MVN: Most Valuable Network

So if anything, I'm a bit confused on what direction the A's are going to go in, season after season. This year, things looked a bit promising, but now things are looking as bleak as they were last year. We've traded high-quality pitchers to some team for...I'm not really sure to be honest. Mostly cause we wanted to get the most out of what we can and cut back our costs. But at what cost are we cutting back our cost? The brightest star out there that we got is Matt Holliday. Fully knowing that this is the only year we can and probably will keep him donning a white, green and yellow uniform, we were unable to lure any good players to the bay area or trade for better quality, more talented players. What is Billy Beane doing? I'm not exactly sure what he is thinking up in that nice, AC, cushioned sky box, but we are just as bad as the Oakland Raiders! Them for taking Darrius Heyward-Bey at the number 7 seed, but I'm not a big football follower so I'm not too sure if it was bad or good, besides the newspapers writings. I'm really getting tired of watching the Oakland A's go through a good series only to be sandwiched by tons of losing series. We need a change of scenery, a change of players and maybe a change of GM. But whatever it is, we made one great move in getting Matt Holliday, only to surround him with aging players and no spark. Please let my next column be about something that is more encouraging.....

3 series into the new baseball year, the A's are a combined 4-5 for the year. In a quick look of the standings, they are in second place behind, the Seatte Mariners! Granted this is just the beginning of the year and we have 153 more games to play to see where we land, but this is a great start. For openers, we grabbed two from the division champs, but lost three to the surging Mariners. Then Beantown came and visited and we were dominate to take 2 out of 3. I'd say that the season is going very well so far. This weekend's series should be a sweep for us. Against the AL East, I think that if get some wins from weaker teams, we will be in better shape. Against the West, I think that our team is built to win now. Knowing that our trade for Matt... Read more

I know that this is the blog for the Oakland A's, but tragedy struck the LA Angels and baseball on Wednesday. Instead of playing a night game, the game was postponed as the Angels are still in shock after their up-and-coming pitcher was killed hours after he pitched a pretty good game against the A's. The A's did eventually win after using a rally after scoring three in the 8th and three in the ninth. The autopsy show that Nick Adenhart had been invovled in a hit-and-run accident and died shortly later. Everyone in the league is in quite a shock. But this gives a perspective on things in life. There is such a saying that "All good things must come to an end." And in reality all things do come to an end, but rather it is when it is all going to end. Tragically, this young man's life and dream was... Read more

Not a good start to the season with a 3-0 loss to an Angels team that has three of their starting rotation on the disabled list plus their power first baseman off to the Yanks and their closer in the Big Apple. With a re-amped line-up, you'd think that the A's would have put up a better fight. Instead, the A's managed three hits. The good news is that two of the hits were some fresh faces, in Matt Holiday and Orlando Cabrera. This has already made me wonder if the A's got enough firepower during the off season and if guys that are here already, can contribute to a point where the A's are winning some crucial series. That not only help the win column but also boost the morale of the team and give the Angels some competiion. Hopefully tonight, the A's can bounce back behind their young pitcher, Trever... Read more

I have to say that I have been surprised by the continued negative reaction by Bobby Crosby over the A's signing of Orlando Cabrera. While I understand that he is disappointed not to be the starter, it also seems to me that he has had plenty of time this off-season to get used to the idea that the A's were trying to replace him, what with the waiver experiment and the team's multiple attempts to sign free agent shortstops. I also am surprised that he is so reluctant to learn other positions. While learning to do something new on a baseball field is never fun, he has to recognize that he will be a much more attractive free agent target this off-season to other teams if he can show some versatility. Frankly, he has to know how unlikely it is for Eric Chavez to be available to play every day,... Read more

Today's article from Susan Slusser featured the A's bullpen and its relative strength. Interestingly, it seemed to open the door to the possibility that Santiago Casilla might be competing for a job this spring. This struck me as quite surprising. If Casilla is healthy, I think he is easily one of the A's top three relievers, let alone a top six or seven reliever. Early last season, Casilla was one of the best relievers in baseball. Then he injured his elbow, missed time and seemed tentative with his slider (his out-pitch) when he returned. He finished the year with a still-respectable 3.93 ERA and 43 strike-outs in 50 innings. If Casilla isn't 100 percent, I would agree with the notion that there may be other relievers who could challenge his job. However, if he is healthy, he should be a very important part of the A's overall bullpen. He is... Read more

I am currently participating in a fun fantasy draft exercise. I'm one of 12 people participating in the Baseball Daily Digest Dream Draft. For this draft, we are each selecting 10 players who will think will be among the top players in baseball for the next six years. We are about halfway through the draft. Thus far, Matt Holliday is the only current Oakland A's player to be selected. Dan Haren was taken, as well. My team currently stands at Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain and Cameron Maybin. Let me know what you think of my selections and the draft in general. It is also interesting to ponder whether there is a member of the A's current organization that you would select in a draft like this. Any suggestions?  ... Read more

After a relatively quiet off-season that involved two major acquisitions, but not much else, the Oakland A's have really picked up the acquisition pace over the past two weeks. Starting with the signing of Russ Springer, the A's have added bullpen depth and have helped to address their over-crowded outfield situation. But I think it is obvious that the team isn't done dealing as of yet. Let's take a look at what the A's have added and what they still need to add moving forward.New AdditionsDating back to late last week, the A's have made three moves involving spots on their 40-man roster. The first came last Friday when the team inked veteran reliever Russ Springer to a one-year free agent deal. The A's released reliever Andrew Brown that same day to make room for Springer on the roster. Brown, as he revealed to the San Francisco Chronicle, will miss... Read more

There have been likely few players in Major League history as deserving as Rickey Henderson of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rickey was not only a fantastic player, he was a completely unique player. Throughout history, there have been few players who could create chaos on the field as effectively as Rickey Henderson. Once he was on first base, he was in scoring position. In an individual sport, he made his teammates better, whether it was by seeing so many pitches and wearing down the opposing pitching staff, or creating a distraction on the mound, or creating easy RBI opportunities. I was fortunate to grow up right when Rickey was in his prime as a ballplayer. Watching him play at his best was a pleasure. I remember his first home game with the A's after he was traded back to the team from New York, wearing that... Read more

  The Oakland A's made it official today, announcing that they had come to terms on a one-year deal plus an option with their former MVP Jason Giambi. Giambi will reportedly make only $4 million next season. The option reportedly is worth $6.5 million with a $1 million buyout. For that kind of price, it is hard to think of a scenario where the A's would not have wanted to sign Giambi. Four million bucks for a player who gets on-base at a terrific pace and hit more than 30 homers last season seems like a bargain, even in this depressed market. Pat Burrell's signing may have set the bar low for Giambi in terms of what he reasonably could look for on the open market, although the speed with which the A's made this deal with Giambi after Burrell's was announced suggests that the parameters were in place before... Read more

According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, Pat Burrell is close to signing a two-year deal to be the DH for the Tampa Bay Rays. Rosenthal indicates in his report that the deal is worth roughly $16 million. It has also been reported that Milton Bradley is nearing an agreement to be an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs, although terms for that deal aren't currently available. The A's search for offense has seemed to center most recently on getting a OF, 1B or DH-type who is willing to sign a short-term deal. The A's were never publicly linked to Burrell or Bradley, but the Rays, in particular, were thought to be competitors with the A's for a number of the other players the team has targeted (including Jason Giambi, Garret Anderson and Bobby Abreu). If true, it seems like the Burrell signing is good news for the A's. Burrell is a... Read more