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POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
07/07/2009
24
25
Anyone else catch Brett Anderson against the Red Sox last night? Words fail me, other than "whoa!" and "hubba hubba!" ... If I'm Nomar Garciaparra, who returned to Fenway last night for the first time since being dealt away right before the Red Sox became world-beaters, I am one bitter S.O.B. The lengthy ovation had to serve as something of a balm, though ... Matt Holliday costs a lot of cash and he's put up a line of .242/.348/.305 since June 7. If traded, he's not going to net the prospects that A's fans expect.
06/30/2009
25
25
I was too quick to dismiss Vin Mazzaro based on his uninspiring minor-league numbers and a handful of scouts' opinions. My bad on that. Do yourself a favor and watch his next outing, scheduled for Saturday against the Indians. He looks a little Chris Carpenter-y from where I'm sitting.
06/23/2009
25
25
Apparently the big-screen version of Moneyball, set to star Brad Pitt and feature real-world basebally guys like Scott Hatteberg and David Justice, has been scotched. Which is a shame, as it'd be entertaining to see if the nation's film critics could grasp the notion of OPS better than 55-and-over baseball lifers have been able to ... I don't know what counts as a quality start anymore -- three runs in six innings? four runs in seven, but with no errors or balks? -- but Trevor Cahill has been better than OK in nine of his 10 outings this season.
06/16/2009
25
20
All it took for the A's to demote Orlando Cabrera from the leadoff spot was a .280 OBP through the team's first 60 or so games. Remind me again: why do we persist in thinking that the A's are smarter than everybody else? ... Jason Giambi is blaming his slow start on the cold weather, as opposed to, say, advancing age or the sprawling land mass that resides between his rib cage and his hip ... In the wake of the news that Eric Chavez has probably distended his last pinky toe as a professional ballplayer, it's worth remembering that he was a hell of a player for a few years there: one of the best defensive third basemen you'll ever see and an abuser of right-handed pitching. Godspeed, dude.
06/09/2009
20
28
That's quite a nice stretch Oakland's young starters have produced the last two weeks. I still think it's a little too early to slap them with a poster-ready nickname like "Young Guns" or "Generation K." For now, let's stick with the accurate if not catchy "Children of Desperation."
06/02/2009
28
28
It's bad enough the A's rushed Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson to the majors. Now they'll do the same with Vince Mazzaro, who will be served up like a sacrificial offering to the White Sox tonight. Let's stop all the "Glavine and Smoltz took their lumps as young pitchers, too," rationalizations whenever a team throws an untamed newbie pitcher into the deep end of the pool; those two were the exception, not the rule. Mazzaro wasn't exactly lighting up Triple-A (3.80 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 26 walks in 90 innings), either.
05/26/2009
28
27
I will root for Jason Giambi until the day he hangs up his goatee, and probably for years after that. Congrats on home run number 400, big fella ... After a great start, the bullpen has been exceedingly generous to everyone but the starting pitchers whose leads they've vowed to protect. That ain't cool.
05/19/2009
27
22
Is it time to stop thinking nice things about Billy Beane? I love him and he's nice and he's smart and he invented pine tar and nylon and lemonade, but let's face the facts: The A's haven't fielded a competent team since 2006 and this year's pitching-free model was grossly flawed from the outset. ... They were outscored 34-9 over the weekend in three games against the Tigers, a team which starts monsters of rock like Adam Everett and Placido Polanco every day. ... On Sunday, they couldn't hold a 6-0 second-inning lead. Gross.
05/12/2009
22
25
Dallas Braden gets his tough-guy badge for staying in the game on Sunday after taking a Vernon Wells liner off his pitching hand ... Bobby Crosby has looked somewhat less than awful subbing for Eric Chavez at third base, so a platoon might make sense if Chavez gets healthy. Of course, "if Chavez gets healthy" is one of those baseball contingencies that'll never come to pass, like a clause guaranteeing Russ Springer an extra $250,000 if he wins the Cy Young.
05/05/2009
25
24
It's hard to evaluate the A's about now, given that on any given night their trainer's office evokes nothing if not the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan. Duchscherer, Ellis, Chavez, Garciaparra, Devine -- none of these guys are strangers to the DL, but the A's are a shell of a team without them.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
21
-
We've been conditioned to believe that, despite occasional evidence to the contrary, Billy Beane has a plan. Bad trade? No biggie, he's just assembling parts for something better. Odd free-agent signing? Relax, it's just a prelude to the master coup. And yet here we are after Valentine's Day, with the A's looking well below average at first base, third base, shortstop, right field and center field, and preparing to trot out a rotation headlined by Justin Duchscherer and Dana Eveland. Am I missing something? Is it possible that Billy Beane is merely a brighter-than-average GM, rather than Einstein with a fungo bat?
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