67MARQUEZ is away from his desk right now, but if you'd like to leave a message, please do so at the beep. In  the meantime, enjoy this first post by brewitt. P.S. Marquez will be back this evening for the A's-Mariner game thread.

A note on Lew Wolff and the current state of the Oakland Athletics Baseball Franchise

As a disclaimer, my comments about the Mr. Wolff do not reflect those boys in green and gold whom I know are out there day in and day out playing to the best of their ability.    

I’m really unsure and skeptical about what the future holds for this team with Lew Wolff as the owner.  Let me tell you why. 

Is Mr. Wolff somehow making the team tank in order to get low attendance?  You’ve heard this before.  By tanking Mr. Wolff will make a better argument to MLB to move to San Jose where territorial rights are an issue.  Personally, I don’t find any merit in such notions. 

Nonetheless, I remain curious where Wolff is taking this team.  By way of analogy, I don’t tell my wife how it would be so much better if I could only could be with the younger, hotter, thinner,  more curvy, more attractive girl.  Yet Mr. Wolff always is talking about how great it would be if the Athletics where in a new park.  Ok fine, but why not tell us about it when it happens?  Sure you can tell your wife that she’s fat, old, flabby, and saggy and that you are eyeing the new hot girl, but it’s not going to work out too nicely.  Mr. Wolff, please tell us when you have a done deal and otherwise shut-up about it.       

I read articles, comments, and blog posts about how the fans in Oakland and the surrounding areas do not support the team.  That if ownership did have support of the fans at the Coliseum the Athletics would be able to sign players to supplement the internally developed players. 

I agree that fans should support the team a little better, but to lay it all on the fans is like putting the cart before the horse.  I might be old fashioned, but I thought that winning brings fans out to the ball park.  If ownership doesn’t put a quality team out there they are not going to get the attendance.  Shouldn’t this be especially true about the Coliseum? Nowadays, people aren’t going to the games because of the Coliseum they go for the green and gold.  Shouldn’t this mean that fans have to have even more of a reason to attend games especially if the stadium itself is not a draw? 

I'm shocked at some of the quotes and comments from Mr. Wolff in a 9/28/10 SF Chronicle Article by Susan Slusser.   Here’s what Mr. Wolff is saying about the current state of the A’s:

"The fans feel we have all this money, but it's for one year," he said. "We've tried that before.

This statement raises so many questions it is difficult to know where to begin.  The way I see it, is that Ben Sheets and Eric Chavez K’s come off the books, but also Justin Duchsherer and possibly Coco Crisp and Mark Ellis. (There may be a few more).  Say we have a conservative estimate as stated in the Chronicle at $22 million.  Maybe Mr. Wolff’s playing a bit of poker by not showing his hand?  Huh?  So the Athletics are not going to be in the hunt for a power bat?  Also:  “We’ve tried that before.”  I'm not sure if Mr. Wolf was taking about Sheets or Duke or Chavez?

"We do need some hitting. But we have some hitters maturing just like the pitchers have matured the past year. I don't see a lot of moves. I don't see the necessity of going out and getting someone for one year."

Ok fine good some sense.  We do need some hitting.  I completely agree.  He says, but, but? Huh? Who’s maturing? Jack Cust?  Okay maybe Daric Barton.  Is Kevin Kouzmanoff maturing?  The most troubling statement, “I don’t see a lot of moves.”  Ich.  This should give every fan a lot of confidence of where this franchise is headed. 

"We want to be careful with (a multi-year deal) "I like the fact we've tied up Suzuki and Brett Anderson, but you have to be careful you don't risk the team on one person."

Okay so we shouldn’t lock up Trevor Cahill or Gio Gonzalez, Andrew Bailey?  I understand cringing at the thought of any multiyear deal with the ghost of Eric Chavez still looming, but c’mon, risking the team on one person is a little dramatic.  Don’t you think?

I suppose that Mr. Wolff would argue that he’s not risk adverse since the A’s signed both Sheets and Duke.  However, Mr. Wolff needs to go out and get a bat.  These comments are puzzling and I hope they are not true otherwise the apathy will continue.  He needs to be dedicated to winning and not merely ensuring the continual existence of our beloved Oakland Athletics. 

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/27/SP621FKFK2.DTL#ixzz10tIJTjcS