Kuzul

It was pretty well known around here last season that I was not a fan of A’s righthander Trevor Cahill.

That wasn’t so much because I didn’t think the former top prospect had great potential. It was more due to the fact that Cahill wasn’t performing well and had completely ditched his best pitch, a big curveball.

Cahill throws five pitches: a four-seamer in the low-90’s, a two-seamer around 90 with unbelievable movement, a low-80’s changeup with excellent movement, the big curve, and a slider.

Last season, he essentially became a two-pitch pitcher, using the two-seam fastball and the changeup.

It didn’t work.

Cahill had a respectable 4.63 ERA, but his FIP was 5.33, he struck out just 90 batters, and he allowed a horrific 27 homers. 

Cahill’s struggles showed one thing: major league hitters can hit pitches with excellent movement if they know the ball is simply going to move down and to the right each pitch. Cahill didn’t understand that, and he just went fastball-changeup. He used his two breaking pitches just 10% of the time combined, and decreased their usage as the season went on.

Cahill entered the 2010 spring with a lot to prove. I was hoping he’d rededicate himself to his curveball, which scouts had praised as his best pitch while he was in the minors. I figured his hesitancy to throw the curve (just 2.7% usage in 2009) was the reason for his ineffectiveness.

Instead, Cahill announced that he had ditched his old curveball entirely and was working on a new curveball with a different grip.

Groan.

Cahill spent the spring trying to work on the pitch, but couldn’t do enough to win a rotation spot over five more deserving pitchers. He was on the DL to open the year and went to Triple-A when he was healthy.

Soon enough, after just two starts there, the injury bug hit the A’s, and they recalled Cahill.

Hoping to see this new curve in action, I was checking the pitch classifications for each pitch he threw in his first start.

He threw two curves and was was terrible as usual, allowing eight runs (six earned) in five innings, three homers allowed, and just three strikeouts.

In the next game, Cahill threw just three curves, and gutted through five decent innings.

His third outing saw five curves, and 5 2/3 passable innings.

And then, in his fourth start, Cahill unleashed the pitch, throwing it eighteen times. That start was his first quality start of the year, seven strong innings against the Angels on May 16.

Ever since then, Cahill’s been throwing the curve 10-20 times a game. He uses it once every eight or nine pitches.

Trevor Cahill is 8-2 with a 2.74 ERA.

The new curve Cahill throws has four more inches of vertical break and 4.5 more of horizontal break than the old one, so it certainly looks like a wise decision to go to this version.

More importantly, however, the curve, along with a revamped, bigger slider give Cahill weapons that break to the left. Batters can no longer sit on the two-seamer/changeup combo because the curve and slider are very good pitches. 

So the big change in his performance is not that the curve functions as Cahill’s out pitch (although it can), it’s that it makes his fastball and changeup better out pitches.

His strikeout rate has shot up over 1.5 K/9 to a passable 6.15, way up from the abysmal 4.53 of last season. Cahill’s increased fastball effectiveness has contributed to an increase in his groundball rate as well. He now generates grounders on 54.3% of opposing contact, up from 47.8% last year. He’s also allowed just five homers in his last 77 innings after allowing 27 last year and three in his first start this season.

Finally, Trevor Cahill has arrived. And thankfully, he’s got more than two pitches.

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The Oakland Athletics have a few players that are deserving of an All-Star invitation, including Kurt Suzuki, Ryan Sweeney, and Andrew Bailey.

Despite how great all of these players are playing right now, Trevor Cahill is the most deserving of any.

The 22-year-old right-hander is from the Southern California area and should be returning there to represent the A’s in Angel Stadium. Cahill is 7-2 on the year with an impressive 2.88 ERA.

Of his 12 starts, 10 have been “quality starts,” and the team has won nine of the games started by Cahill.

Trevor Cahill has won his last six decisions, which is the longest winning streak by an A’s starting pitcher since Dan Haren in 2007.

Cahill is a laid-back guy who has very quietly put up a great season; hopefully the right people are taking enough notice that Cahill will be able to join Bob Geren in Anaheim.

With multiple players having good seasons, it is possible that the Oakland Athletics will have multiple All-Stars for the first time since 2004, when Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder were both selected.

