and Gonzalez were. 

Street found his way back for the Rockies after struggling the year before with the A’s and Gonzalez is hitting third in the Rockies lineup and it looks like he’s got that pretty much locked up for a while. 

For the A’s now by the time Chris Carter and Michael Taylor could be possibly brought up it will be far too late for the A’s and another season that has passed with the A’s showing nothing for the outstanding pitching and again it’s another year of wait till next season. 

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