With the latest loss by the A's in the windy city on Sunday there are many questions that need to be answered yet again!

First of all, I realize that it is a long season and we have half of it yet to go, however why did Geren rest Suzuki yet again when we did not have Sweeney or Gonzalez available for duty? This is no slight on Rob Bowen who did have a couple of RBI on Sunday and he has done an admirable job when called upon, but rather the fact that Suzuki rested when for the past month he has been one of the hottest hitters in the league!! When the A's are struggling to score runs you HAVE to put your best lineup on the field that you have available!  Is Geren having a bit of a mid-life crisis?? Or has Kurt asked for time off because he is feeling run down and we haven't heard about it??

When I posted a comment about Bob Geren's decisions in the Angel series I knew that after this weekend we may lose ground and instead of being 4 games back, we find ourselves 6! Had the A's put a more reasonable lineup on the field in the final game at Anaheim earlier in the week we may have pulled out the victory and saved a couple of games in the standings! And after losing Saturday in Chicago it made Sunday's game even more important, yet Geren chose to rest Suzuki.? Puzzling indeed!

At this point the A's brass needs to do a level one diagnostic test as to why so many A's are ending up on the DL over the past few years! Much more than any other team and it is looking like it could be an organizational problem because these are younger players for the most part. (with the exception of F. Thomas & Chavez of course). Does Beane need to start looking closer at how these players are preparing themselves to play?  One season is a fluke but now we are going into multiple seasons and a trend is clearly there!

Because of injuries, interesting decisions and some tough luck, the A's find themselves in a battle for a potential wild card. It does not appear that the Angels will be coming back to the pack, so the A's will need to do some scoreboard watching and pull for the Twins. Yankees, Red Sox/Rays and possibly the Rangers to start losing games! The A's need to run the table this week to have any shot at the Angels and that will include sweeping them at home next weekend to have any prayer of catching them in the second half. But if Geren decides to rest key players in the Angel series that will not occur!

Most people did not expect the A's to be in contention at this point in the season, but the fact is they are and still will remain in the hunt as long as Geren and his partners on the pines wake up and realize that they are and go for it!

Geren's positive attitude and managing style so far have been fairly strong, but he is losing points with some of his recent moves both in game and in setting the lineups. So the question is, will he and the coaching staff make the right moves this next week in these pivotal games??

 And what's the deal with the Big Hurt?? Does it really take that long to recover from a muscle pull? Or is he spending too much time at the Craps table at his home in Vegas?

Also, I realize the AL squad needs another third baseman, but Joe Crede at .261 on the team?? Please!

QUESTIONS ABOUND!

-Goldzone