Oakland Athletics’ Roundup: The Big Three, Future Athletics and More
Despite the Oakland Athletics’ clinching the last place spot in the American League West and losing five out of their past six games this week, the talk of the town was the Barry Zito vs. Tim Hudson matchup on Saturday. Along with Mark Mulder, these three pitchers, also known as the Big Three, were a dominating force in the Athletics’ starting rotation between 2000-2004 and helped make the A’s one of the best teams in the MLB. Oakland’s Big Three then came together on Sunday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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With the Athletics out of the postseason, the Swingin’ A’s staff took a look at which players could make an impact in the seasons to come. Katrina Putnam explained why prospect Matt Olson could be a big part of Oakland’s future while Steven Luke wrote about the current youth movement overtaking the A’s roster and how these young players will create a solid core for the A’s future team.
Even though the GM Billy Beane stated that he does not plan to make that many moves this offseason, there are still some potential trades and acquisitions that could be made to help strengthen the team overall. Evan Giddings described why the A’s may want to acquire a veteran shortstop and picked out some players Oakland could attempt to obtain this offseason. Samantha Riley tackled why the Athletics should try to bring Yoenis Cespedes back to the Bay and the positives of re-signing Edward Mujica.
Team News
The A’s have been riddled with injuries throughout this last month of the season. Josh Phegley was injured during batting practice in a freak accident where he was concussed after being hit in the head accidentally with Billy Butler‘s bat. Carson Blair was the third catcher to land on the DL this month with torn meniscus in his knee that will require surgery this offseason. Additionally, the A’s placed pitcher Kendall Graveman on the 60-day disabled list while Sonny Gray was sidelined with a hip injury.
The never-ending new stadium saga continued this week as the latest plan to build a new ballpark for the A’s died. With insufficient funds and a lack of support from both the Athletics and the Oakland Raiders, developer Floyd Kephart’s plan to construct Coliseum City was ditched.
Around the Minors
The Minor League season ended last week with the A’s Double-A team, the Midland RockHounds, winning their second straight Texas League Championship.
Top pitching prospect Sean Manaea was extremely impressive this season with the RockHounds, but his future as a Major League pitcher is still unknown.
Elsewhere in Baseball
With the postseason just around the corner, Nathaniel Reeves from FanSided MLB takes a look at the X-Factors for each MLB playoff team.
The baseball community remembered Yogi Berra after he passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90. Matt Verderame breaks down why Berra was much more than just a great baseball player.
The Oakland Athletics ended their final home stand of the 2015 season on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants and are now hitting the road to take on the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners.
Next: Marking the Anniversary of Two Forgotten Oakland Athletics' No-Hitters