Have white shoes, must travel

Go ahead, make A’s general manager Billy Beane an offer he can’t refuse.  Everything must go.

Well … make that almost everything.  Jemile Weeks?  He can stay.  For now.  But just wait until he gets close to his arbitration years.  By then he’ll probably have “For Sale” stitched across the front of his jersey.

Excuse me for taking a moment to play Debbie Downer (or maybe “Jaded Jay” fits better?) but according to Fox Sports’ bow tie-wearing baseball expert Ken Rosenthal, the A’s are currently open to dealing anyone on the roster not named Weeks.  If Rosenthal is to be believed, the team will listen to offers on just about every warm body in green and gold if MLB says the franchise can move to San Jose or leaves South Bay-obsessed owner Lew Wolff stuck to suck it up and deal with life in Oakland indefinitely.

Want Gio Gonzalez?  Watcha got in trade?  Want the first row of seats in the BBQ Terrace for your backyard patio?  We can talk if you have a few crisp $20 bills in your pocket.  How about some rosin bags? Does a dozen for $5 sound about right?  Times are tough in Oakland and just about everything at the ballpark is on sale.

I guess that’s not too big of a surprise but it’s always a little disappointing to see it in black and white from a national media outlet.  If you want some more doom and gloom, go check out New Ballpark’s transcribed interview between ESPN’s Buster “Heard this … ” Olney and 95.7 FM.

Combine Rosenthal’s and Olney’s takes on the A’s with your own gut feelings and Oakland appears to be gaining steam on the fast track to being the second coming of the Pirates and Royals or Major League Baseball’s version of the L.A. Clippers.

Of course, Beane being receptive to dealing just about any player isn’t really breaking news if you’ve been an A’s fan for more than a few minutes of your life but every now and then I can’t help but get a little annoyed with how disappointing business as usual in Oakland has become.  There’s nothing quite like an occasional rant to cleanse the soul of a tortured sports fan which is what landed me in the middle of this post.

I stopped buying customized A’s jerseys a long time ago and even gave up on the jersey T-shirts once it started to feel like whatever player I happened to throw about $20 worth of support behind was traded in the time it took me to walk from the souvenir stand to my seat at the ballpark.

But considering where things seem to be headed right now I think I’ve finally found a customized jersey worth investing in.  I should be able to wear this baby for years to come: