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The Oakland Telegraph
24 June 2030
A's stretch lead in AL West but Beane acts to tackle simmering bullpen problems
By Tom N. E. Walks, bases on balls correspondent
Despite their inconsistent form over the last couple of weeks, the Oakland A's have increased their lead in the American League West division to 7 games as chasers Houston have faltered badly. The A's are a very respectable 43-27, but their mediocre run means they no longer sport the best record in the AL.
General manager Paulie Beane is becoming increasingly worried about his pitching. It's the same old story on the face of it: Oakland's pitching is the best in the majors this season, with an exceptional overall team ERA of 2.81. That's over a run better than any other team in MLB. But the bullpen, which started the season well, has gone badly downhill. Closer Roy Ellis's travails have been documented, but really only lefties Gonzalo Avila and Jose Duran have performed with anything even in the same postcode as consistency. While the team has kept winning, Beane has given the soldiers in the relief corps time to turn things round, but he now appears to have run out of patience, a commodity he is not exactly blessed with an abundance of at the best of times, and decided to act. Melvi Salazar and Tsurayuki Hashimoto, who have reasonable ERAs but FIPs so horrible that you shouldn't look directly at them, have been demoted to the minors. Nathan Boyd and recent draft pick Kenji Takahashi have been promoted to the active roster for the first time in their place. Salazar has probably played his last game for the A's. The age-old conundrum, is he actually any good or not, has seemingly now been answered: he's not.
Beane is reportedly also unhappy with field manager Phil D'Manager's use of his relievers during recent weeks. The pair have an interesting relationship, which is probably best described as "only occasionally functional". They are usually quick to point the finger at one another when the team is struggling, but tensions have generally been kept firmly beneath the surface while the team has been regularly winning in recent seasons. A hint of struggle, and the undercurrent arguments between the pair flare up again. Beane will be closely watching D'Manager's approach to putting newbies Boyd and Takahashi into games, and there could be fireworks if he's unimpressed.
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