The bay area native Hale was signed to a two-year contract to serve as Bob Melvin‘s right-hand man. Melvin, who took over for the Athletics’ managing duties after the team fired Bob Geren back in June, worked with Hale before in Arizona while with the Diamondbacks.

It’s the dawn of a new era in Oakland, as the Melvin era is seemingly in full swing. Oakland opted not to bring pitching coach Ron Romanick, bench coach Joel Skinner, and hitting coach Gerald Perry back for 2012. It was figured that Melvin would prefer, as most coaches do, to bring in his own staff.

The Athletics will, however, keep third-base coach Mike Gallego and first-base coach Tye Waller for 2012. Going forward, Oakland’s primary focus, at least, to me, should be improving the defense. The team has a ton of work to do on offense, yes, but their defense was shockingly bad in 2011.

Oakland’s biggest strengths, at least, on paper, heading into 2011 was their defense. Unfortunately, Oakland ranked 2nd in MLB with 124 defensive errors, and looked downright sloppy throughout the season. (more…)