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The Oakland Athletics have played 79 games, and while they have not quite reached the midway point of their season, Ben Sheets has. The Athletics’ right-hander has made 17 starts and has accumulated a 3-7 record with a 5.05 ERA.

Most A’s fans ignored his early struggles and cited the fact that he did not pitch at all in 2009. Fans expected Sheets to struggle early, but to regain his form as the season progressed.

Unfortunately for A’s fans this is not what happened.

Sheets went eight starts between his second and third wins and posted an ERA of 3.94.

Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics made a big investment in Sheets this off-season and he has not lived up to his contract.

The A’s were hoping to get a number one starter and a veteran leader to help mentor the younger pitchers. Instead, they got neither.

Trevor Cahill has emerged as the ace of the staff, and although he is a veteran, I do not know how much the young starting pitchers will want to listen to a struggling pitcher who is constantly frustrated and trying to control his pitches.

A quick look at Ben Sheets numbers thus far show that he has “earned” $1.67 million for each win, $714,285 for each loss, $83,333 for each run, and $50,454 for each inning pitched.

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When Oakland Athletics fans (well, the ones that are left) walk into the Oakland Coliseum, they see a third deck covered in forest green tarp (not because of rain but because it makes the rest of the stadium “look more packed”) and a team full of super…who’s?

Since 2000, the A’s have won the Western Division four times and the wild card once.

But since 2006, the low-budget ball club has yet to make the playoffs and seem poised for another run ending on October 3 against fellow division bottom feeder, Seattle.

They’ve been a low-budget team for the entire first decade of this 21st century, so why aren’t the A’s winning like they used to?

It seems pretty obvious that the answer to that question is money; actually money the A’s aren’t willing to spend, whether they have it or not.

Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson—those were the names that filled the empty green stands in Oakland.

They brought bigger crowds in and kept Oakland in the battle for the AL West every year.

Unlike the successful teams that made making the playoffs a habit, this new group of makeshift Athletics doesn’t seem to have what the town so hungry for postseason success needs.

Ten home runs (Kurt Suzuki), 39 RBIs (Kevin Kouzmanoff) and a .293 (Ryan Sweeney) batting average.  Those are the leading offensive numbers for the club through 77 games.

The team is ninth in batting average and 10th in hits, but just 27th in home runs and 25th in RBIs.  Their highest-paid starting pitcher, Ben Sheets, also has the highest ERA in a rotation where he’s the vet.

Way to spend wisely, Mr. Wolf and scouting “genius” Billy Beane.

The team’s “big” offseason acquisitions were Coco Crisp and Ben Sheets. I guess Conor Jackson can be added to that list as well.  So much for trying to get back on top.

If the Athletics are going to make an improbable comeback and resurrect one of the most successful franchises in the sport, some money has to be spent.

The franchise once known for its power (i.e. bash brothers Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco) is now a team of minor leaguers sprinkled with some talent and warning track power up and down the lineup.

Sorry Jack Cust, you aren’t and haven’t ever been the answer.

Knowing how the A’s front office works, they won’t make a trade to provide hope to an offense with numerous base-runners and no runs to show.  Maybe, if Oakland fanatics are lucky, the Athletics will loosen up their greedy grip on the cash books and make someone an offer.

Until then, like the organization’s stagnant money, the A’s will remain steady at number three in the AL West and number one as the least-watched franchise in California’s professional sports world.

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The A’s have had plenty of talent leave Oakland over the years.

Regardless of the fact that the team has had a three-peat of World Series wins in the 1970s, and remains competitive in a small-market, it seems that the Athletics get lost in a league that is dominated by big-market teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The departure of talent from the East Bay can be attributed to three things:

1) The city of Oakland. The A’s need to separate themselves from the Raiders and Mt. Davis. The Coliseum is not suitable for baseball and should San Jose allow the A’s to build a stadium the franchise should jump on the opportunity to rejuvenate fan interest.

2) Management. Owners Jeff Fisher and Lew Wolff need to take advantage of general manager Billy Beane’s expertise and spend money on the team. The Athletics do a great job of developing players, but they need to keep players in green and gold when they hit their prime.

