Oakland A's 2024 And Beyond Dynasty

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
30 November 2032
Beane turns to youth to cut payroll and solve 2034 budget crisis, as Dickson, Gusman, Jimenez and Ortiz depart, while Childress and Reynolds arrive
By W. T. F. Ishedoing, shocking trades correspondent

Oakland GM Paulie Beane hasn't even waited till the winter meetings to complete a sensational double trade, which has simultaneously solved his looming 2034 budget crisis and sent shockwaves through a stunned A's fanbase.

Beane yesterday dispensed of the services of both starter pitcher Karl Dickson and second baseman Alejandro Gusman, who have joined Milwaukee and Seattle respectively. A's fans spokesman O. Clandmad expressed his horror that their eight-time World Series winning general manager had moved out his best starter and his lead off hitter from a successful squad. Impressively managing to contradict himself within the space of a single sentence, he said, "Experience tells us not to question Paulie's roster management, but I do have to question what he's doing here."

Other than the fact that this is just a computer game with nothing actually riding on it, Beane's motivation is clearly to relieve the organisation of two players with a combined $43m annual salary whose performances were not justifying that level of remuneration. Moving to Seattle along with Gusman were minor leaguers first baseman Javier Villanueva and shortstop James Collins. Oakland have received two excellent prospects in return: 19-year-old starting pitcher Palmer Reynolds, BNN's #8 prospect at the start of the year, and 24-year-old first baseman Raleigh Young.

Dickson has 3 years and $60m remaining on his contract, signed two years ago. While he was still the A's best starter this last season, his statistics and scout ratings have been on a precipitous decline the last couple of years, and Beane has clearly decided to cash in his chips while Dickson still has trade value. Moving to the Brewers with him were minor league catcher and spellcheck bamboozler Tewfik Fogo, along with promising young reliever Pedro Ramirez. In return, Oakland get highly promising 23-year-old second baseman Herb Childress, who was the eighth overall draft pick in 2031 and replaces Gusman on the A's active roster, and utterly unremarkable minor league reliever whose name you probably need not bother remembering, Ben Nixon.

Third baseman Juan Jimenez and infield reserve Salvador Ortiz have also left the club after their contracts expired. Oakland's 2034 projected payroll is now a heart rate calming $144m, compared to the previous palpitatory $200m estimate. The current payroll for 2033 is only $104m. Shifting those two large contracts was clearly necessary move to balance the budget, but Beane didn't need to do it this year. Has he surrendered the chance of a second career three-peat?

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
6 January 2033
Jimenez returns to A's roster, starter Lopez and right fielder Garcia sign one-year deals
By Babe E. Comeback, returning players correspondent

Third baseman Juan Jimenez is returning to Oakland. The free agent left the organisation at the end of last season, but negotiations between his agent and the club have settled on a one-year, $2m deal to come back to the Coliseum. The signing is great news for fans of infielders with strong defense and below-average hitting ability. It's less good news for fans of former #1 prospect Tony De Jesus, who was expected to be promoted to the active roster for the coming year, but will now probably begin the season in the minors. Hard lines, Tone.

General manager Paulie Beane also announced the free agent signing of veteran starting pitcher Luis C. Lopez, who has joined on a $4m, one-year contract, thus taking advantage of the A's 2033 budget headroom to cash in for probably doing very little. Lopez, 36, started 32 games for Seattle last season, frankly with not much success, truth be told. While Oakland will have young starters Carl Bates in the bullpen and hot prospects Mario Plourde and Palmer Reynolds in the minors, Beane clearly wanted Lopez to add more experienced starting pitching depth. Lopez will begin the season in the minors too.

Finally, right fielder Vicente Garcia has also signed a single year $1.7m deal, again to add roster depth. Garcia is one of these so-called defensive specialists, otherwise known as a weak hitter. Ray Dalton and Jean-Francois Pelletier will be the principal outfield backups in the minors, so Garcia realistically looks to have been bought to be a trade chip. One presumes Beane may have lied about, sorry, put a positive spin on Garcia's prospective role at the organisation in discussions with his agent in order to get him to sign what will probably end up being a non-playing role.

