The season is two days young, and the A's have already seen the impact of offseason acquistions.
Sure, Monday night's home run from Frank Thomas didn't mean much given the score, and the beautiful sliding catch by Milton Bradley also didn't mean much either.
But last night, Bradley's walk against Proctor meant everything. It meant the ability to use Kendall to bunt him over (I would've screamed bloody murder had he not given Kendall's tendency to hit into the DP last year). The Yankees then chose to walk Swisher and pitch to Scutaro.
Also, something that could go unnoticed was the decision to keep Halsey with the club. Halsey ate up an inning and a third on Monday, meaning that the A's didn't have to use Joe Kennedy, who would've likely been a part of that mop up routine. Halsey wasn't great with his two HBP and one walk (although I didn't object to him hitting the Yankees), but he served his purpose and that was to protect the other arms for Tuesday night. Kennedy wasn't spectacular against the Yankees, getting hit around, but he avoided giving up anything in an inning of work.
So while the season is still in gestation and A's fans have already experienced the best of times (last night) and the worst of times (Monday), the new guys are fitting in just fine, thank you very much.
