There's a special feeling you get when you walk into the Coliseum and you here the ultra smooth voice of Roy Steele, aka The Voice of God, utter the words, "Welcome A's Fans!"

We'll be hearing those words sooner than later, as The Cactus League gets underway in March, and pitchers and catchers reporting in February. Barring any more trades - and with Billy, it can happen at any time - this year's version of the 2008 Athletics is going to be full of youth and exciting to watch.

Recent trade activity has virtually restocked the minor league cupboards, as both Dan Haren and Nick Swisher have brought top prospects back into the fold, prospects that will help contribute to this team for many years to come. Health remains a key issue for any team, but your 2008 Oakland Athletics need to utilize the disabled list far less than they did in 2007. However, injuries allowed the ball club to take a long look at players such as Donnie Murphy, Daric Barton, and Andrew Brown. 

Continue reading "Welcome A's Fans!"

Reliever Justin Duchscherer avoided arbitration, agreeing to a $1.2 million, one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics, according to the Associated Press.

This is excellent news for both the team, as well as Duke. The A's get to hang on to one of their top pitchers from the last few years - Justin made the All-Star game in 2005 - and Duke gets a year to show the organization and the rest of baseball that he can be a starter. Pending any more trades (and injuries), a rotation with Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Cahad Gaudin, and Duke could bode well for a team in rebuilding mode.

Before he can be successful as a starter, Duke has to stay healthy. He missed most of last season with a strained right hip but was an All-Star in 2005, going 7-4 with a 2.21 ERA in 65 games. Duchscherer appeared in 17 games last season, going 3-3 with a 4.96 ERA before going on the disabled list in the middle of May and having hip surgery on July 11.

Continue reading "The Duke Signs On For Another Year"

To be an Athletics fan, one has to understand why Billy Beane makes the decisions that he does, that until Cisco Field in Fremont is built, the Elephants will be a small market, low revenue team that is constantly in the position of being unable to sign our big name free agents to extensions and coax others to move to the East Bay.

Yet, we still pledge allegiance to the green and gold, no matter who is on the field. But what about the former players off of it, and with this question, I specifically talk about Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco.

Known as the "Bash Brothers," the two will forever be a part of Athletics lore, however, the two have taken serious hits to their images over the last few years.

As a player, Canseco ran afoul of the law, had spousal abuse claims, crashed his sports car into a tree, which his then wife, Esther, claimed he was really gunning for her. There were even rumors of steroid use. But with victories and success comes the magical wand that waves and allows us to see through such transgressions so long as we continue to win.

Continue reading "Pledging Allegiance"

One of the most underrated outfielders in baseball is no longer a member of the Oakland Athletics. Mark Kotsay was traded to the Atlanta Braves for a couple of young arms, in a move that will ensures that Travis Buck will have the most experience in the outfield next season barring a return from Shannon Stewart.

Besides being an exceptional outfilder, Kotsay will perhaps best be known for his inside-the-park home run during the 2006 playoffs against Minnesota.

"By far, my fondest memory is the postseason," he said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

So now the question is, who are the most likely projected starters in the outfield come Opening Day?  Buck, in the Chronicle artcle, indicated that with the team being so young, nobody will expect much from them, giving Oakland nothing to lose. One can sense that this "nothing to lose" attitude will be a common them around the clubhouse in 2008.

Continue reading "Kotsay, we'll miss you!"

To be an A's fan means that one absolutely must expect the unexpected - with a lot of blind faith. Got a young switch-hitting outfielder whose adored by fans on the roster? And he's at the beginning of a big contract? Unload him. What's that? One of your arms is a strikeout machine who started the All-Star game las season? Trade him for prospects.

While many teams would have eyeballed Nick Swisher and Dan Haren as cornerstones in their team's future, Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics felt that restocking the team with fresh talent was the better long term solution for the Oakland Athletics, netting a Who's Who of prospects from the White Sox and Diamondbacks, respectively, for the two beloved players. But if you're a diehard A's fan, you've been down this road before - and you've shared in the success.

Continue reading "Sreet, Blanton sign; Is stability on the horizon?"