The Official Oakland Athletics 2014 Season Thread

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Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

As someone who does not know the Bay Area that well, this sounds near impossible. I could understand if it were LA or Arizona.
I know the Bay Area has frequent clouds and showers, or is the 'rainy' season mostly in the winter?

In the Bay Area it really only rains in January & February. There's an odd shower here or there in March & April, but usually that isn't considered "rain" by normal climate standards. There are places that get fog and lots of it in the summertime, but that isn't rain.

Redwood tree fun fact: One tree can consume up to 600 Liters or 158 gallons of water a day. They get most of that from condensing the fog on their needles.

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Another Bay Area fun fact: Jim Johnson sucks.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Nice win today and the A's finish the homestand 3-3. Considering the Johnson meltdowns, some shoddy defense, and Donaldson pretty much doing nothing at the plate, getting out of this week 3-3 actually feels pretty nice.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Ryan Cook is back from the DL, Scribner down to AAA. Probably a wash of a roster move, unless Cook is back to his early 2013 self.

Coco (wrist) and Cespedes (heel) are both banged up. What else is new, huh? I hope they can find a way to keep Fuld around when Gentry comes back because Crisp/Cespedes always miss time. DFA Barton, IMO.

[mirrf]

Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Ryan Cook is back from the DL, Scribner down to AAA. Probably a wash of a roster move, unless Cook is back to his early 2013 self.

Coco (wrist) and Cespedes (heel) are both banged up. What else is new, huh? I hope they can find a way to keep Fuld around when Gentry comes back because Crisp/Cespedes always miss time. DFA Barton, IMO.

I'm still drinking the Ryan Cook cool-aid, I admit. So I'm hoping for good things.

Fuld has impressed me so far and I would like to keep him over Barton if possible. I just don't think Callaspo has been good enough at 1B to warrant it. I'd say it's a coin flip at this point.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Another game, another Johnson blown save (I'm not going to pin it on Otero, who got the official blown save in the score book - we know it was all Johnson). But thankfully the A's won thanks to some clutch heroics from Derek Norris.

It's time to go to a closer by committe. Just play the matchups, and have Johnson work earlier in the game. If he starts dominating again, give him the job back.

Fuld has impressed me so far and I would like to keep him over Barton if possible. I just don't think Callaspo has been good enough at 1B to warrant it. I'd say it's a coin flip at this point.

Something we didn't consider in the Fuld/Barton debate was the possibility of Josh Reddick going down to AAA. His day today? 0-for-5 with a GIDP and four strikeouts. It doesn't get much worse than that.

I wouldn't jettison someone to Sacramento over one bad game, but he's 3-for-29 (.105) on the season, and if Gentry's ready to come back, maybe getting Reddick everyday playing time somewhere else to work out the kinks isn't a bad idea.

[John Madden]

If it's against the Twins, it doesn't count.

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Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Another game, another Johnson blown save (I'm not going to pin it on Otero, who got the official blown save in the score book - we know it was all Johnson). But thankfully the A's won thanks to some clutch heroics from Derek Norris.

It's time to go to a closer by committe. Just play the matchups, and have Johnson work earlier in the game. If he starts dominating again, give him the job back.

I wish I knew more about Johnson. Balfour would go into a week long stretch where he couldn't get anyone out, then be dominating for the next month and a half. If Johnson is streaky like that, then maybe we should let him continue to close. But this kind of thing makes me remember Arthur (shudder) Rhodes.

Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Something we didn't consider in the Fuld/Barton debate was the possibility of Josh Reddick going down to AAA. His day today? 0-for-5 with a GIDP and four strikeouts. It doesn't get much worse than that.

I wouldn't jettison someone to Sacramento over one bad game, but he's 3-for-29 (.105) on the season, and if Gentry's ready to come back, maybe getting Reddick everyday playing time somewhere else to work out the kinks isn't a bad idea.

Reddick's mind isn't right. Or maybe it's his bat. Or wrists. I just know he hasn't been able to hit for a year and a half now. I wouldn't mind Moss getting more time in RF. But its a tossup on who I'd want in the batters box, Barton or Josh.

I can see your point though. I never really thought about it. Does Reddick have options left?

[Green & Gold Heart]

Originally Posted by mirrf

Does Reddick have options left?

Yes, apparently he has one option year left.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

As someone who does not know the Bay Area that well, this sounds near impossible. I could understand if it were LA or Arizona.
I know the Bay Area has frequent clouds and showers, or is the 'rainy' season mostly in the winter?

Least amount of rainfall from April to September for MLB cities:

1. Anaheim
2. San Diego
3. Los Angeles
4. Oakland
5. San Francisco
6. Phoenix
7. Seattle

All of the above cities have less than 10 inches average in all those months combined. Yes, there is very little rain in Seattle from April to September. None of the West Coast teams really need to worry about rain.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Thank goodness BoMel is embracing the closer by committee idea.

A's remove Jim Johnson from closing duties - CBSSports.com

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A's sweep! A's sweep!

Originally Posted by John Madden

If it's against the Twins, it doesn't count.

Dammit!

[Green & Gold Heart]

I am pretty sure the A's leading the A.L. West is real so those games had to count.

[Lafayette53]

Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Thank goodness BoMel is embracing the closer by committee idea.

A's remove Jim Johnson from closing duties - CBSSports.com

We can call it the League of Extraordinary Setup Men

[Goody]

Oh my god Lloyd McClendon almost lost that game for us. He tried to pull Felix early. Felix had a discussion with him to stay in. Then I think he agreed to keep him in one more inning but the whole vet pitcher vs. new manager batting heads about him going the distance thing kinda threw everything off kilter.

I can see his point about early in the season and just having an off day needing the relievers to get work. But he JUST STRUCK OUT THE SIDE.

Really scared me tonight A's....

[Green & Gold Heart]

Well all the speculation can come to an end now. Gentry is back from the D.L. and Fuld has been designated for assignment. I guess they're just going let Reddick work through it as he's in the lineup tonight and hitting 8th.

And if they had gotten rid of Barton, they would've been down to only one real 1B with Moss. Notice Callaspo has been DHing a lot. He's swinging a hot bat but can't really play 1B. That experiment appears to be over.

[Green & Gold Heart]

Felix, Schmelix. At least the A's have won all the games against the Mariners in which he didn't pitch. Another series won and now onto Anaheim to finish up the road trip.

Kazmir was dealing today, 9 K's and zero runs through 7 IP. But, they took him out after just 82 pitches because of triceps tightness. Apparently he had the same issue during spring training but didn't end up missing more than a couple of days (had a start pushed back). Hopefully that's all this is this time.

Also, it's great to see Donalson back to mashing. I love his opposite field swing and when he launches one over the RF fence it's like :swoon:

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It's also nice to see 2 different people get the saves in the past 2 days. But yea, it's better to see them beat everyone not named king felix.

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Jaso comes through with the pinch hit, 9th inning, go ahead homer.

J. Johnson lowers his ERA to something below 10.

Jesse Chavez is acting like a legitimate starting pitcher.

And we beat the rally monkey. Me likey.

[Green & Gold Heart]

And as a bonus, Scioscia (plus Conger) Face!