Swingin' A's - An Oakland Athletics Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

August 24, 2011; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder Jonny Gomes (30) looks at his bat between pitches in the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-US PRESSWIRE

The A’s have made quite a few moves this offseason, with the trades of Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill making the big sporting headlines this winter. The additions of Bartolo Colon and outfielder Jonny Gomes, though, haven’t garnered much front-page attention.

Oakland’s acquisition of Colon, the former Cy Young winner from the Angels, makes sense, but only because the team’s starting rotation remains in a state of mystery.

The team has plenty of young starters to choose from to help fill out the rotation, but because this is 2012 and not 2015, the front office has no intention of rushing those young arms along this year. So, a guy like Colon, who pulled his own weight last year with the Yankees, makes sense for the penny-pinching Athletics.

Adding Gomes to the outfield mix makes plenty of sense, too. The team could use Gomes, who hit extremely well against lefties last year, can help Bob Melvin this year at either of the corner outfield spots or DH. Both Josh Reddick and recently acquired Seth Smith are both left-handed, so Gomes could platoon with either of them when the team faces left-handed pitching. Continue reading this post »

Not even this guy likes the A's these days...(Photo Credit: Swingin' A's)

Prince Fielder just signed with the Detroit Tigers. What have the A’s done lately?

Oh, nothing much. They traded away several of their most talented players in an attempt to go “younger,” and have added a veteran presence to the clubhouse with the signings of Bartolo Colon and Jonny Gomes.

Talk about building towards the future.

The front office has also been preoccupied with trying to relocate the team southbound in San Jose. While the front office continues to work towards a new venue in San Jose, fans are left wondering what to do in the meantime.

The Athletics have no intention of winning in Oakland, so why would anyone in the city of Oakland come out to the Coliseum still? Fans of the organization have been waiting since the end of the 2006 season for another contending A’s team, but their continued support hasn’t been rewarded by the front office. Continue reading this post »

Manny In Oakland? (Photo Credit: AP Photo)

According to recent rumors, the A’s seem to be interested in signing free agent Manny Ramirez for the 2012 season. Weird, huh?

That’s what I initially thought, too. The A’s, a team that is not expected to compete this year, going after Manny Ramirez seems well, weird. It seems that this would be done just to ensure that people actually show up to the Coliseum this season.

It’s got to look like the team cares, right? Lew Wolff genuinely cares about the team and its fans, doesn’t he?

Maybe. Maybe not. Signing Ramirez, who would still have to serve a 50-game suspension for violating the MLB’s banned substances policy, doesn’t exactly coincide with Oakland’s current rebuilding phase.

At 39, Ramirez’s best days are behind him and he is really not much of an outfielder anymore. Not that he really was much of an outfielder to begin with. Sure, the A’s desperately need a source of power, but why clog up the lineup with Ramirez’s presence?  Continue reading this post »

Could Brian Fuentes Be Oakland's Closer in 2012? (Photo Credit: AP)

Every Friday, Swingin’ A’s will make a prediction about the A’s 2012 season with the help of our “crystal ball.” The series, appropriately titled “Crystal Ball Fridays,” will continue through the week before Opening Night. Enjoy. 

With Andrew Bailey now sporting a Boston Red Sox jersey, the A’s will need someone to fill their empty closer role. Oakland’s bullpen offers a few options for Bailey’s old spot, but who will be Oakland’s closer in 2012?

Oh Crystal Ball, please tell us who’ll be closing games this year for our beloved green-and-gold…

Well, the A’s 2012 season figures to be a wash so there will be plenty of time to figure certain things out like who’ll be the team’s new closer. Several names come to mind right off the bat including Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour, and Joey Devine.

Fuentes, 36, is a potential successor to Bailey this year. He did, after all, start out last season as the team’s closer after Bailey sustained an injury during spring training. Fuentes struggled, though, under the watch of skipper Bob Geren during the first half of the season. He went 1-8 with a 4.82 ERA in 37.1 innings before the All-Star break.

Fuentes did, however, straighten things out during the second half. He went 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 21.0 innings after the break last season. Overall, Fuentes put together a so-so 2011 campaign, going 2-8 with a 3.70 ERA and 12 saves in 67 games. In addition to these numbers, Fuentes also posted a 4.16 FIP and a 0.1 WAR last season.  Continue reading this post »

Over the next couple of days Swingin’ A’s will take a closer look at some of the prospects the Athletics scored in the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey trades. We continue our overview with right-handed pitcher Raul Alcantara. 

The A’s love pitching. They really do. Just take a look at some of their trades recently. They’ve traded pitchers only to acquire more pitchers. 

Brad Peacock, Tom Milone, A.J. Cole, Jarrod Parker, and Raul Alcantara are just a few of the pitchers you might see on the mound come 2015 or whenever this “rebuild” is officially completed. For the sake of this post, though, I’ll just take a look at Alcantara, who was acquired in the trade that sent Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox.

While the Bailey trade wasn’t quite as rewarding as the Gio Gonzalez trade, it was still a valiant attempt by Beane to improve his club’s minor league system. With Alcantara, the A’s have a young right-hander with a decent ceiling and potential to be a solid No.3 starter.

At only 19 years old, though, Alcantara’s road to the big leagues is still a lengthy one to travel. The 6’3” righty has a low 90′s fastball that occasionally tops out around 95 mph, but there is some concern about his stamina. A closer look, like the one featured on SoxProspects.com, shows that Alcantara’s velocity doesn’t always hold up in the later innings.  Continue reading this post »

The A’s may not have a lot of resources, but they do have plenty of pitching. That commodity was put to the test on Monday, as general manager Billy Beane shipped two of his pitchers to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for something his team lacks: offense.