Beane told reporters that he expected the arrivals of Jimenez, Lopez and Garcia to be the final pieces of roster business for Oakland this offseason. For A's fans it now promises to be a loooooooong wait with very little happening until the new season starts.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
4 April 2033
Stats Amazing: Oakland's K-maestros
Our in-house sabermetrician and geek, Joe Nahill, finds winters a struggle. Sure, the weather gives him an excuse to stay in his bedroom all day. But, the lad misses his baseball. We've commissioned him to write this meaningless article just to give him something baseball-related to do. We're all heart at this newspaper. We haven't paid him for it, of course.

Oakland GM Paulie Beane is one of many general managers around the league who say that the overall calibre of pitchers, particularly starters, has declined noticeably over the 18 years of the Dynastic Era of baseball. There seem to be significantly fewer aces, weaker bullpens, and more rotation starters who are, frankly, toilet. A microcosm of the decline in pitching standards is the A's list of season leaders in strikeouts pitched. When Jose Fernandez was in his prime, strikeouts were ten a penny in the Coliseum. But in the last five or six years they've decreased dramatically, and now feel rarer than the Philadelphia Phillies winning a trade. Those A's strikeout leaders in full:

2015 - Sonny Gray, 152
2016 - Robert Stephenson, 163
2017 - Michael Wacha, 199
2018 - Robert Stephenson, 221
2019 - Robert Stephenson, 233
2020 - Robert Stephenson, 235
2021 - Jose Fernandez, 217
2022 - Jose Fernandez, 237
2023 - Jose Fernandez, 228
2024 - Jose Fernandez, 252
2025 - Jose Fernandez, 205
2026 - Rodney Stewart, 189
2027 - Karl Dickson, 184
2028 - Karl Dickson, 203
2029 - Karl Dickson, 193
2030 - Karl Dickson, 196
2031 - Nathan Hamilton, 170
2032 - Antonio Perez, 130

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
10 April 2033
Reynolds and Plourde appear in BNN Top 10 prospects
By Mack Beth, wild stabs in the dark correspondent

Is this a dagger I see before me?

No, fool, it's the BNN Top 100 prospects list. It looks nothing like a dagger.

Yes, it's the opening bell to the new baseball season, when BNN publishes its annual guess at which talented and not so talented youngsters will one day, perhaps, become, maybe, big league baseball stars, possibly, in the future, potentially. For the Oakland A's, whose traditionally strong pitching suffered a right old time of it in 2032, there was some good news with the appearance of starters Palmer Reynolds and Mario Plourde at #6 and #7 on BNN's list respectively, and reliever Brandon Lee at #19.

Young third baseman Tony De Jesus, the #1 prospect a couple of years ago, continued his delightful slide down the rankings, and this year has come in at #36. Two other young A's pitchers also featured. Starter Ben Nixon popped up at the favourite number of every single, testosterone-filled young player who spends all his days in an all-male working environment, #69. And reliever Ricardo Maldonado came in at a distinctly non-prospect sounding position of #78.

Despite posting a very healthy six players on the list, Oakland's minor league coach Ron Washington-Deecy did come in for some criticism at the disappearance this year of shortstop Harvey Turner. The 21-year-old Turner was #29 last year, but his development seems to have stalled badly over the last year, and he's now outside the top 100. Speaking to reporters following BNN's announcement, Washington-Deecy admitted Turner had had a difficult twelve months, but said, not totally unreasonably, "How can I be responsible for Harvey not making the list, when I didn't write the list?"

