Greetings to all of you. This is my first posting ever--I just discovered this terrific site, and it's great to find a group of funny, passionate, really smart fans. With that in mind, here goes.

After yesterday's series win over the White Sox, I was listening to ESPN radio and they were again talking about trading Zito as a real possibility. The two forgettable commentators were discussing how Barry had pitched well in his last three outings and that the A's might deal him.

So, of course, they've got the story entirely wrong. He's pitched well almost the entire year. And as Beane's insisted--here and elsewhere--he's not going to be traded. (Well, I guess unless someone comes to us and offers Roy Oswalt or something like that, which would never happen.)

This all reminded me of something I heard Bill James say several times: That the fans who follow a team every day know much, much more about that team than the national media. In the case of the A's, this is completely true. Everyone on this site knows much more about the year Barry Zito has had than almost every single national reporter. Most of us have seen nearly every inning he's pitched. We saw the disaster in Tampa Bay. We know he's gotten no run support all year. We know a lot of his runs have been given up late with the game 0-0. So we know how good he has been. And, in turn, we know that there's really no reason to trade him. That he's the leader of a potentially great rotation. That he's a terrific team player whose attitude has been unbelievable all year. That the A's aren't so stupid as to trade everybody because of a bad month. Beane really does have a strategy, and he really does want to win. He wants to do whatever will help us win. Keeping Barry will help us win much more than trading him.

So next time you hear any of this, just remember all you know and realize that Billy Beane knows it and more too. And also realize how little the media knows of any of this.