3) Major League Baseball. The league is designed so that it can be dominated by big-market teams that can throw large amounts of money at free agents and draft picks.

A mammoth payroll like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Angels dole out every year is not economically reasonable in Oakland. The team must build through the draft and sign cost-effective free agents in order to compete. In order to make the league more competitive and generate more interest in baseball from people in cities of all sizes.

The following are eight players that made an impact while in Oakland but no longer have an elephant on their sleeve. All of these players, with the exception of Mark Mulder, are on other major league baseball clubs.

Many of these players were in their prime when they left Oakland. Often these players were traded or left in free agency because Oakland could not afford to pay them what other big-market clubs were offering.

Changes must be made in order for teams like the A’s, who choose to build wins rather than buy them, can compete with teams who have the money to chase expensive proven talent.

Begin Slideshow

When I first arrived at the Oakland Coliseum for Tuesday’s game against the visiting Cincinnati Reds, the sky was mostly blue as the sun was successfully holding streaks of gloom at bay.

By the time the Athletics had finished batting practice about an hour later, the clouds had inflicted heavy casualties on the other side and were threatening to win the battle in a romp.

That seems like a pretty good metaphor for the tack Oakland’s 2010 season is on at the moment.

What started off in azure warmth is beginning to go cold and gray.

The Elephants have lost five of six games and eight of the last 10. They’ve fallen four games under .500 (ties a season-high) and dropped 8.5 games off the pace set by the first-place Texas Rangers (sets a season-high).

After finishing May at the top of the American League West, a June swoon—the club is 6-14 in the month—has been the anchor on the contention ship.

Only the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates have been worse for the last 22 days. That’s not the company you want to be keeping when rubbing Major League elbows.

Of course, all is not lost…yet.

You don’t need a calculator to figure out that, at 34-38, los Atleticos still have 90 games left on the docket.

Translation: forget about the All-Star break, we’re not even at the mathematical halfway point so there’s plenty of ball to be played.

The team could just as easily snap back to its April/May form as it could fall off the same cliff that’s swallowed the Seattle Mariners.

Regardless, the slide comes at a particularly inopportune time because of the Green and Gold’s history of having its hand forced by the small-market albatross circling above the Coliseum.

For the last three years, the franchise has wisely used the July 31 trade deadline as a chance to flip veteran commodities for younger ones.

And it’s done so at the slightest hint of non-contention.

In 2009, general manager/Moneyball mad scientist Billy Beane sent outfielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Orlando Cabrera packing.

Bob Geren’s bunch was 15 games under .500 and 17 games out of first when it pulled the July 24 trigger on Holliday; things had not improved noticeably when Cabrera hit the road a week later.

In 2008, pitchers Joe Blanton and Rich Harden were the veteran centerpieces moved for prospects. Harden took his exit on July 8 with the A’s eight games over .500 and sitting in second place, only five games out of the catbird seat.

Blanton walked out the door nine days later with the fellas in roughly the same spot.

In 2007, it was mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley and stoic catcher Jason Kendall on the move. Bradley said goodbye on June 29 with Oakland one game in the black and holding on to third place, 9.5 games out of first.

When Kendall took his leave 17 days later, the wheels were starting to come off as indicated by a 44-49 record and 12-game deficit.

All of the above begs the question, how much longer will seasoned vets like Kevin Kouzmanoff and Ben Sheets be with the franchise given the recent downturn?

The third baseman absolutely must be on some contender’s wish-list given the dearth of offensive might available at the hot corner.

For those of you who don’t get out to the West Coast much, Kouz has been utterly scalding in June.

Pick your favorite nugget—he’s raking at .418 with a 1.097 OPS and he’s launched five of his eight bombs this month.

Perhaps most impressively, he’s only suffered three hitless games and those came in starts made by Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Ryan Dempster.

Toss in the 28-year-old’s quality leather, his $3.1 million contract (expensive by Oaktown’s standards, but reasonable by most), and his departure seems like a matter of “when” as opposed to “if.”

By contrast, the big right-hander is a tougher sell.