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
11 April 2033
Starting pitching needs to improve if A's are to three-peat for the second time under Beane
By Luke Intothefuture, our ludicrously overpaid astrologer

Neptune is passing though Libra, Saturn and Jupiter are rising to the east in Sagittarius, Mars is a chocolate bar, while little old Mercury is speeding towards perihelion in the constellation of Scorpio. What does it all mean? I have no idea. (I do - it means astrology is utter nonsense - Editor). But as this newspaper's resident astrologer I'm paid to come up with some kind of unspecific prediction which can be interpreted as having some relevance to their lives by pretty much anyone. So my guess is it all means, er, that the A's will soon be presented with the opportunity to make the most of an opportunity where there is great opportunity for them.

Rotation: Five-time all-star Greg Carter (27/R/5*, 10-9 WL, 4.20 ERA in 2032) came to Oakland with great fanfare, and should be the team's ace, but has pitched more like a rookie baller since his arrival. He needs to settle down and bounce back. Brad Dundee (29/R/4.5*, 13-11, 4.56) progressively improved over the course of his first season back from injury. Antonio Perez (23/R/4.5*, 15-9, 4.25) also came back from a poor start to the year, but the same can't be said for Anastasio Vasquez (22/L/4*, 4-8, 5.19), who, after 14 largely awful displays, was shunted to the minors for the second half of last year. The departure of Karl Dickson gives Vasquez chance to atone. Joe Byrd (27/R/4*, 6-1, 4.29) ironically got the bird from the Coliseum crowd at times last year. It's now or never for the 27-year-old, who needs to take this chance.

Bullpen: Jose Duran (29/L/4*, 5-5, 2.23, 51 SV) grabbed the closer role with a gusto of a child grabbing their favourite teddy bear for a hug. He led MLB in saves last year. If only that statistic actually meant very much. The talented set-up pairing of Frank Sargent (23/L/5*, 5-4, 2.11) and Nathan Boyd (25/R/4.5*, 3-2, 2.67) were lethal last year. Gonzalo Avila (25/L/5*, 3-2, 1.39) spent most of 2032 in a sulk like a child who had had their favourite teddy bear taken away from them. He was grumpy about being replaced as closer by Duran, but actually pitched excellently and would stake a claim to get the role back if he continues in that vein. Carl Bates (22/R/4.5*, 6-2, 4.86) will step up into the rotation in the event of any injuries. Porter Hawkins (25/R/5*, 5-5, 4.54) is super-talented but super-inconsistent and super-frustrating. He is simultaneously both in the doghouse and in the last chance saloon with GM Paulie Beane, which is an impressive logistical feat. Completing a bullpen which excelled last year is 2031 draftee Esteban Mendez (23/R/4.5*, 2-2, 3.62). Brandon Lee is next in line for a spot.

Catcher: Unquestioned number one in the position is now Miguel Rojas (28/R/3*, .344 OBP, 21 HR, 85 RBI in 2032). Seeing game time against lefties is malcoordinated passed ball specialist Miguel Mason (26/R/3.5*, .349, 8, 41).

Infield: First baseman Luis Trujillo (27/R/4.5*, .325, 37, 102) had a below-par year by his high standards, but his brutal battering of pitching in the postseason gives hope he can return to his best in 2033. Oddly-monikered Herb Childress (22/R/2.5*, .295, 6, 38) takes over from Alejandro Gusman as lead off hitter and second baseman. Given his salary this year is 1/46th that of Gusman, he pretty much can't underachieve. Shortstop Liam Brown (26/R/4.5*, .343, 14, 72) is becoming a very productive member of society. Juan Jimenez (32/R/2*, .325, 9, 55) surprisingly returns to the club as third baseman, where he will share time with promotee Gabriel Villanueva (24/R/2*, drafted 2029 rd 5 by Oakland). Hold the front page, but Villanueva was drafted with the 29th pick of the 5th round in 2029, and has, unbelievably, made the majors. Seriously. This could be unprecedented in the Dynastic Era. He could, of course, end up being hopeless. Thomas McConnell (33/R/3.5*, .318, 1, 18) is a defensively excellent infield backup. Tony De Jesus is waiting in the minors to pounce if any of these guys struggle.

