Bob Geren

The A’s 2011 season was supposed to be full of excitement, but in the end, Billy Beane’s green-and-gold crew put together a season marked by inconsistencies on both offense and defense. Despite the additions of some key players like Hideki Matsui, David DeJesus, Josh Willingham, Grant Balfour, and Brian Fuentes, the A’s failed to reach the playoffs for the fifth-consecutive season and finished the season 22 games out of first place in the AL West. Oh, and the whole Bob Geren drama also put a damper on the A’s 2011 season as well. The offense actually performed worse than it [...]

The A’s entered the 2011 season with a renewed sense of optimism after posting an encouraging 81-81 record in 2010 under manager Bob Geren. Following Geren’s first .500 season as A’s skipper, the A’s front office made it a priority to give Geren, a close friend of GM Billy Beane, the tools necessary to compete in the American League West. The additions of David DeJesus, Hideki Matsui, Josh Willingham, Grant Balfour, and Brian Fuentes were supposed to help make the Athletics a contender during the 2011 season. The A’s efforts to retool their team, however, were met with some very [...]

The grades are in! Swingin’ A’s hands out grades to the 2011 Oakland Athletics. This is part one of a three-part series that takes a closer look at some of the A’s triumphs and struggles during the 2011 season. Read more below to see which players got a passing grade and who came up short in 2011!  With the 2011 MLB regular season finally in the books, the Oakland Athletics can finally move on and begin preparing for the 2012 season. The A’s, considered contenders for the AL West crown before the season, never found their groove and failed to [...]

According to the Associated Press, the Oakland Athletics have agreed with manager Bob Melvin to a three-year contract extension. There is, however, no official announcement yet from the Athletics’ organization. The report notes, however, that Melvin, who replaced Bob Geren midway through this season, should be receiving his official deal in the next few days. Melvin, 49, has been the A’s skipper since Geren’s June firing, and has led the team to mixed-results. The A’s fired Geren, a very close friend of A’s GM/VP Billy Beane, in June after the team started the season poorly. The A’s entered the season [...]

The Oakland Athletics made a few moves before the start of the season in an attempt to revamp an offense in major need of some power. One of the guys the team landed in the offseason was veteran Hideki Matsui, and entering the season, the Athletics had some high hopes with Matsui penciled in the designated hitter spot. Oakland hasn’t had a productive DH since the days of Frank Thomas back in 2006, and while Jack Cust provided a little bit of pop for a few years after Thomas, the A’s haven’t been able to find a player as productive [...]

I applauded Billy Beane and the rest of the Athletics organization for cutting ties with manager Bob Geren earlier this season, and took an instant liking to their replacement, Bob Melvin. The two managers share only the same first name, but Geren and Melvin definitely have different approaches to the game. Geren, according to several A’s players, was not very vocal, and leading up to the days before his firing, many cited Geren’s lack of communication as a reason behind the team’s early season troubles. Reliever Brian Fuentes outed his coach’s (Geren) questionable and unorthodox managerial skills, and ex-Athletics closer [...]

Yes,  once again we are visiting the on going drama of when and if the Oakland A’s are going to get a new stadium and whether or not MLB commissioner,  Bud Selig will ever make a decision to intervene on behalf of owner Lew Wolff as to where the A’s will end up.   Especially, because back in January allegations surfaced that back in the early 2000′s the team had a chance to be bought and moved to Modesto by a shopping store mogul, but was basically blocked by both the MLB and of all entities The San Francisco Giants. [...]

That’s 10 straight, A’s fans. Bob Melvin’s debut as new Oakland A’s manager was a 9-4 loss in Chicago to the White Sox. Thursday night was yet another unspectacular showing from the A’s offensively and defensively. Aside from Hideki Matsui’s two-run homer, the A’s lineup was quiet as usual, and Trevor Cahill lasted just 2.2 innings. Oakland’s new manager shuffled the lineup card a little bit, and opted to move SS Cliff Pennington into the No.2 spot behind speedy OF Coco Crisp. Connor Jackson played at first-base for struggling Daric Barton, and hit in the No.3 spot behind Jackson. The [...]

In what has been a disappointing 2011 season, the Oakland A’s announced on Thursday that manager Bob Geren has been relieved of his duties. The recent downward spiral that has the team sitting in last place in the AL West, probably had a lot to do with the team’s decision to let Geren go. Filling in for Geren will be ex-Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin. Melvin, who was serving as a special baseball advisor for the Diamondbacks. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Melvin will officially take the reigns tonight in Chicago when the A’s begin their [...]

A’s fans, it’s definitely time to hit the panic button. As reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, A’s young lefty Brett Anderson left the team to head back to Oakland to get his left-elbow checked out. Oakland’s already depleted starting rotation is now facing the possibility of losing Anderson, 23, to yet another injury plagued season. The A’s entered the season with one of the best starting rotations in baseball, but injuries to Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy, Rich Harden, and Tyson Ross, have derailed the A’s this season. Braden is out for the remainder of the season, [...]