Unfortunately for the A’s brass, it’s probably a more important one to make given his $10 million salary. If Kouzmanoff’s number is big in Oakland’s relative world, then that sucker is positively Zito-esque, which makes the fact that baseball’s Big Ben has yet to rediscover his pre-injury rhythm doubly troublesome.

The 31-year-old’s 6.29 K/9 is the lowest it’s been since his rookie campaign in 2001 and his 1.34 HR/9 is the highest since that same year. Meanwhile, his 3.81 BB/9, 4.95 ERA, and 1.47 WHIP are all career-highs.

In other words, the Athletics won’t exactly be selling high unless things change.

That’s not meant as an indictment of the Olympic gold medalist.

His body of work is incomplete and, frankly, it’s a tremendous accomplishment just taking the pearl every fifth day.

Remember, my man is trying to rebound from a serious elbow injury that caused him to spend an entire year gathering dust on the shelf. He literally didn’t throw a professional pitch in ’09 after a stellar ’08 effort was cut short by the torn flexor tendon.

And there’s always that pedigree.

Hopefully, Ben Sheets can turn it around and rattle off a string of quality outings.

But, if he doesn’t take the team with him, those blue skies of April and May won’t be the only fading memory around the Oakland Coliseum.

If history is any guide.

**www.pva.org**

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Bob Geren’s continued misuse of the Oakland A’s bullpen is getting very tiresome. Another game for the A’s where the decisions made by Geren were headscratching to say the least. 

Although, there was one decision that Geren made right was taking Gio Gonzalez out after pitching seven solid innings and bringing in Craig Breslow. This because Breslow has been the most consistent reliever out of the bullpen this year for the A’s. Every other decision after that has cost the A’s runs and the game. 

After Breslow pitched an inning, he was relieved by Andrew Bailey the A’s closer for the ninth inning. Most managers know the only reason to bring a closer into a game is in a save situation, unfortunately Geren doesn’t realize this. 

With the way Breslow had pitched in the eighth inning there was no reason not to bring him out for the ninth. Bailey came in and got the first out with a strikeout, got the second batter to fly out to shallow centerfield, but Bailey was not able to get the third out. 

He gave up a walk and then Bailey who was not paying attention to the runner allowed an easy stolen base. Jay Bruce was at the plate pinch hitting and even though Bailey got ahead of him and had him with two strikes, he left a pitch on the inside corner that was way too good of a pitch in that situation, and Bruce smacked the ball easily into right field for a single. Ryan Sweeney had no chance at throwing the runner out who scored from second. 

Bailey got out of the inning without incurring any more damage. Now, Bailey has also shown he can go more than an inning and at this point would have been left in. He didn’t take the loss because Kevin Kouzmanoff hit the first pitch he saw from Fracisco Cordero out of the ballpark tying the game up at 2-2. 

Into the game came the struggling Michael Wuertz. First pitch Ramon Hernandez sees he hits a rocket out to left field hitting the foul pole for a homerun. The next batter was Brandon Phillips who hit a single to right center. 

Wuertz was actually lucky that Phillips didn’t hustle down the line because he could have easily been at second base. Paul Janish was the next batter and he sacrificed Phillips to second. 

Joey Votto was the next batter for the Reds. Instead of bringing in a more experience left handed reliever in Jerry Blevins, Geren brought in Cedric Bowers to face Votto. Bowers didn’t help himself by falling behind to Votto with a 3-1 count. 

Instead of just letting Votto go to first, he tried to groove a pitch into Votto who was sitting dead red and hit the ball out for a two-run homerun. A game that was tied at 2-2 to start the inning was now a 5-2 Reds lead. 

Bowers should have been taken out right after he gave up the homerun, instead he was left in to face the dangerous Scott Rolen who promptly hit a solo shot off of Bowers to add to the Reds lead, 6-2.

The A’s in the bottom of the inning put some pressure on the Reds who actually showed Geren what you do in those situations. Cordero walked the first two batters of the inning. 

Baker then replaced Cordero with Daniel Ray Herrera who gave up a single to Kurt Suzuki but no runner was able to score. The A’s had the bases loaded with nobody out. 

Ryan Sweeney was the next batter up for the A’s and Herrera induced a ground ball to the right side that allowed a run to score, but now the A’s had runners on second and third with one out. 