Outfield: Pepe Rios (24/L/5*, .422, 26, 85) is an absolute stud. But he's also a fragile stud so plays designated hitter. Right fielder Dennis Hawkins (31/L/4.5*, .360, 15, 69) and his career .854 OPS is another who's one of the first names on the team sheet. The defensive decline over the offseason of centre fielder Juan Torres (31/R/1*, .304, 2, 28) is a concern, but Jean-Francois Pelletier and Ray Dalton are waiting in the minors to step up. Half of the platoon at left field is William Morris (29/L/3*, .345, 29, 77), who has a career pattern of being terrific one season and rubbish the next. Guess what: he's due a rubbish one. The other half of the platoon is Rob Dyment (26/R/2.5*, .312, 13, 37), who has a career pattern of being rubbish one season and rubbish the next. No, that's unfair, he's only had two seasons in the majors so far, and season two was better than season one, so his agent would spin it that his performances are on an upward statistical trajectory.

Overall, the world champions look in decent shape for the forthcoming season, but there are a couple of major question marks. Can their talented rotation deliver even close to their ability levels this year? Is the defense good enough? As an astrologer, I'm pathologically incapable of giving you a specific prediction. All I can say, looking at the stars, is that Sirius is in conjunction, meaning they'll play either good or bad in most games, and Venus's transit of Aldebaran tells me they'll gain between 40 and 130 wins.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
25 April 2033
Nice opening fortnight for A's but Carter's dire form a concern for Beane
By Carter Splayingawfully, easy runs correspondent

MLB scouts rate him the fifth best starting pitcher in the whole of baseball right now. But at the moment he isn't playing well enough to be rated the fifth best starting pitcher in his family. Oakland's alleged ace, Greg Carter, has got off to an abysmal start to the season. The 27-year-old has made three starts so far. He's managed to get through only 10.1 innings of work in the process, and given up a 12.19 ERA. We can't even bring ourselves to report his FIP number. He has pitched only 3 scoreless innings. One can only imagine the damage that general manager Paulie Beane will inflict on the fixtures and fittings in his office should this trend continue. Club sources dismissed as ridiculous speculation (meaning they're probably true) suggestions that Beane had already tentatively explored trade options to replace Carter with a different ace pitcher. They pointed out that Carter's .472 BABIP cannot continue indefinitely, and insisted the club was confident his form would turn around soon. At $19m per year for 7 years, frankly it had better.

Carter's woes have slightly taken the edge off a very tidy start to the season overall by the A's. They've gone 9-4 over the opening fortnight, putting them neck and neck with Texas at the top of the American League West division. Anastasio Vasquez has celebrated his return to the starting rotation by pitching 14.2 scoreless innings in his two starts so far. Brad Dundee is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA from his three starts. With the bat, catcher Miguel Rojas and first baseman Luis Trujillo have continued their fine form from the playoffs last year, while promotee Gabriel Villanueva has started his major league career nicely, with a .924 OPS mark from his seven games played in so far.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
14 May 2033
A's front office holds pitching crisis talks as Carter finally gets a win
By Chris Isstalks, overhyped chats correspondent

The Oakland A's front office staff late last night held what they described as "casual conversations", but which we'll sensationally describe as "crisis talks", over supposed ace starter Greg Carter. Carter has, by any standard, had a dreadful season so far, particularly for a pitcher who has made five all-star appearances and purports to be the team's ace. His numbers make ugly reading. 5.70 ERA. 1.87 WHIP. 5.60 FIP. 1 quality start in 7. Urgh.