Oakland shipped pitchers Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman to Colorado in exchange for power-hitting outfielder Seth Smith. The Rockies get two very capable starters in Moscoso and Outman, but the A’s aren’t losers in the deal.

With Smith, 29, the A’s outfield finally begins to take shape. Beane apparently likes Smith’s power and even though the outfielder was limited to a platoon role last year with the Rockies, he should get plenty of at-bats in Oakland.

Of course, Smith is leaving the comfy Coors Field for a much more pitcher-friendly ballpark in the cavernous O.co Coliseum. There’s some concern how well Smith will hit in the cavernous Coliseum, but more people will probably be interested in how he handles left-handed starters this season.  Continue reading this post »

Welcome to Oakland: The A's have reportedly comes to terms on a one-year deal with Bartolo Colon (Photo Credit: AP)

You can never have too much pitching. Well, at least that’s what the A’s believe. According to several reports, including one featured on the team’s official site, the A’s have come to terms with free agent pitcher Bartolo Colon on a one-year deal.

The deal is reportedly worth about $2 million and possibly includes a signing bonus as well. The club has yet to actually confirm the deal, though. Still, the two sides are expected to finalize things soon.

With Colon, the A’s have yet another viable option for the back-end of their starting rotation. The Athletics scored a few good names in their recent dealings of Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez, but the team isn’t expected to rush their newly acquired prospects.

Given the fact that 2012 isn’t going to be Oakland’s year, young pitchers like Brad Peacock, Jarrod Parker, and Tom Milone aren’t going to be pressured to deliver big results this season.

No. Instead, a guy like Colon gives the team some added depth to help in the development of those young pitchers. The A’s are in no position to rush their young players, so adding a veteran guy like Colon to help fill out the starting rotation makes sense. At least to me, anyway.

Colon, 38, is coming off his best season in nearly six years. Last year, the veteran righty went 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA as a member of the New York Yankees. He proved to be a valuable presence in the back of New York’s rotation last year. Continue reading this post »

Plenty of Help: The A's could receive some help this year from pitching prospect Tom Milone (Photo Credit: Luis Alvarez/AP)

Over the next couple of days Swingin’ A’s will take a closer look at some of the prospects the Athletics scored in the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey trades. Next, we take a look at Tom Milone, who could join Oakland’s starting rotation this year. 

The A’s may not have Trevor Cahill or Gio Gonzalez anymore, but the team isn’t exactly hurting for starting pitching either. Oakland parted ways with Cahill and Gonzalez last month in trades that signaled to the team’s dwindling fan-base that the A’s are interested in rebuilding.

The rebuilding phase, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that Oakland’s pitching staff will be forced to settle for mediocrity. On the contrary, the A’s have laid down the foundation for yet another strong pitching staff. The young arms acquired in both the Cahill and Gonzalez trades should, in the long run, prove to be solid major league starters.

One of the names that comes to mind right now is left-hander Tom Milone. Milone, 24, is considered to be major-league ready and that is great news for the Athletics. Filling the voids left behind Cahill and Gonzalez won’t be a piece of cake, since the two All-Stars won a combined 28 games last year for the A’s. Continue reading this post »

Wow!  Did Coco Crisp just resign with the Oakland A’s?  Well, yeah it look like he will be coming back. For those of you that don’t know or have just been on hiatus from your favorite A’s team, kind of like me, then you where thrown off guard.  Crisp apparently resigned with the A’s for $14 million.   Now, for those of you who knew that already, and I am sure there are many of you, shouldn’t you be asking yourself why?

I personally was surprised, due to the fact that Billy Beane and the A’s organization said that no one would be safe from trade or otherwise.  Although, mercurynews.com is reporting that, “General manager Billy Beane said he hoped all along to re-sign Crisp even as he traded away several other key players that signal the A’s are looking beyond 2012.”

Continue reading this post »

Oakland's 2012 Rotation: Who's In and Who's Out?

Every Friday, Swingin’ A’s will make a prediction about the A’s 2012 season with the help of our “crystal ball.” The series, appropriately titled “Crystal Ball Fridays,” will continue through the week before Opening Night. Enjoy. 

Crystal Ball, what does Oakland’s 2012 starting rotation look like?

The A’s will likely enter the spring with a few questions surrounding the state of its starting rotation. With Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez both out of Oakland, the Athletics will need a few of their young arms to step up this spring and help fill the voids left by Cahill and Gonzalez.

It won’t be easy, but the A’s should enter spring training with more than a few viable options. The A’s did, after all, score a few good pitching prospects in both the Cahill and Gonzalez trades.

Tom Milone, Jarrod Parker, and Brad Peacock are all viable candidates to join the starting rotation this season. Oakland also has Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy, Guillermo Moscoso, and Josh Outman as other starting candidates this year, too.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to add Graham Godfrey and Tyson Ross to the mix as well. So, if it hasn’t become apparent already, the A’s will have plenty of help this year to fill the voids left behind Cahill and Gonzalez.

The A’s might not have the best offense around, but the team seems to always have plenty of pitching depth. This year, like last season, should have plenty of strong pitching performances. It’ll be interesting to see how McCarthy and Moscoso perform this year after stepping up big time last year.  Continue reading this post »