Blalock, Dye, Burrell are not the answers for Oakland.

Many have suggested those players as being a "fit" for Oakland, given our struggling offense. Why on earth do people think that trading defense for offense is a good idea, given our entire gameplan this year was to go pitching and defense-heavy, is beyond me. But hopefully I can shed enough light here as to what is a good thing for this team to win games with and what is not.

Ever looked at the Padres and Devil Rays lately? Its wild to think we are one marquee hitter (Gonzalez and Longoria respectively) away from perhaps joining them at the top of baseball's best record column. They have AWFUL offenses, and unfortunately for us, the Rays merely have good hitters who are slumping (Pena, Zobrist, Upton, Bartlett), and they also have Crawford, whos having a massive year (in a walk year, whata surprise, see also: Werth, Jayson). Anyway thats the same model we have and our offense is pretty much more like San Diego's minus Gonzalez. The problem in that people who want to "fix" the offense is that to do so, you need to bring in bad defenders, who oftentimes negate anything they do with the bat, with their poor glove (See Cust, Jack. 2009 ed.). Here is a list of DH only guys who are available and have been linked here:

Hank Blalock. 2007-2009

WAR: 1.8

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 7.8

Here is a completely miserable player, one who cannot hit nor field. From 07-09 (3 years) he was worth 1.8 Wins total. Over 3 seasons. Yeah. He was indeed a great player in 03+04 but as of now we are looking at the dregs of a career. He is officially finished as a defender, and his bat, well, it produced 7.8 park adjusted runs above average based on wOBA over the last 3 seasons. So, even as a DH, thats horrible. He's Tampa's problem now and Im glad and never want to see him on my team.

Jermaine Dye 2007-2009.

WAR: 0.6.

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 31.2.

Dye has a little more left in the tank as a hitter yes, but again he is absolutely woeful on defense, rendering him useless and a pro-DH. Why Tampa signed Blalock over him blows my mind. Blalock has shown nothing at all since 2005 and also is injury prone. Dye at DH at TB makes sense. Kinda.

Pat Burrell 2007-2009

WAR: 2.1

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 10.3

While most of Burrell's value comes from his final year in Phily, it must be noted that the Rays are indeed going with a lesser player in Blalock based off runs as a DH. Burrell, notorious butcher in the OF, is a DH, and he'd be a perfect DH on an NL team. They do not have DH jobs in the NL, therefore Burrell needs to leave for Japan to perhaps find his swing again. In no way would he help the Athletics.

Mike Jacobs 2007-2009

WAR: -0.6

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: -5.8

Mike Jacobs once somehow was a baseball player, one who somehow once hit 32 HR in a year and only ended up with 4.4 Runs. Talk about "empty" home runs! Dude is Dave Kingman in 2010, not a good time to be Dave Kingman. He needs a hot tub time machine back to 1978 to be seen as the "slugger" he is.

Jack Cust 2007-2009

WAR: 5.9

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 60.2

Really? Do i have to explain to you why he is the best? Numbers dont lie: Cust is clearly the best hitter out of the bunch, by a country mile. It absolutely disgusts me to have to listen to A's "fans" hate on him and say they would rather have a phony like Blalock over him. As a DH, Cust is invaluable. As a LF, his value becomes extremely diminished. He goes from a 2.5 WAR player to a 1.0 one. He's in LF today, but my god I hope we see him less there and more as our DH.

Here's some others I'd like to point out:

Elijah Dukes 2007-2009

WAR: 2.4

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 4.9

His time is limited but compared with Gross (3.9, -3.2) he is definitely a better hitter, improving the offense by trading him off for Dukes might help, but Gross's value remains on defense. Raj Davis (4.7, 5.3) probably is still ahead of Gross on the depth chart, and thanks to his year last year made him more valuable than Dukes. Dukes still has a world of talent though, dawg. Not a bad guy to stash at AAA, certainly better Jai Miller, thats for sure.

Carlos Delgado 2007-2009

WAR: 5.2

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 33.5

Here's a guy who I think is now hurt and out for the year/done, but I feel sorry for him. Injuries have gotten to him but man he can mash. I wouldnt be mad if we took a flyer on him as DH next year if we decide to go with an OF of Carter-Sweeney-Taylor.

Gary Sheffield 2007-2009

WAR: 3.4

Park Adjusted runs above avg based on wOBA: 26.0

Again, I think his age will scare away any possible employers, but he'd be a capable DH if needed.

Thats about it for free agents, but if we become buyers at the deadline, here's a list of players who could certainly help with the bat (even with the glove too). I'm not suggesting anything about these guys, other than they might be available at the deadline if their team is out of it (many already are):

Victor Martinez, Lance Berkman, Russell Branyan, Adam Dunn, Troy Glaus, Paul Konerko (1091 OPS, leads mlb in SLG), Derrek Lee, Carlos Pena, Ty Wigginton (1012 OPS right now), Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth, Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones (965 OPS in limited time), Austin Kearns (astute pickup by the tribe, his 936 OPS is wasted though).

I was pretty surprised with how Cust dwarfed every other player mentioned as "fits" for Oakland, when HE WAS OURS THE WHOLE TIME. This move has killed me since opening day and its hands down the dumbest thing Beane has done. Patterson and Fox are about the same (maybe worse) defensively, and he obliterates everyone in terms of run value. Jack Cust is the man for the Oakland DH spot, now we just have to find a way to get Chavez to retire...