Insiders say that during the meeting, analyst Mike Rosoft-Excel argued for the club to show patience with Carter, pointing to his unsustainably high .394 BABIP. Pitching coach Ace Onballs pointed out that a high BABIP had nothing to do with him getting slapped for 7 home runs in only 30 innings. GM Paulie Beane reminded everyone present that the A's are currently on the hook for nearly $140m due to Carter over the next seven years. The meeting was made slightly less fraught after the evening's game, where Carter finally got his first win of the season in a 5-2 victory over Houston. Carter threw 5.2 innings for no earned runs. The meeting reportedly concluded that they would give Carter more time, but he is clearly on notice that he needs to improve if he wants to stay with the World Series holders. Of course, he may not.

The meeting also discussed fellow starter Joe Byrd, whose 5.19 ERA and 5.85 FIP have also rung alarms bells inside Rosoft-Excel's computer. There was a unanimous view to send him down to the minor league roster. Carl Bates has been only average in the bullpen but comes into the rotation anyway, with hot prospect Mario Plourde comes up into the pen for his first taste of the big leagues. Esteban Mendez has also been demoted, and replaced in the bullpen by flame-throwing Brandon Lee.

The rest of the pitching staff have avoided Beane's ire and been very good. The A's are 20-11, in second place in the American League West division and just 1.5 games behind fast-starting Texas. With Seattle in third place at 12-17, it already looks like being a two-horse race between the A's and the Rangers for the division title. Between them, the two teams have won the division 15 times during the 18 seasons of the Dynastic Era.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
15 May 2033
Puzzle Corner: Fasten your seatbelts, it's an Oakland A's quiz
In a futile attempt to increase this newspaper's circulation, our quizzes correspondent Bamber Paxman has cranked the dial up to 11 on the ol' excitement-o-meter, and prepared a scintillating, thoroughly unimaginative and mercifully brief set of questions about Paulie Beane's Oakland A's. Post your answers to the Telegraph, and one lucky reader might win first prize of an imaginary book token worth $1, redeemable at zero bookshops and other retailers worldwide. If you can bear the tension, we'll reveal the correct answers in next week's issue, assuming we can be bothered to publish one.

Q1. Which legendary pitcher won four Cy Young awards while playing for the A's, and is still secretly pined after by Paulie Beane whenever one of his starters gets shelled?

Q2. Who are the only two members of the current A's active roster to have been selected for the all-star game more than once?

Q3. Which member of the active roster joined the A's in the trade with Milwaukee which saw pitchers Rodney Stewart, Bill Williams and Johnny Jackson move to the Brewers?

Q4. Who is the oldest player on the current active roster?

Q5. Who is the match day blimp operator at the Coliseum for A's home games?

Good luck!

[Texasborn]

Great idea, I admit I was starting to forget some of the older years, but here I go.

1.) José Fernández

2.)Greg Carter and Dennis Hawkins

3.) Brad Dundee

4.) Thomas McConnell

5.) Di Recteevee (what a name)

[Paulie123]

Cracking work, Texasborn - a full house!

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
22 May 2033
Puzzle Corner: Oakland A's Quiz - The Answers!
The wait is over. Our junior quizzes correspondent Jeremy Gascoigne gives the answers to the least anticipated and least enjoyable quiz of the year.

Q1. Jose Fernandez
Q2. Greg Carter (5 times), Dennis Hawkins (3 times)
Q3. Brad Dundee
Q4. Thomas McConnell
Q5. Di Recteevee

In the Telegraph office, no one outside of the quizzes correspondents corner managed to get all five right. So if you didn't manage to get all five right either, well done. The lucky winner pulled at random from the hat containing all one successful entries was a Mr Texasborn, who is believed to hail from Alaska. Congratulations to you! The first prize of an imaginary $1 book token is not on its way to you now.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
23 May 2033
A's win streak draws them level with Texas
By Neville Level, tight races correspondent

Oakland have drawn level with Texas at the summit of the American League West after last night's 6-0 win over Minnesota extended their winning streak to 7, and pushed them to an impressive 27-12 record for the season so far. The A's and the Rangers have been the two most impressive teams in the AL and we could be set for a thrilling pennant race. The New York Yankees have been rather less impressive, and sit at a laughingly awful 13-25 record. Ho ho ho. They have clearly not got over that championship series defeat to Oakland last season.

