Mar. 19, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in the dugout prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Sorry Coco Crisp, but the A’s want Yoenis Cespedes in center field this year. According to a recent post by San Francisco Chronicle writer Susan Slusser, the A’s want Cespedes, their $36 million man, in center field and Crisp in left field.

With $36 million invested in Cespedes, the A’s decision to start the former Cuban star in the Opening Series in Japan makes sense. Crisp, meanwhile, will have to adjust to life in left field, a place that the 32-year old hasn’t seen much action in since the 2005 season. The A’s are hopeful, though, that the versatile Crisp will have no problem transitioning.

The A’s had entered spring training with Crisp penciled in as the team’s primary center fielder, but once the club acquired the mysterious Cespedes all things changed. In fact, as Slusser notes in her article, one of the main reasons why Crisp re-signed with Oakland this year was because he thought the center field job would be all his. His re-signing, though, was met with some mixed-feelings as some felt the team overspent for Crisp’s services.

Last year, Crisp hit .264/.314/.379 with 8 HR and 54 RBIs and an AL-leading 49 steals. For $14 million, though, Crisp’s price-tag is still a little too much for the usually frugal Athletics. Then again, the Cespedes deal was a little out of character as well.

With Crisp, the A’s get a reliable, well-respected defender for $14 million. Offensively, he pairs up well with 2B Jemile Weeks and should help the green-and-gold score runs in 2012. While the A’s may not have an overwhelming offense, the team could surprise a few people with the combination of Weeks and Crisp atop the lineup and Cespedes hitting in the heart of the order.

It’s still unclear whether Cespedes actually represents an upgrade in center field, but the A’s are trying pretty much everything in order to improve this year. Last year, the A’s struggled mightily on defense and led the AL with 124 errors (.979 FPCT).

Defensively, the A’s look to get back on track this year under manager Bob Melvin. Having a solid defense would definitely help the team’s extremely young starting rotation. Crisp, Cespedes, and perhaps a guy like Josh Reddick will help lead Oakland’s outfield to defensive excellence.

If Crisp had his way, though, the A’s would open the Japan series with himself in center field while the newbie Cespedes appeared in left. Sorry, Coco.

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What's an A's fan to do this winter? House has a few answers to your winter ailments (Photo Credit: Universal/NBC)

For teams like the New York Yankees, or any other professional team not named the Oakland Athletics, the offseason is a time filled some degree of excitement. From free agent signings to those grueling, yet equally intriguing trade rumors, the offseason for most teams, at least, is a time to upgrade and fine tune things before the start of the season.

For the A’s, however, this offseason is going to be filled with anxiety, anger, and most likely, disappointment. Last offseason, many A’s fans, including myself, were surprised by General manager Billy Beane and the rest of the A’s front office for being so aggressive in the early goings of the offseason. The A’s, if you can remember, went after Adrian Beltre with a very, very aggressive approach. For the penny-pinching A’s, the heavy pursuit of Beltre seemed a bit out of character.

The A’s were also rumored to be interested in free agents Lance Berkman and Adam Dunn. Oh, and there was that whole situation with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. The A’s were scared off by Iwakuma’s price tag, which was rumored to be in the Barry Zito range of ridiculousness. Still, the A’s made a conscious effort to upgrade the team last winter in more ways than none.

In the end, the A’s added Josh Willingham, Hideki Matsui, and David DeJesus to the offense. Oakland also beefed up their bullpen with the likes of Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes. Beane’s efforts, in my mind, to upgrade his team last winter were met with mixed results.

The additions to the anemic offense did not pay off this year. The A’s best addition was Willingham, who set career highs in home runs (29) and RBIs (98) this year, but other than Willingham’s efforts the A’s didn’t get much help from Matsui or DeJesus. (more…)

The team’s third-place finish does little to boost the moral of the fan base, and the fact that team missed the playoffs for the fifth-straight season crushes any feeling of optimism towards next season.

Finding the positives in a very disappointing season is tough, but I’ll give it my best shot. The A’s, while a very frustrating team to watch in 2011, did provide a few glimmers of hope.

A couple of players in Oakland proved they’re worthy of playing on the big-league level, while other players like David DeJesus left us scratching our heads in bewilderment.

The following players are completely deserving of the hardware I’m handing out here on Swingin’ A’s. While playing for a losing franchise, these player proved that they’re winners. Here are Swingin’ A’s 2011 Team Awards: (more…)