With yet another one run loss earlier today and another boatload of strikeouts, the 2008 version of the Athletics are not only a frustrating group, a good many of them are not even major leaguers! And the "Moneyball" theory is not playing out as all had hoped for!

This is course is no surprise to the many green and gold faithful who have in many cases called this group a AAAA quality team. It is now painfully clear that this group way overachieved in the first half of this campaign and things are now balancing out!

I give Bob Geren and his staff props for keeping things going in the first few months despite having questionable talent on the field! But the braintrust is not without fault! Far from it!, A few weeks back I made a post referring to the resting of key players such as Suzuki and Sweeney in key games that at the time mattered greatly! Well, as I stated then, they could rest in less important games down the road when things either looked rosier or bleaker! Well now they look very bleak and Geren can go ahead and rest those players as well as others all he wants! So the point is they should have fielded a full complement of their key players in games such as the final one in Anaheim and the final one against the White Sox a few weeks back! Both were very winnable games and games that would not just have mattered in the standings, but mattered from a confidence perspective as well. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so! Rest up all you want now guys!, You're out of the race!

As mentioned, there are several major leaguers on the A's but there are also several minor leaguers as well as major leaguers that should be walking a beat  in the National League where they can be successful.  I will list a few here....

1. Jack Hannahan- Clearly no more than AAA American League and possibly pine rider in NL.

2.Jack Cust- Despite power, were it not for the DH he would be back in AAA. I would think he could excel in the NL, but without the DH he should be basically a pine rider in AL or playing in Sacramento.

3.Bobby Crosby- Starter in NL; Back up at best in AL. despite promising start to his career.

4.Daric Barton- Puzzling season... Should be continuing to make a mark at AAA to mature. Jury is still out!

5.Ryan Sweeney- Solid American League starter. Strong accurate swing; smart and swift baserunner; very good outfielder. Future Star?

6. Carlos Gonzalez- Basically should be in AAA still, however he has five tool potential and now that the A's are out of it, I am glad he is working in centerfield in Oakland.

7.Mark Ellis- Starter in AL or NL. However, he is a complementary player that relies on an excellent lineup to maximize his potential. And unfortunately he will not get that in Oakland consistently enough to be successful. Should leave after this season to raise the level of his game elsewhere.

8.Kurt Suzuki- Solid American League starter and potentially a future star. However, there is a concern from my vantage point that he wears down to quickly and needs some hand holding. I could be mistaken about that! So only time will tell, but either way he is great!

9.Matt Murton- Solid hitter in the National League; back up at best in the AL.

10.Emil Brown- Pinch hitter and back up in either league. Although something tells me if he was told that he would be in left field everyday he could produce and prove people wrong.

11. Rajai Davis- :Potential NL Starter; AA or AAA in American League.

The others not listed are either currently disabled or too young to make a fair assessment at this stage. As far as Thomas and Chavez are concerned, both are stars in either league when healthy, but both should hang up the cleats!

I will take a look at the pitchers in my next post, but looking at this meager lineup it is truly amazing that we are still over .500!  So we basically have three or four players that are quality starters in the AL and some that are backups and or should be playing in the National League. If it wasn't for the pitching where would we be???  But with the recent trades, that will now surely take a hit as well. 

The future clearly has some bright spots but it may be time to scrap some of the "moneyball" ideals of the past and move forward. Because the A's are not playing by the "moneyball" rules anyway. The theory is valid and has given us A's suppporters several winning years, but if we want to move forward and start scoring runs, Billy Beane may want to move away from plate discipline hitters and back to seeing if the wack and attack hitters of old can get us over the hump!  The sand in the "moneyball" hourglass could very well be down to it's final few grains!

Before we go and get all in a tizzy over the Rich Harden trade, let's keep in mind that Billy Beane may not be done wheeling and dealing! Does shipping out Kenny Rogers and turning right around and acquiring Kevin Appier ring a bell from several seasons back? If you recall, people questioned the move then because the A's were in contention as well! There are still three weeks left before the trade deadline and something tells me we are far from done!

As much as I thought Rich Harden was amazing when healthy, who didn't? I also was constantly on pins and needles for whenever his next baffling injury would occur! Over his past two starts his dominating fastball had disappeared and now was clearly the time to move him. After another start or two we may have had him back on the DL and left with no takers. Clearly had Harden been healthy for the better part of his young career, Beane would not have parted with him!  But being the Ace poker player he is, Beane felt it was time to fold 'em! I for one am in agreement, although I must admit there was nothing quite like Harden when he was on his game! It was thrilling indeed! We just didn't see enough of it!

I am one fan that wishes Rich the best of luck (and Chad as well), however if the A's and Cubs would have waited to near the deadline, there are too many things that could have happened to jeopardize the deal from both teams perspectives and it would not have happened. There simply were too many variables involved!

I think a more legitimate question at this point is did we get enough in return? And I believe the answer is YES!  We received more chess pieces to stock our system and Murton and Patterson are big league ballplayers. Gallagher can be an innings eater that has good long range potential. Murton has hit well in the past and coupled with young stud Wes Bankston we have a couple of strong right handed youngsters which we haven't had for a while. But it is important to note that production in Iowa CIty or in the National League in general does not usually result in positve results in the far Superior American League. (see Jason Kendall). Only time will tell, but I like the fire of Gallagher for our staff! Patterson also gives us some security should Mark Ellis decide to take the money and run at the end of the season!

So keep the faith A's fans! This trade will not result in us falling off of the cliff and out of contention. There is more to come before the deadline and if we are still within striking distance of a wild card or even the division lead, Belly Beane has not had a problem in the past of bringing in a "rent a vet" to push us over the top! CHINS UP!

By the way, am I the only one that thinks Travis Buck will not be a River Cat for long?

-Goldzone

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

I for the most part am a fan of Bob Geren's. However, he or his fellow coaches are responsible for three of the last five losses!

On Saturday while facing the Giants, bad baserunning by the A's who were taking their cue from the third base coach led to the loss to the Giants!

On Tuesday night bringing in a straight fastball thrower in the eighth inning against a fastball hitting team made no sense! Plus he left Embree in to face Vlad. ? Not real wise and it cost him. And then letting him stay in for G. Anderson was the death blow!

Then today; how can he put a lineup on the field in such an important game that does'nt include your two best hitters? R. Sweeney and K. Suzuki?? A punchless lineup like they had was lucky to score four runs!! And they did that with help from the Angels defense!  And he should have left Eveland in for one more hitter at least!

The bottom line is that the three games that I have mentioned here all need to be placed squarely on the shoulders of Geren. These last two losses are particularly disturbing!! How can you treat today's game like a spring training affair and rest your key players??? I know it's a long season, but you do that against the Royals, not the team you are trying to catch!! So with his bonehead decisions we are now 5 and a half games out and in danger of slipping out of it! If he would have had his head on straight we'd be 1 and a half games out and flying high!! Puzzling indeed!!!