Greg Carter aside, the rotation has seen the bounce back from last year that GM Paulie Beane so confidently predicted slash threatened. Picks of the bunch are Antonio Perez (6-1, 2.62), Anastasio Vasquez (5-1, 2.61) and Brad Dundee (7-1, 2.73). Over the past week, the A's swept both the Yankees and the Twins, outscoring their opponents 30-10 over the six games. On offense, designed hitter Pepe Rios (1.020 OPS) is mercilessly slaughtering any pitcher who has the misfortune of venturing into his field of view. Rios is surely heading for a first all-star pick if he keeps this up.

General manager Paulie Beane told reporters last night, "We're 27-12 and playing well. This'll be a boring press conference for you chaps, won't it?" And it was.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
1 June 2033
A's take relievers Ni and Martinez in draft, Dalton wins rookie of the month
By Mora Relievers, overstocked bullpen correspondent

The A's have selected 21-year-old lefty pitcher Jin-woo Ni and 18-year-old righty Angel Martinez with their first two picks in the 2033 amateur player draft. Martinez was listed as a distinctly mediocre right fielder, but is actually a very talented pitcher. Oakland GM Paulie Beane immediately switched Martinez's position to reliever where he'll join up with the other hurlers in the minor league squad. He could be lethal if he can develop his control over his pitches. Scouts, never known for their pessimistic predictions of a player's future, project both to be five star calibre relief pitchers. College graduate Ni is judged already major league ready. Plausible.

Meanwhile, young A's centre fielder Ray Dalton, promoted to the roster after Juan Torres strained a hamstring a month ago, won American League rookie of the month honours. The 23-year-old switch hitter went .340, with a homer and 9 RBI.

Oakland yesterday lost 5-2 to the Chicago White Sox, and now stand at 31-17 on the season. Sounds pretty good, but they've slipped now to 4 games back from divisional leaders Texas, who have the best record in the whole of baseball and are on a 7 game winning streak. If Texas keep this pace up, Beane's boys will find themselves in the wildcard game. Long time Telegraph readers will know about Beane's pathological loathing of the fixture, even though it's been kind to him in the past. The mere mention of it brings him out in a cold sweat.

[Texasborn]

Originally Posted by Paulie123

[B]The lucky winner pulled at random from the hat containing all one successful entries was a Mr Texasborn, who is believed to hail from Alaska. Congratulations to you! The first prize of an imaginary $1 book token is not on its way to you now.

Thank you!! Thank you!! I will enjoy not receiving the $1 token. Now I can purchase a brand new book for my winner cabin.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
13 June 2033
Rios brilliance clinches series sweep against the Yankees as A's close the gap on the Rangers
By Jan Keysweep, funny thrashings correspondent

The two best teams in baseball so far this year are the Rangers, at 40-17, and the A's, who are 40-19. But, unfortunately for them, they're in the same division, and the MLB's format means that only one of them can qualify automatically for the playoffs. The other will have to navigate the lottery of the wildcard game. It's particularly galling for these two teams that Boston, at 29-27, currently would qualify directly for the playoffs as the top team in the American League Central division. But that's how it is.

Oakland last night grabbed a come-from-behind 8-5 victory over the Yankees to close the gap on the Rangers in the AL West to just one game. That win completed a hilarious series sweep over the pinstriped cads. Oakland are now 6-0 over the Yankees so far this year. Designated hitter Pepe Rios was the catalyst for last night's win. New York took an early 4-0 lead, but Rios's solo homer in the 7th inning gave the A's hope, and after Luis Trujillo and Miguel Mason also went deep to level the scores, Rios's 3-run bomb in the top of the 10th got the win. So far Rios has an impressive 40 RBIs and a .404 on-base percentage.

