Why It IS Worth Trying To Get A Little Better When You Can

Perhaps my biggest "fail" was my unrelenting regret that the A's signed Coco Crisp. Yes, I know they did it before they signed Yoenis Cespedes, but this was a rebuilding year where the A's were projected to win, maybe, 72 games. I was interested in seeing whether Josh Reddick or Collin Cowgill could stick in CF more than I was interested in whether Crisp could help a mediocre team be just a little less mediocre.

Then I was even madder when I saw how relatively comfortable Cespedes was in CF and how relatively craptastic he was in LF. I wanted to see Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes in LF, Cespedes in CF, and Reddick in RF, as part of looking to the future and developing the team to be better in 2013-14.

Thing is, you just never do quite know how a season will unfold. These A's, 11 games over .500 and leading the second wild card? The 2012 crew, just 5 games back of Texas? Here we are, not knowing if the A's will sneak into the playoffs like they did in 2000 or be denied at the end like they were in 2004-05.

What we do know is that 1 win is going to be a lot. If the A's don't make or miss a playoff spot by a game, they'll probably make or miss it by 2 games. And no one in their right mind would have predicted that. Except maybe Billy Beane, who knows that Joaquin Andujar's favorite word, "you never know," really does apply to baseball.

If the A's make it to the playoffs after all, it will be by no more than "a Coco Crisp". And I never would have signed him to play for the 2012-13 A's. And I'm sure glad he's on our side these days.