Jordan Smith then relieved Herrera for the Reds. He got Kouzmanoff, the A’s hottest hitter, to ground out to third that allowed another A’s runner to score cutting the Red lead to 6-4. 

Jack Cust with a runner at second and the ability to tie the game just missed tying the game. He ran the count full, but ended up striking out that ended the game. 

Baker shows he’s been around for a while and he’s not going to leave a pitcher who is struggling in very long. In this case Cordero started the inning with back to back walks. 

Geren on the other hand, after Bowers allowed the two-run homerun to Votto, left Bowers in to face a dangerous hitter in Rolen. 

Not too mention the fact that Geren went in the top of the 10th inning with a reliever coming into the game with a 6.35 ERA and the pitcher replacing him had a decent ERA of 3.24 but didn’t have experience in a situation he was put into. 

It has come to the point for Geren to use Wuertz only in blowouts. It is clear that Wuertz’s confidence is not 100 percent and the only way for him to build into games where he isn’t going to blow a win. 

Yet, that’s too hard for Geren to realize. He still believes that Wuertz is the same guy from 2009 when Wuertz hasn’t even been remotely close to pitching like he did last year. 

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After yet another near-sweep of a relatively weak team, the Seattle Mariners this time, the St. Louis Cardinals continue their quest for dominance in interleague play. 

St. Louis looks to recapture first place in the NL Central this weekend against the Oakland Athletics. 

The Cardinals haven’t enjoyed much success on their California trips this year. They went 1-2 against the San Francisco Giants, 1-2 against the San Diego Padres, and 0-4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Now, the Cards look to defend home base as they host manager Tony La Russa’s former team. 

Unlike the Giants and Padres, the A’s have relatively average pitching. 

Ben Sheets, the Athletics’ 10-million-dollar man, is 2-6 with a 4.93 ERA. Rookie right-hander Vin Mazzaro is 2-1 with a 4.81 ERA. Right-hander Trevor Cahill has had the most success as a starter—he’s 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA.

On paper, sweeping the A’s does not seem to be an insurmountable task for the Cardinals. But as the first half of the season indicates, things don’t always go according to plan. 

To get the sweep, the Cardinals have to do more than just pitch well.

An adjusted batting order is a good start—La Russa switched Ryan Ludwick and Matt Holliday in the lineup, a move that proved successful in the team’s 9-3 victory over the Mariners Monday. 

Young fielders Colby Rasmus and David Freese have both been on hot streaks, which also helps. 

The two have hit a combined .462 this week. 

Overall, there are few predictions to be made before this series. The Cardinals are statistically better than the A’s, but the two ball clubs have not faced each other yet this year.

The Cards need to at least win the series against Oakland. The Cincinnati Reds currently hold a half-game lead in the NL Central going into their weekend series with the Mariners. 

Even one loss against the A’s could hurt St. Louis in the division race.

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The Oakland Athletics were hanging tight in the race for the American League 
West division title. After the past two series where the A’s have lost five games out of six that were played, it has become clear the A’s need to make some major adjustments. 

That would involve making trades for a big time bat in the lineup. The only problem is, what self-respecting player would want to play for Bob Geren? This was shown by the most recent trade the A’s have made. 

Instead of getting a big bat from Arizona which has been rumored to be trading pretty much its entire roster, the A’s could only come up with Conor Jackson. No offense to Jackson, who’s a solid hitter, but he’s not the guy who’s going to be a savior for the A’s inept offense. 

Over the last few games there’s been countless times the A’s have had scoring opportunities and the A’s have come up empty each and every time. It hasn’t helped that manager Bob Geren has been shuffling the lineup since the arrival of Jackson either. 

In the second game against the Chicago Cubs, Rajai Davis was benched in favor of Ryan Sweeney in center field. Jackson was actually the leadoff hitter for the A’s. Davis was out of the lineup after going 3-5. 

Just inexcusable managing by Geren. To make matters worse, today’s game was lost because Geren took out Dallas Braden way too early from the game. 

That’s just icing on the cake for how Geren manages the A’s. He doesn’t know what it takes to win because every season the A’s have been nowhere near a playoff spot. This year has been a surprise and with the A’s strong starting pitching they should be able to remain close. 