Speaking after the game, Rios joked that home runs against the Yankees ought to count double, "because they just should." League commissioner Rob Manfred-Mann said he had every sympathy with that view, but, on balance, felt it probably wouldn't be fair. "Besides", he pointed out, "the Yankees are 20-38, so are crap enough as it is."

A's GM Paulie Beane also announced that third base prospect Tony De Jesus has been promoted to the active roster as infield backup, with Thomas McConnell heading for the minors.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
4 July 2033
Sparkling form of Perez and Dundee keeps Oakland clinging onto Texas's coat tails
By Chase Inghard, playing catch-up correspondent

Starting pitchers Antonio Perez and Brad Dundee are leading the way for the A's as they chase after Texas at the top of the American League West division. Perez was in dominant form last night in Oakland's blowout 14-1 win over Cleveland, throwing 8.1 innings for just 1 earned run on 5 hits. The 23-year-old righty now has 11 wins so far this year, tied for most in the majors with former A's ace Lucio Vargas, and an impressive 2.43 ERA. His crocodile-loving colleague Dundee has 10 wins and a 3.21 ERA. "They've been brilliant", said general manager Paulie Beane. "Absolutely great. Greg Carter - not so much. Less said the better, frankly."

Last night's win moved the A's to 51-27 for the season. That's comfortably the second best record in the whole of MLB, but unfortunately still 3 games back of the Rangers, who show no sign of letting up, at least not yet.

With the trade deadline approaching at the end of the month, insiders say that Beane is negotiating with the agents of both Dundee and closer Jose Duran, whose contracts expire at the end of the season. Both are allegedly demanding high salaries, and it looks like one of Beane's trademark moves to flip an expiring contract for a younger, emerging star could be on its way. Duran leads MLB in saves again this year, with 29, so should be in demand from other clubs too daft to realise that saves are a pretty meaningless statistic, and looks to be the more expendable of the two.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
10 July 2033
Morris smacks 8-RBI day as A's dish out a thrashing to Houston
By A. Tarbee-Iday, productive batting correspondent

Left fielder William Morris has a nasty habit of alternating good years and bad years. 2028, 2030 and 2032 he was excellent. In 2029, 2031, and so far in 2033, he's been, well, not excellent. And with A's GM Paulie Beane temporarily taking right fielder Dennis Hawkins out of the lineup for a few days due to back stiffness, the onus was on Morris to step up and compensate and give the team some offensive production despite it being an odd-numbered year.

Last night, Morris put the Astros to the sword, hitting 3-3 with 2 walks. Two of those hits were 3-run homers as he clocked up 8 RBIs. Yes, I think that qualifies as giving the team some offensive production. At the end of it all the A's won 14-0. It was their ninth win in a row as they reached 57-27, still 1.5 games behind those peskily consistent Rangers in the American League West.

The game was possibly even more remarkable for the out of character display from Greg Carter, who incredibly threw 7.1 scoreless innings in the whitewash win. That's no typo, you read that right: 7.1 scoreless innings from Carter. He was as surprised as the rest of us.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
15 July 2033
Dundee signs 3-year, $57m contract extension to remain in Oakland
By Will Paid, high salaries correspondent

Former Cy Young winning pitcher Brad Dundee has signed a new 3-year contract extension to stay with the A's. Dundee, 30, was on an expiring $9m per annum contract, but has now signed a lucrative deal which will pay him a much-increased salary of $19m per year in 2034, 2035 and 2036, and means he will not become a free agent just yet.

Oakland fans were delighted at the news. Fans spokesman O. Clandmad said, "I'm delighted at the news". Dundee has pitched well this year, posting an 11-5 record, 3.35 ERA and 2.98 FIP, and his retention should boost the A's chances of staying competitive over the next couple of years. Dundee himself said only: "Ka-ching."

