Issue: Speed at the top
Analysis: It’s nice that the A’s, who clearly lack the type of power with which you typically associate American League success, have enough burners to stack the top of their batting order with players who, in theory, can help negate that lack by flooding the bases and putting a different brand of pressure on pitchers.
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The A’s? “Team Irrelevant”? Grabbing supposedly the best Cuban baseball playing defector available, Yoenis Cespedes, for $36 million? Then signing Manny Ramirez? The A’s?
Welcome to the New World of Moneyball. No longer when a journalist asks GM Billy Beane whether we’ll recognize any members of the A’s will he be able to respond, if tongue in cheek, “Do you ever?”
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Fans have always been convinced they know exactly how to improve their teams, and they express their views in emails and blogs.
Right now, I’m being besieged by A’s fans who bemoan their team’s lack of hitting. One suggested they should pick up Milton Bradley, just released by the Seattle Mariners.
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Spring training is still two months away, but there was much talk of the playoffs as the A’s held a media day Thursday.
“After four years in Florida and two in Washington, where there was never any serious thought about contending, it’s nice to come to a team that has a chance to win something,” said outfielder Josh Willingham, who signed as a free agent in the offseason.
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Perhaps the A’s should rethink the policy against banners at the Coliseum negative to management, permitting display on the condition that signs must be accompanied by paying customers.
While understandably no one wishes to be trashed in his own house, and figuratively that’s what the Coliseum is for the A’s, better to have the seats filled, if even by those who proclaim disdain for Lew Wolff.
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The shocking decision to remove Jack Cust from their roster just emphasizes what observers had already noted: The 2010 A’s will be built around pitching and speed.
Cust was there strictly for his power hitting, but that was offset by his frequent strikeouts: 572 in 1,463 at-bats over nearly three seasons with the A’s. Because of those strikeouts, he shouldn’t be a middle-of-the-order hitter because he can short circuit too many potential rallies.
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The A’s traded for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff because Eric Chavez can’t be expected to play anything close to a full season, but Chavez is comfortable with his new role as a super utility player.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/topics/athletics?page=1&quicktabs_1=0
