Taylor rocks my world to be honest, in a way that Wallace didn’t.

That’s what she said

I just wish bb will finish up this off season with picking up a real option at the utility INF role, and put all rumors about Jonny “capt. Caveman” Damon to rest, by breaking his code of silence and easing our minds.
Can we get a cherry on top?

I know what you’re trying to do, Nico. You’re trying to get me excited (about the upcoming season…duh). It’s not going to work. I’ve been bitten in places where no man should be bitten. I’ve fallen in love with this team in July too many times, and it’s NOT going to happen again!

Wait, this isn’t the Raider site?

Oh.

Never mind.

such as not adding a veteran starter last offseason, and also not addressing the third base issue earlier.

The Kouzmanoff trade was necessary, and he did it without giving up the bank. The Sheets signing was terrific. I’d rather have Sheets – a top of the rotation starter who has had proven success – and hope he stays healthy (and get Alejo to work out a program designed to keep him healthy), than a pitcher with a healthier history who is not as good.

I too am glad that Duchscherer was signed, but I still think he must be considered an injury risk as that is his major league history, particularly as a starter.

I think he’s been able to strike a good balance between trading FOR this season while not losing too much… if anything… from the future.

What’s with the Gross interest?

I swear, if Beane doesn’t give Buck another shot, Buck will go somewhere else and figure it out.

This may be irrational fear on my part, sure. I just feel Beane’s past lack of “feel” for the ebbs and flows of hitters due to health, inspiration, and usage could rear its ugly head again.

I know it was when Buck hadn’t been figured out by the league yet that he had his one really good stretch of hitting. But whether it was health or suckitude lately, Buck DOES have the size to slug, and he isn’t useless in the field.

Now Buck has seen the whole circle. Great start. HIgh expectations. Injuries. Back and forth to AAA. Etc. To my thinking, this is when young players GET IT. This is when they push extra in the offseason. It’s when they get their mind right and put the blame on themselves and FOCUS.

If Beane doesn’t sense this (and in the past he’s shown this) i wouldn’t be at all surprised if Buck goes somewhere else and finally hits again.

which makes no sense to me at all, I like everything the A’s have done this offseason.

Don’t forget about Aroldis Chapman— good to see the A’s staying aggressive in the international market.

Here’s why:

Last year Wolff said “GET BATS”, he did, they failed. This year he went back to what he knows plays best at the Coli: pitching and defense. Even though they are flawed players, Duke+Sheets have Cy Young ceilings when healthy. Getting both might be one of the most important moves of this offseason.

Beane went against last years’ Holliday+G-Man+Cust all hitting lineup and stacked the defense as much as he could. We now are the only team in baseball with plus defenders at every position. This is going to lead to some remarkably low ERAs from all the staff, if you play fantasyball at least, this is the year to grab any and every A’s pitcher you can. But this is important: his goal was clear and he stuck to it (I dont believe we were ever interested in Damon for a second). Even if Gross comes on board: hey look its another plus defender. I dont think there’s ever been a team like this other than the 85 Cardinals, that’s been so focused on defense&speed. In many ways its like a little test just to see how important those things are in the modern game.

Best of all, its simply another year “rebuilding while contending” but this time it looks better than 08+09 because we know even crappy pitchers like DiNardo & Tomko can pitch well here, but we cant wait to see what Sheets does. Taylor & Carter & Cardenas are waiting in the wings and look to provide the offensive noise in the 2nd half and 2011. This is hands down the most exciting wave of young players we have all had come up around the same time since the Canseco/McGwire era.

The Kouzmanoff trade was excellent because he’s a guy who had been handicapped by playing in SD. Moving to AL might cancel that out, but I dont think so. He’s also young and fits right into our core crop of players. The severe lack of depth out there at 3B & SS means that if he’s just league average, thats a huge coup for Beane.

I think he housed the Jays in getting Taylor for Wallace. The odds of that being like trading Hafner for Winfield are higher than any other comparable for the two. Wallace is a slow fat DH type, Taylor looks like the best athlete in the game. Both can hit like crazy, but my money is on Taylor having a more relevant career than Wallace.

I honestly don’t think Beane could have done any better. Perhaps signing Lopez for the MI bench spot or trading for Jed Lowrie for Pennington insurance would be a fine cap on the offseason, but Beane has already gotten an A from this writers’ eyes.

one could reasonably hope. It’s not his fault that the Brewers love Carlos Gomez for whatever reason.

Did not resign Tomko
Did not resign Kennedy

Not sure about the Cust signing at any price as I believe we have better internal options that deserve a go.