It is impossible to tell who exactly will be in the A’s starting rotation without the use of a psychic and Ouija Board.  So I thought I’d mention a very important and very overlooked area where I think Billy Beane has quietly made some pretty major improvements.  The one part of the pitching question we can get lock on -exciting world of middle relief! 

2006 was an exciting year – Zito and Haren were still around along with a resurgent Frank Thomas and an emerging Nick Swisher. But what was one of the big reasons for the A’s success? – the middle relief!  Kennedy (r.i.p.), Duchscherer, Calero & Gaudin were the unsung MVPs of that season.  Last year injuries and one (successful) move to the rotation depleted that elite staff .

But this year looks very promising! In what appeared to be simple salary dumps for Kendall and Kotsay – Beane was able to unearth two young strike out artists in lefty Jerry Blevins and right hander Joey Devine. Also, while his health if obviously an issue, locking up former stud Keith Foulke to provide some veteran experience from the right side seems to be pretty shrewd pick up as well. Last year, in various roles, a 38 yr old lefty Alan Embree put together an impressive season, as long as he keeps pumpin’ the HGH…errr uhm.. I mean B12 shots; there is no reason to believe he won’t be another reliable option in the pen too.

So with the pen having a new mix of young and old- maybe there is just enough pitching talent to avoid a 90 loss season …