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
18 July 2033
Perez heads Oakland's all-star selections, as Beane flips Duran and Mason for prospects Boone and Price
By Y. Dowebotherwiththis, pointless games correspondent

Oakland's improved pitching performances this year have been recognised by the selectors of the all-star rosters, after starters Antonio Perez, Brad Dundee, Anastasio Vasquez and MLB save leader Jose Duran all made the American League roster. Greg Carter, unsurprisingly, did not. It's a first and well-deserved selection for Vasquez, and a second for each of the other three. On offense, popular right fielder Dennis Hawkins also made the AL squad. It's Hawkins's fourth all-star selection and first since 2029.

However, barely had the all-star email press notice hit journalists' inboxes, when another press notice was circulated, this time by the A's, saying that Duran was no longer an Oakland player. In a classic Beane move of flipping an expiring contract, he has been traded to the Twins. Also heading to Minnesota are catcher Miguel Mason - who was heading for arbitration during the offseason with an alarmingly high estimate of over $8m so ripe to be traded sooner or later anyway - nobody minor league infielder Jose Lozano and over-rated reliever Ben Nixon.

In return the A's received an excellent prospect and a decent prospect. Catcher Dave Boone was the real prize in the trade. The 23-year-old was Minnesota's best young player and the BNN #3 prospect at the start of the year. 23-year-old starting pitcher John Price, the #24 prospect, and minor league catcher Juan Ramirez, 26, have also headed westwards to the Coliseum.

All three new arrivals begin their A's careers on the minor league roster, although in Boone's case, probably not for long. With a league-leading 34 saves already this year, the decision to move along Duran seems odd coming from a pennant chasing club, but more seasoned Beane observers will not have been surprised at this kind of shenanigans. Uber-reliever Frank Sargent (boasting a rather tasty 4-0 and 1.59 ERA so far this year) takes over closer duties, while lefty Armando Rodriguez, drafted back in the third round in 2026 and largely forgotten about by the A's front office since then, comes in as lefty middle relief. Catcher Chun-mei Leong comes up from the minors to take over Mason's role as backup to regular starter Miguel Rojas and starter against lefty pitchers. Realistically he's probably just keeping a seat warm until Beane decides to promote Boone.

In the past when Beane has done this sort of flipping manoeuver midway through a pennant challenge, he has avoided derailing the A's form and momentum. There's always a first time for everything however - is this time when it all goes wrong? The A's had a disappointing run before the all-star break, slipping to 4.5 games back of Texas, at 60-31. So perhaps these moves will spark the team back into life.

[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
1 August 2033
Dalton wins second rookie of the month award as Oakland narrow the gap on Texas
By A. Ward, prizes correspondent

Oakland centre fielder Ray Dalton was last night honoured as the American League rookie of the month for July. The 23-year-old switch hitter hit .287 with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs. After winning the award previously for May, Dalton must now be considered a candidate for rookie of the year. Two A's rookies have previously taken that crown: outfielder Alex Hassan in 2015 and catcher Devon Fisher in 2020. Sadly for Dalton, that's not exactly a roll-call of greatness.

Dalton has now firmly established himself as starting centre fielder for the A's, ousting long-time starter Juan Torres, who is rotting in the minors and will surely not have his contract renewed after this season. Boosted by Dalton's fine form, Oakland now stand at 66-34, and have closed the gap on American League West division leaders Texas to just 2 games.

It continues to be a fabulously exciting divisional race for most observers, but that is not a sentiment shared by A's GM Paulie Beane. "I don't want an exciting, tense pennant chase that entertains the fans", he said yesterday. "I want a boring race, devoid of excitement, where we dominate the opposition utterly and win easily. Erm, please do turn up and watch our games, though", he added hastily, after seeing the expression of horror that had taken up residence on the face of club beancounter Dee Loite.