The issue is, can the A’s bring in a bat to help with the offense? At this point there’s really no positives going for the A’s team. Their next series is against the St. Louis Cardinals and they will be facing Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright.

Even if the A’s had one of the better offenses in the league, it’d be a scary matchup, but it’s much worse with the pathetic offensive lineup. 

At the end of the series against the Cardinals, the A’s could be easily suffering their fourth straight loss along with having lost eight of their last nine. Even at that point in the season the A’s chance at a playoff spot will be slim to none. 

Lack of confidence for such a young team and will lead to the young starters, specifically Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro, to try to make the perfect pitches. 

The end of the season will be a disaster if the A’s can’t find a way to bring in more than just prospects. 

In 2008 the A’s traded Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for Ryan Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez. While, Sweeney has been a solid player for the A’s he’s nowhere near the power threat that Swisher was. 

The most homeruns in a season by Sweeney has been six compared to Swisher who as an A hit a career high 35 in 2006. Gonzalez has come along very well for the A’s and has been one of the more consistent starters for the A’s but it took him some time to get to the big leagues. 

Dan Haren trade along with Connor Robertson for Chris Carter the A’s best power prospect, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, and Greg Smith. 

Anderson has become one of the A’s best pitchers but is currently injured. Carter again is the best power prospect for the A’s but hasn’t shown the stick yet at Sacramento to be called up, Eveland is gone, Gonzalez is gone, and Smith is gone. 

Gonzalez showed promise for the A’s but was part of the trade that brought in Matt Holliday. Which, will go down as one of the worst trades that Billy Beane has made. 

Holliday was eventually traded for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Mortenson. Wallace is gone, and Peterson and Mortenson down in the minor leagues. 

Joe Blanton was traded for Adrian Cardenas, Matt Spencer, and Josh Outman. Only Outman has seen time in the big leagues and is currently recovering from major surgery. 

Question is where is the Major League talent being traded for? There hasn’t been much and a majority of the players are either in the minors still or have been traded away in parts of other trades. 

The common denominator is the clueless man managing the team, Geren! 

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Today continues the legacy of Bob Geren’s incompetency as the Oakland Athletics manager. How he got invited to be one of the managers in the all-star game by Joe Girardi is beyond me. 

There’s no manager in baseball as clueless as Geren is! Today’s game is just another fine example of just how clueless Geren is on the bench. 

In the top of the seventh inning, the Oakland A’s took a 2-1 lead against the Chicago Cubs. Dallas Braden had his groove going and the Cubs were off balance against him. After throwing 27 pitches in the first inning Braden settled down. 

He was only at 83 pitches after six innings. There’s was no reason at the time to take Braden out of the game; he wasn’t struggling and he wasn’t being hit hard. Braden probably could have gone two more innings, allowing for Andrew Bailey to get a save opportunity. 

Unfortunately for Bailey, he had the opportunity for a save, but was put in a situation where he was going to most likely fail. Michael Wuertz got one out in the eighth inning, but gave up back to back singles before walking the next batter. 

This left the bases loaded for Bailey to come into the game. Bailey gave up a sacrifice fly, but was able to get out of the inning with only one run scoring. That tied the game up at 2-2. 

Instead of leaving Bailey in the game, another pinch hitter was used, leaving Jerry Blevins to pitch the bottom of the ninth. What manager brings in a reliever who’s specialty is getting left handed hitters out, to face right handed hitting batters? 

Secondly, what manager in the ninth inning intentionally walks a hitter to put runners at first and second with one out? The answer is no competent manager would do that, because you don’t put runners on with the game on the line. 

Blevins ended up walking Ryan Theriot to load the bases. This meant the infield was in and the outfield was in as well. Kosuke Fukodome came up and hit a hard grounder through the infield which won the game. 

If the A’s had been playing their defensive normally, that’s a double play ball. It wasn’t like the A’s needed to bring the infield in either, because Geovany Soto was the runner at third base. 

Again another game, another loss at the hands of Bob Geren. When is Geren going to be shown the door? It’s obvious that Geren does not have what it takes to field a winning team! 

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